Dwight Eisenhower's At Ease: Stories I Tell To Friends

Dwight Eisenhower, in his autobiography At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends, credits his upbringing
with his success as a United States President. His thesis is that the tone and expectations parents set in a
young child’s life greatly effect the child in his/her adult life. Growing up with five other brothers,
Eisenhower’s family had money problems. His father’s business partner left him with a failing store and
a lot of unsold merchandise. Although feeding six growing boys had to add stress to his parents,
Eisenhower says that he never knew how tight money actually was and lived a happy, worry-free life as
a child. Since Eisenhower did not have very much money of his own he chose to go to West Point after a
friend recommended it. West Point,

being a military school, would offer him a free education.
Eisenhower was not the most responsible teenager consequently resulting in bad marks on his
disciplinary record. Upon graduation Eisenhower entered the 19th infantry based at Sam Houston. His
military career opened the door for his presidency 37 years later.
Dwight Eisenhower proves his thesis with examples from his childhood and his days at West
Point.

One thing I found remarkable, is that when each brother would go to college all the other
brothers would work tirelessly trying to help fund their brother’s college education. It takes a very
special family environment to raise six selfless boys. Additionally, proving his thesis, Eisenhower’s
disciplinary problems as a child effected his adult life as well. Young Eisenhower had a small plot of land
on his parent’s farm and was allowed to grow whatever he liked and to sell it. This caused Eisenhower to

grow attached to money, which later caused problems in his days at West point as it turned into a
gambling problem. Whenever Eisenhower had money the thought of saving it never came to mind.
The research in this book is lacking due to the fact that it is stories and accounts from
Eisenhower’s personal life. While there are no sources cited for research, Eisenhower does include his
disciplinary record from West Point that the white house obtained after he became president. This
strengthens the thesis because his records are full of mistakes he made but none of them are to out of
line. While Eisenhower’s parents provided him with a good childhood they did not demand extreme
order leading to Eisenhower receiving marks for small details such as his room being 70 degrees at

a
morning inspection and him being late to chapel. He also includes the original deed for the farm him
and his wife now own. John Lukens signed the deed on September 10,1762. Eisenhower felt the farm
him and his wife live on had a historical back ground due to its age. Eisenhower loved history as a child
and that played into his adult life even as he bought a house. In the notes section at the back of the
book Eisenhower does include facts about Lane University, where his father worked when Eisenhower
was young.
Eisenhower wrote this book in a very friendly and conversational manner. He was specific in
describing details and added a strong mix of family, and humor, that made the beginning of the book
easy to understand. The middle section of his book discuses Eisenhower’s military career and was
harder to comprehend without a military background. For example, Eisenhower talks about specific
battle plans and strategies that were used and the different rankings he received. With no military
knowledge it became a jumble of dates, and military vocabulary that were incomprehensible to a
civilian. Eisenhower finished the book off strong with stories from his teaching days that brought back
the light tone from the beginning.

A subtopic I wish Eisenhower had paid more detail to is the raising of his son John. Since
Eisenhower believed his childhood had a great impact on his life, I would think that he would have had
specific parenting techniques and beliefs he wished to implement in John’s life. However, there is not
much mention of John’s childhood, outside of education and when he went to live with Edgar for his
senior year. I feel that insight into the raising of his own son would enhance the thesis, illuminating the
parts of Eisenhower’s childhood that stuck out to him by reflecting them on his son.
The information in the textbook America Past and Present focuses on Eisenhower’s presidency
and his foreign policy with the “New Look” plan.

It talks about the first three days of his presidency
spent touring Korea and his approach to war. Eisenhower believed small attacks would not win the war.
The book At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends is more focused on Eisenhower’s life growing up, and the
circumstances that led to his presidency. However, Eisenhower never did anything small, even as a child.
When he had a goal he accomplished it all thoroughly with no loose ends left to spare. Eisenhower was a
go big or go home type of guy. Because of this, the information in America Past and Present on his quick
jump to missiles and nuclear weapons is not surprising. Eisenhower was able to handle the tension the
Cold War brought early in his president with ease because of his military back ground. While the
textbook and the book don’t cover the same period in Eisenhower’s life, readers can easily tell what
caused Eisenhower to handle himself as president like he did from reading At Ease: Stories I Tell to
Friends.
I would definitely recommend this book to students. It is a long read, but the stories

Eisenhower
tells are packed full with life lessons and are very entertaining. Eisenhower’s morals, even from a young
age, set a good precedent for high school students. This allows for his book to not only teach the reader
lessons in history, but to teach children respect and personal guidelines. I would also recommend
Eisenhower’s book for teachers, due to the extensive military history. Adults with military knowledge or
background would be able to appreciate the war stories Eisenhower tells, more then high school student

would. Overall, this book was a very good read and I would recommend this to all history students, high
schoolers and history teachers.