Extract
At the height of America’s postwar supremacy in the 1950s, which birthed the baby boomer generation and saw the US standard of living soar, the country’s 34th president was emblematic of its elevated national mood and international standing.
President Dwight D (“Ike”) Eisenhower — supreme allied commander in Europe during the war and thereafter chief of staff of the US army — converted a stellar military career into a hugely popular two-term presidency.
While some found his style vapid and accomplishments in office tepid, he left the presidency after eight years almost as popular as when he entered it. He also helped contain the rising temperature of the Cold War and ended the hot conflicts in Korea and Berlin. Most of all, he presided over rising prosperity at home.