Why Age is Just a Number
01/04/24 06:29
April 1, 2024 (Vol. 18 No. 17) - As Americans debate whether the two men most likely to be elected President this November are too old for the job, it is important to remember the effective presidency of one of the oldest men to occupy the Oval Office, Dwight David Eisenhower. Ike was (gasp) 70 years old when he left office in 1961. Historians and pundits at the time said that the Eisenhower presidency had been inconsequential. Sandwiched between the Roosevelt era's war and Depression and the legendary Camelot of John Kennedy, the Eisenhower years had been described as serene. However, with the passage of time and declassification of 1950s government documents, historians have come to realize that Ike was sitting on a powder keg. It was only through his enlightened leadership that Eisenhower navigated the United States and world away from a third, more deadly global conflict. The man who was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force that liberated Europe during World War Two, was a champion of peace. It was historian Fred L. Greenstein in his seminal book The Hidden Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader, who was the first to redefine how Ike led America through dangerous times. I am currently reading Eisenhower 1956: The President's Year of Crisis by David A. Nichols. It describes how President Eisenhower, despite his own personal health crises, guided America and the world during the Suez Crisis, a potential East-West conflict that could have resulted in World War Three. Since then, Eisenhower's stature among historians has risen. Ike has been described as one of best presidents in American history. (To no one's surprise, Donald Trump is listed among the worst.) I still like Ike. And for anyone who suggests that the 81-year-old man currently occupying the White House is too old, I suggest that you look past the number and look at what he has actually accomplished - especially in comparison to his do-nothing bumbling predecessor. If Dwight Eisenhower has taught us anything, it is that age is just a number. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle. Photo courtesy Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.