"I Like Ike; I Still Like Ike"

“I Like Ike; I Still Like Ike”

                                                      by Collette

I remember when Dwight David Eisenhower was President of the United States. As a little kid, I thought it was neat to have a President who grew up in Kansas. I was aware when I started teaching that his ranking as an effective President was about mid-range to lower one-third when compared with other Presidents. He was often criticized for his hobby of golf, his bumbling manner when he spoke ending with a scratching of his head, and that he had a couple of heart attacks.

After reading five books including a couple of books written by Ike himself, I have changed my opinion of him as a President and so have other historians. He now ranks close to the top ten Presidents. Ike ran the country and his cabinet in much the way he guided the armies of WWII. I knew from his grades in school and achievements during the war that he was a smart man. Eisenhower would lapse into his bumbling manner when he didn’t want to answer the press who were questioning him at the time. After all you didn’t share all of the information you had in the army, and he saw no need to do that with the press.

The list of accomplishments of his administrations is long and easily researched if one is interested. Eisenhower ran his presidential campaign with the slogan “I Like Ike.” Americans did like the former general. They liked him so much the slogan of his second campaign was “I Still Like Ike.” I have to admit “I Like Ike,” too, and am pleased he has come up in the rankings as a top ten President.