Ike's Final Battle: The Road to Little Rock and the Challenge of Equality

This book is a fast 300 pg. narrative on Eisenhower's nuanced positions regarding civil rights. The nuance is not whether equal rights for African Americans were right vs. wrong, but instead Eisenhower's struggle on how best to protect the rights of these Americans against the prejudice of southern conservatives who controlled the southern states and the relevant committees of the Senate. Pipes begins with Eisenhower's experiences and contributions to the cause of equal rights in the military and ends in his retirement, with the climax happening 2/3 of the way through the book when Ike sends federal troops to Little Rock, AK to defend the right of African American students to attend a whites-only public school in spite of a bigoted governor who sends the national guard to keep them out. The book finishes with reflections on his contributions looking back from the time of Kennedy and LBJ moving the ball forward even further. Pipes provides an incredibly fair report on President Eisenhower's policy positions and actions given the frequent opaqueness of his position depending on the situation and the company he was keeping. Many have attempted to paint Ike as a racist political opportunist or a courageous leader of the civil rights movement, with both positions given to hyperbole. Instead, Pipes portrays a man who respects majoritarian positions while realizing in his heart the wrongness of institutionalized bigotry even though Eisenhower, a man of his time, shares some prejudicial beliefs. The struggle for Eisenhower is often how to move the majority to his position without his having to depend on fiery rhetoric to change hearts and minds. While Eisenhower was never a die-hard politico, he left the GOP with a wonderful legacy inherent in republicanism as a form of government instituted in 1787. Reading this book in 2007 shows how far the current majority of Republicans have mutated away from the principles of republicanism and Eisenhower, mostly due to the Southern Conservative Democrats who emigrated to the GOP after LBJ led the Democratic party into passing the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts. Pipes' only flaw in the book, so minor it's not worth knocking down a star, is a weak-hearted attempt to define Eisenhower as a conservative even though all empirical evidence in the book and other studies on Eisenhower provide ample evidence that he was a moderate who "got it" regarding our founding ideal of republicanism that holds that government is obligated to defend our individual liberty rights. The examples of Eisenhower's actions in the book are a case study in republicanism, not conservatism, where Ike closely follows the examples of previous Republican presidents who used federal power to protect individual and minority rights (e.g., Madison, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt). Conservatives by definition abhor using federal power to protect individual rights, they instead promote the ideal of "state rights" in hopes the process o

Written by former Bush White House worker Kasey S. Pipes, Ike's Final Battle: the Road to Little Rock and the Challenge of Equality is the amazing and unlikely true story of how Dwight D. Eisenhower became a civil rights president. Chronicling the landmark desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, which forced a historical confrontation between state and federal authorities and set an engraved precedent that the federal government would intervene for the sake of racial justice if necessary, Ike's Final Battle meticulously recounts events in unfolding detail, with an inset section of black-and-white photographic plates. An extensive bibliography, notes, and an index round out this welcome addition to American history shelves.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! It tells President Eisenhower's story very well, and it kept my interest throughout the narrative. Pipes' thesis, that Eisenhower went through a significant "struggle within himself" about his belief in civil rights (requiring significant social change) and majority rule (which did not support significant social change at that time), is also well argued. I especially appreciate the honesty in which the author tells Ike's story, including his strengths and weaknesses. Also, Pipes does an excellent job of noting the number of significant Republican policy makers who were strong advocates of civil rights legislation during the 1950s and 1960s. While I think everyone will benefit from reading this book, it especially should be read by all Republican office holders and candidates, today.

This is a very readable book from an outstanding young author. He gives an insight to Ike that most people don't remember. I can't wait for his next book!

This is a very well written, highly engaging book about Eisenhower's inner struggle with racial equality. Generally, historians give President Eisenhower low grades for his handling of civil rights: too slow, too reticent, no vision or leadership. But this was not Ike's way, Kasey Pipes argues. He was a conservative, 19th century man who believed in low-key, incremental progress, in changing people's minds before changing laws. As a military man, he was taught to manage problems, not lead a revolution. The only crusade he was prepared to lead, Pipes says, was the one that liberated Europe. Ike did boldly effect change where he could: giving African-Americans a combat role during the Battle of the Bulge, desegrating Washington DC as well as military bases in the South. These progressive moves were often made with little fanfare, as Ike believed (probably correctly) publicity would simply stir up a backlash of opposition. However, when the Big Test came at Little Rock, in 1957, he passed with flying colors, sending in the 101st Airborne. Indeed, Pipes observes, Ike's performance at Little Rock compares favorably with President Kennedy's five years later at Ole Miss. (There were no major casualties at Little Rock versus hundreds at Ole Miss). Pipes, a Republican speechwriter, is a gifted wordsmith, and his first book has a brisk narrative pace. A terrific read.