Campaign ended
On a matter completely unrelated to the subject of this weblog, I must report having at last finished Stephen Ambrose's one-volume abridged biography of Eisenhower--apparently a book he did not purloin from better writers. That's a pity, because while Ambrose is not quite third rate, he does turn reading about Ike into something as ponderous as Operation Overlord.

The analysis is skin deep and the saccharin heavy. I quote the first sentence of the Forward and the last paragraph of the book to prove to you how easy it is to make millions off hooey:

"Dwight David Eisenhower was a great and good man."

And:

"People liked Ike because Ike liked life. People admired Ike, and worked for him, because he did great and good things for mankind. He was the general who truly hated war, but he hated the Nazis more. He was the President who made peace and kept the peace and thus provided the conditions that made it possible for the American people to exercise their right to pursue happiness."

No wonder Ambrose engaged in literary theft. Wouldn't you if your editors were prepared to let that junk through?