An entertaining, informative popular history account of the frequently tortured relationship between two leading political figures. The decision to focus more intensely on Nixon's point of view is justifiable but one result is that the portrait of Eisenhower at times verges on caricature.

The voice artist on the audio book-- Arthur Morey-- is simply outstanding. He offers just the right amount of inflection to distinguish between characters. His pacing and (there must be a better phrase) "flatness-to-emotion ration" is just perfect. ( )

This is a well written and researched story. Ike of course, is DDEisenhower, and this book allows the reader to see the former five star general at his best and worst. He is clearly a lot smarter than given credit by many people, but he is also a racist jerk. Dick is Richard M Nixon, who was picked by Ike to be his running mate without knowing anything about him, and is clearly more progressive than we thought, except for Vietnam, where he adopted his old policies. The idiot tries to get rid of the war (Kissinger knowingly gave him stuff from the Paris Peace talks) but is done in by it. ( )

Richard Nixon and Dwight D. Eisenhower were oil and water, chalk and cheese, whatever improbable and uncomfortable pairing you want to name. But, as described in this excellent and very readable book, they worked effectively (if not always harmoniously) as a team, and developed a personally meaningful (if often ambiguous) relationship as well. This book is about that relationship. Because Eisenhower was far more important to Nixon than Nixon to Eisenhower, it inevitably shifts towards Nixon's vantage point.

Before the central story, the book sketches out Nixon's career before they became running mates in the 1952 election, and, far more briefly, Eisenhower's -- a military career so illustrious it doesn't need much reiteration. And then it launches into the 1952 election, complete with Eisenhower's surprise that he would choose the VP, Nixon's Checkers speech, Nixon as campaign attack dog, and so on and so forth. Next comes four years of the Eisenhower/Nixon first term, featuring (from Nixon's point of view), Eisenhower's duplicity about whether Nixon would be on the ticket (Eisenhower, fortunately for Nixon, hated firing people. After the 1956 election Nixon's stature grew: without the political questionmark of whether he would stay on the ticket, he could start grooming himself for the 1960 presidential campaign, and had plenty of opportunity as more and more duties (especially foreign ones) fell to him. Then come Nixon's years in the wilderness, the 1960's loss to Kennedy, the 1962 defeat in California, and the (temporary) retreat to the private sector. And then Nixon reemerges like the phoenix, to win in 1968, and then -- disgrace.

Through all of this, the personalities were critical. Nixon said that Eisenhower was devious, and indeed he was far more complex (and politically astute) than the "smiling general" persona he presented. But Nixon was a master of deviousness: so devious that he saw plots and counterplots where none existed, which ultimately led to his undoing.

For me, this book brought Nixon's complex personality to the fore. I have just finished "Nixonland" (which was why I was interested in reading more about him). That has a lot about Nixon's character in it, but it has a whole lot more, like the whole crazy time from 1964 to 1973. "Ike and Dick", however, focusses narrowly on personalities, which makes it an interesting complement. As the child of left-wing parents in the 1950's, I grew up thinking of "Tricky Dick" as permanently emerging from some political sewer or other, a crook with no redeeming qualities. But he did have some noble qualities, and some generous instincts. They were undone by his own internal devils. Not quite a tragic figure (he wasn't THAT noble) but a fascinating one. ( )

Much of the material is already covered ground but the writing is good and the topics are put together in a readable manner. Particularly good handling of the dialogue and reactions at meetings. ( )

This was more fun to read than I ever dreamed to hope for. It was the little bits when people got all twisted up over minor things that made it funny at times. Such petty bickering in politics. ( )