Eisenhower 1956: The President's Year of Crisis--Suez and the Brink of War

by David A. Nichols

Overview

A gripping tale of international intrigue, betrayal, and personal drama during the darkest days of the Cold War, Eisenhower 1956 is the first major book to examine the event in thirty years.

Debunking most historians’ opinion that the Suez crisis was merely a minor incident linked to the end of colonial rule in Egypt, Eisenhower 1956—drawing on hundreds of newly declassified documents—makes clear that it was the most dangerous crisis of Eisenhower’s presidency. Eisenhower used economic threats to force his British, French, and Israeli allies to withdraw from Egypt and put U.S. military forces on alert to deter Soviet intervention in the Middle East. Current U.S. policy in the region dates to the Suez crisis, when we replaced Great Britain as the guarantor of stability.

Acclaimed Eisenhower expert David Nichols masterfully weaves great personal drama—Eisenhower’s two life-threatening illnesses—with simultaneous world crises (America’s closest allies invade Egypt while the Soviets invade Hungary) and the final days of the 1956 presidential election campaign into a white-knuckle read.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439139349
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	02/14/2012
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	1,040,191
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

David A. Nichols, a leading expert on the Eisenhower presidency, is the author of A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution and Lincoln and the Indians. He lives in Winfield, Kansas.

Table of Contents

Introduction xv

Prologue: November 6, 1956 xix

1 The Man and the Moment 1

2 Crises of the Heart 18

3 Back in the Saddle Again 42

4 The Candidate 66

5 A Tangle of Policy and Politics 83

6 Trouble over Aswan 108

7 A Growing Rift 133

8 Betrayal of Trust 159

9 Double-Crossing Ike 188

10 Days of Crisis 216

11 A Perfect Storm 238

12 A Reluctant Withdrawal 258

Conclusion: Waging Peace in the Middle East 275

Acknowledgments 287

Notes 291

Photo Credits 333

Index 334