[DBWI] An administration we don't discuss enough here

[David Tenner]

How do we rank the 1974-77 presidency of Doud Dwight ("Icky") Eisenhower
(1917-1999)?

[Robert Woodward]

Post by David Tenner
How do we rank the 1974-77 presidency of Doud Dwight ("Icky") Eisenhower
(1917-1999)?

I suppose he did an adequate job filling in after President
Rockefeller's fatal heart attack. But, the economic slump caused by
mistakes made by previous presidents, left him with no chance to be
elected President on his own in 1976.

[Rich Rostrom]

Post by David Tenner
How do we rank the 1974-77 presidency of Doud Dwight
("Icky") Eisenhower (1917-1999)?

Generally average, which was a great relief after the
turbulence of the Johnson Administration (1969-1974).

Johnson won election in 1968 by sweeping the South,
with a tacit promise of rolling back the civil rights
measures of the Nixon Administration (1961-1969), and
by rallying working-class voters throughout the
country against the alleged plutocracy of Rockefeller,
the Republican nominee in 1968.

However, as Johnson "grew in office", and won
re-election in 1972 as a _champion_ of civil rights,
die-hard white Southerners execrated him as a traitor,
leading to his 1974 assassination.

Johnson needed a new running mate in 1972 to replace
Gene McCarthy, who had turned against Johnson for not
ending the Indochina War.

Johnson picked "Ikky" as his 1972 running mate in part
for his name, which helped win over Republicans, even
though "Ikky" had been a Democrat ever since his college
days (at U. of Chicago, before and after WW II service).

Ikky was a campaign aide to Adlai Stevenson in 1948, then
a gubernatorial staffer, and a campaign aide again in 1952.
His statement that "I love my dad, but I'm voting for Adlai,"
garnered understandable national attention, as did Ike's
tolerant response. His later career as state senator, Illinois
Secretary of State, and US Senator made the Eisenhowers even
more bipartisan than the Roosevelts.

Johnson's assassination may have saved him from disgrace, as
his murky personal business deal amd shady political practices
might have got him impeached. His bungled handling of the 1973
oil crisis (seen as gross favoritism to Texas) only deepened
his troubles.

Ikky's bland demeanour and quiet competence were what the
country needed.

Ironically, Ikky set the table for the presidency of Jennie
Eisenhower (2016-), his grand-niece, and also the grand-daughter
of President Nixon. [*Jennie, born 1970.]