Summary

Apparently a crack poker player, Eisenhower took a big, poker-faced gamble when as President he confronted the Soviet Union, China, and his own saber-rattling generals. Former Newsweek editor at large Thomas explains how his careful strategy paid off-for him and for the world.


Evan Thomass startling account of how the underrated Dwight Eisenhower saved the world from nuclear holocaust. Upon assuming the presidency in 1953, Dwight Eisenhower set about to make good on his campaign promise to end the Korean War. Yet while Eisenhower was quickly viewed by many as a doddering lightweight, behind the bland smile and simple speech was a master tactician. To end the hostilities, Eisenhower would take a colossal risk by bluffing that he might use nuclear weapons against the Communist Chinese, while at the same time restraining his generals and advisors who favored the strikes. Ikes gamble was of such magnitude that there could be but two outcomes: thousands of lives saved, or millions of lives lost. A tense, vivid and revisionist account of a president who was then, and still is today, underestimated, IKES BLUFF is history at its most provocative and thrilling.