That's a man

Thanks to an excellent IB history series and a collection of political science courses at WSU, I consider myself fairly well versed in America's 20th Century history. But despite the many courses, somehow I have never learned very much about President Eisenhower. He was casually mentioned in two of my courses this semester and he piqued my interest. I'm looking at his 1952 campaign strategies for one of my final projects. He is quickly becoming my favorite president. Below are the passages that began my fascination.

The first that struck me:

"Upon first encounter," one observer noted, "the man instantly conveyed one quality – strength. ... There was one feature of his face impossible to ignore or to forget – the blue eyes of a force and intensity singularly deep, almost disturbing, above all commanding. ... Always they would speak of the moment and the mood: icy with anger, warm with satisfaction, sharp with concern, glazed with boredom. And always somehow – was it their eloquent explicitness of feeling? – they conveyed an image and a sense of strength."

Then this passage in a different book for a different course a couple days later:

Eisenhower was extremely confident of his own expertise compared to that of Dulles, a point he noted during an interview, commenting: "The fact remains that (Dulles) just knows more about foreign affairs than anybody I know. In fact, I'll be immodest and say that there's only one man I know who has seen more of the world and talked with more people and knows more than he does – and that's me."

And the most recent passage I like from a third book:

Eisenhower then told Brownell that he'd once met with Taft and assured him that he, Eisenhower, would not run for president in 1952 if Taft would support the internationalist view of NATO and the protection of Western Europe. Taft replied that, "in good conscience," he couldn't make such a deal. Eisenhower apparently did not know that as Taft left the meeting at the Pentagon, he told companions, "By God, that's a man."

Being perfectly honest, I think part of my fascination may come from the fact that I often find myself drawn to powerful, confident, blue-eyed males.

Tale of the Tudors

Winter Break Post 3 - sometime over break

As I was tucking my youngest sister into bed last night, she asked me if I had heard of the book, The Other Boleyn Girl. I said of course I had. It’s a book involving King Henry VIII. “Did you know they’re making a movie from it,” she asked. That bit of information I did not know.

I have had a fascination with King Henry VIII since middle school. One of my expository speeches during high school was on him and his wives. I wrote a 14 page paper on his second and my favorite of his wives, Anne Boleyn, during my senior year. Last year I wrote an 18 page paper interpreting Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale as the story of Anne Boleyn. Over the years I’ve continued to learn more about Henry and his wives as I find his story to be an intriguing one.

I have mixed feelings about the author Philippa Gregory. I was excited to read a book set during the Tudor period of England. She seemed to find Henry’s story just as interesting as I did. I enjoy her books. On the other hand, I feel like she beat me to the punch. I doubt that when I grew older I would have written books about Henry VIII, but it was a daydream I had more than once in my years. Now if I did it, I would feel like I was just copying her. Similarly, I’m excited for the movie, because I did like that book, but I also think I’ll be a little bitter about it.

I didn’t think I was the only one in the world who knew about King Henry VIII, but I knew more about him than anyone else I knew. It was an interest that made me unique. Now, with the popularity of her books and possibly the movie, more people will be familiar with the tale and my knowledge on the subject will no longer make me stand out.

I will continue to read her books and I plan on seeing the movie, but I want it known, for the record, that I liked and knew about King Henry and his wives before they became popular entertainment.