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Book Thoughts: Eisenhower in War and Peace

2024-01-26

My first book of 2024, Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith.

One of my favorite biographies. Incredibly well paced and readable.

I think Ike has to be in the top 5 most influential Americans. Some of my contenders, in no particular order:

  • Washington <- not becoming a King or Emperor is arguably the most influential thing about the country to date
  • Grant <- wins the Civil War, two term president, leader of Reconstruction
  • FDR <- 4 term president, New Deal, leads the country through World War II
  • Lincoln <- holds the country together during the Civil War
  • MLK <- for the Civil Rights Movement and its impacts

Ike obviously belongs in this list. As much as it pains me to say it, I think he's obviously above Lincoln, who is my favorite of the group, but just isn't on the national stage for long enough.

Here's the case for Ike:

  • Wins the war in Europe
  • Incredibly popular 2 term president
  • Repeatedly refuses to use tactical nuclear weapons in early Conflicts, leading to today's norm of not using them

Assorted other stuff I enjoyed from this book:

  • Eisenhower had a mistress during his time as the Supreme Allied Commander. Kay Summersby started as his driver and became his companion. The book provides good evidence that when the war was over, Eisenhower cabled Marshall to say he was staying in London with her and divorcing his wife and Marshall said he'd run him out of the Army. Ike then leaves her behind while taking the rest of his staff. The War Department removes her from photos (!) and then Truman destroys the cable to protect Ike (!). And you thought he was boring!
  • The planning for invasion of Europe reminds me of ~every major product launch I've ever done. They Allies agree super early on, like 1942 that they must invade Europe via France, no other routes make sense and then spend 2 years doing everything but this while Eisenhower reminds them why they have to do it.
  • The book makes a compelling case that Eisenhower prolongs the war and cedes Berlin to the Soviets by ignoring Monty's advice in September of 1944. I'm not enough of a military historian to critique the case, but it was interesting.
  • Ike has basically zero command experience before becoming Supreme Allied Commander and was mostly put in as a placeholder for Marshall.
  • His most important skill was his ability to drive consensus and still make his own decisions.

The imagined history of Ellis Island

2024-01-26

Via Marginal Revolution:

The explanation for this is pretty obvious when you think about it. Just as today, people bought tickets and their names were written on the tickets.

I never get tired of the "you were taught this in school, but it probably didn't happen" type of thing.

Indirect driving deaths caused by 9/11

2024-01-22

Gaissmaier and Gigerenzer found that Americans flew less and drove more in the year after 9/11, which led to 1,600 more traffic deaths over that period than would otherwise have been expected.

From Range Widely by David Epstein

Arguments about Swiss maps

2024-01-17

It pains me to see the warm vineyards and villages on the sunny side of the main Valais valley on the north side of Lake Geneva and the heavily-farmed sunny slopes of the north side of the Anterior Rhine Valley in the shade, while the wooded slopes on the shady side are bathed in blazing sunlight.

From the Swiss National Museum.

A somewhat trivial topic: Swiss relief maps show the sunlight as coming from the Northwest when in real life it comes most often from the South. The article is beautifully rendered. Something about it transports me to summertime in the Alps.

The culprit? Most artists draw with their right hands and write from left to right and so European maps tend to show shade on the right-hand side of the map. Via The Browser.

Disparity in divorce

2024-01-09

I saw this yesterday afternoon and it caught my eye:

It reminded me of #49 in my list of 52 things I learned in 2022: If a married woman is diagnosed with a brain tumor, there is a 21% chance that the couple will divorce; if the husband has a tumor, there is only a 3% chance they will divorce, which I found via Rob Henderson.

Based on some googling, I don't think this is the exact same study, but in the spirit of intellectual honesty, I figured I should post it.

There is some nuance, but the general relationship between illness and husbands divorcing their wives no longer holds.

Congratulations to I-Fen Lin and Susan Brown, who found the error, and Amelia Karraker who handled the correction with dignity.