Eisenhower’s Legacy of Lessons. “How Ike Led” with Susan Eisenhower

PeerSpectrum | Journeys in Medicine

On the release of this episode, we find ourselves in October of 2020. Still deep in the Covid-19 pandemic, and exactly one week away from the 2020 presidential election. Instead of piling on with our own opinions and speculation, we’re heading to the past for lessons and perspective that might, just might, help us make better sense of the world around us. Lessons from someone I think many of us wouldn’t mind having around today. A man who led the fight to liberate Europe from the darkness of Nazism. A man who spent decades patiently preparing and training for that role, never knowing if it would ever come. A man who’s deep footprint on history still shapes the world we live in today. A man who served through multiple heart attacks, strokes, and other severe illnesses. A leader tested by pandemics from the 1918 Spanish Flu to Polio. A true citizen of the world who, as Lyndon Johnson described, left “America…a better nation—stronger, safer, more conscious of its heritage, more certain of its destiny---because Ike was with us when America needed him.” Today’s guest knew Ike well, though she never addressed him as General or Mr. President. She called him grandpa because Susan Eisenhower is one of Dwight Eisenhower’s four grandchildren. She is a writer, policy strategist and national security expert who leads the Washington, DC based consulting firm, The Eisenhower Group. Her recently published book, “How Ike Led, The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions,” and her personal perspective growing up with her grandfather are the focus of today’s episode. With that said, let’s get started.