The Presidential Memoirs

Eisenhower spent four years writing these two volumes of his presidential memoirs at his retirement office at Gettysburg College. They received generally lukewarm reviews for being too defensive and unrevealing. He shares little of the passion, concern, and frustration with which he faced two of the major crisis of his administration: McCarthyism and the U-2 Crisis.

Sales for the first volume, Mandate for Change, published in November, 1963 were hurt by Kennedy's assassination. At that time, the public lost interest in Eisenhower and the market was flooded with books on the young deceased President. Eisenhower's WWII memoir, Crusade in Europe, had been a best seller in 1948.

Left: Mandate For Change 1953-1956: The White House Years

Right: Waging Peace: The White House Years, A Personal Account 1956-1961