I Liked Ike

Dwight D. Eisenhower, a heroic general in World War Two
  Elected thirty-fourth President of the USA in 1952 

Fondly remembered as an American Golden Age 
  His era had its fair share of turbulence and rage
    on both the domestic and international stage

In Ike's first term Senator Joe McCarthy ruled the roost
  witch-hunting alleged Commie sympathizers
    accusing them of giving the USSR a boost 
  
Then after Ike's landslide re-election
  racial politics veered in an ugly direction

Ike sent Federal troops to an Arkansas high school in September of 1957
  to enforce desegregation, the law of the land--by judicial fiat was he driven 

With the Soviet Union Ike opted for containment, not confrontation  
  choosing to condemn, but not to stop, the USSR's Hungarian invasion
 
When Russia's first satellite launch, Sputnik
  drove the American new media ballistic
    Ike calmly launched NASA and stayed optimistic
 
A man of deeds over words, Ike was a classic conservative
  Limited spending plus tax cuts, his prinicipled preservatives

Before leaving office, Ike warned us
  about massive military spending -- 
    in tandem with rising budget deficits
      our fiscal freedom would soon be ending

In hindsight, we can see that Ike clearly was right
  to stress the perils of unbridled military might

By the time prescient Ike passed away in 1969
  Americans were protesting Vietnam* ~ or in its jungles dying  


*the War in Vietnam

Copyright © | Year Posted 2018



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Date: 8/7/2018 12:40:00 PM
Such true words "Ike was clearly right to stress the perils of unbridled military might-" Long before my time, but he seems like one of the better presidents - probably rolling in his grave right now!
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Wolf Avatar
Gershon Wolf
Date: 8/7/2018 3:21:00 PM
Like wine, Ike gets better with age. That's not entirely a compliment, btw: While he's proven prescient about many things, still and all, he looks better in the rear-view mirror than he did up close and personal in the 50's. ~ Gershon
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