John S.D. Eisenhower modestly explains General Ike as "a son's view of a great military leader -- highly intelligent, strong, forceful, kind, yet as human as the rest of us." It is that, and more: a portrait of the greatest Allied military leader of the Second World War, by the man who knew Ike best. General Ike is a book that John Eisenhower always knew he had to write, a tribute from an affectionate and admiring son to a great father. John chose to write about the "military Ike," as opposed to the "political Ike," because Ike cared far more about his career in uniform than about his time in the White House. A series of portraits of Ike's relations with soldiers and statesmen, from MacArthur to Patton to Montgomery to Churchill to de Gaulle, reveals the many facets of a talented, driven, headstrong, yet diplomatic leader. Taken together, they reveal a man who was brilliant, if flawed nave̐ at times in dealing with the public, yet who never lost his head when others around him were losing theirs. Above all, General Ike was a man who never let up in the relentless pursuit of the destruction of Hitler.

An atlas of turning points in Ike's command -- Early influences: George S. Patton, Fox Conner, and John J. Pershing -- Ike and MacArthur: a study in contrasts -- A general in the wings (or, an exercise in nostalgia, 1940-1941) -- Ike and Patton: the master and his pit bull -- Marshall and Ike: a winning combination -- Monty: Ike's dynamic headache -- Ike and De Gaulle: the friendship that grew -- Ike and Winston Churchill: soldier and statesman, but comrades-in-arms -- Appendix A. The Guildhall address -- Apendix B. The English-speaking Union address -- Appendix C. John S. D. Eisenhower's address to the Joint Session of Congress, March 27, 1990