In his book, Three Days in January, Bret Baier aimed to enable his readers to understand more about Ike from an individual point of view. Baier wrote the book to educate people on the ideals and principles of the president’s actions during his time. An individual can learn the type of leadership style that Ike practiced, especially as the D-Day invasion’s architect and the Supreme Commander in Europe. He achieved this skillfully, weaving various passages from the president’s life, writings, and speeches. For instance, in his speech, Ike says, “Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose” (Baier & Whitney, 2017, p. 222). Bret Baier also aimed at making Ike’s story simpler to understand, given that many people have always faced challenges due to many paradoxes in his life.
In the book, Baier demonstrates that Eisenhower’s commitment to peace rather than war was the core paradox of his public life as a civilian commander-in-chief and a professional military officer. Baier says, “Yet if a single theme defined his eight-year presidency, it was the goal of keeping the world from war” (P. 95). Lastly, Baier wanted to give readers his opinion about Ike’s leadership since he had the necessary expertise to judge him more genuinely and objectively. For instance, the author argues that Ike’s leadership positively changed the country. “Rather than tottering meekly into the night, he was still very much ready to engage, believing that he could set a course for the fate of the civilized world and his beloved country” (P. 22). He views him as a model of leadership that today’s politicians should emulate.
References
Baier, B., & Whitney, a. C. (2017). Three days in january: Dwight Eisenhower’s final mission. HarperCollins.