Eleanor vs. ike
by
Robin gerber
It is a time of turmoil,
with the nation mired in an
unpopular war in Korea and with
Senator Joseph McCarthy stirring up
fear of a lurking Communist
"menace." Racial discrimination is
rampant. A woman's place is in the
home. And when a shocking act of God
eliminates the Democratic
presidential nominee, the party
throws its support to an unlikely
standard bearer: former First Lady
and goodwill ambassador to the world
Eleanor Roosevelt.
Captivating and fast-paced,
Eleanor vs. Ike pits the
unforgettable Eleanor against the
enormously popular war hero Gen.
Dwight David ("Ike") Eisenhower. But
while the opponents promise "an
honest campaign," their strategists
mire the race in scandal and bitter
innuendo. Suddenly Eleanor finds
herself a target of powerful
insiders who mean to destroy her
good name—and Ku Klux Klan assassins
dedicated to her death—as she gets
caught up in a mad whirl of
appearances and political
maneuvering . . . and a chance
encounter with a precocious
five-year-old named Hillary Rodham.
Reviews:
From Publishers
Weekly
The author of two
leadership
manuals—including one
deriving its principles
from the life and
thought of Eleanor
Roosevelt
(1884–1962)—Gerber
imagines a what-if for
the former first lady in
her first novel. In
Gerber's fictionalized
version of the 1952
Democratic convention,
Adlai Stevenson suffers
a heart attack and dies
on stage moments before
he is to accept the
nomination. The popular
Eleanor, a widow since
1945, is quickly brought
in to take his place and
run against Eisenhower.
Her campaign rallies the
support of women, unions
and African-Americans,
but even her own party
doubts that Americans
will elect a woman
president. There's a
sentimental scene in
which five-year-old
Hillary Rodham meets the
former first lady, and a
petty scene in which
Richard Nixon, then
Republican candidate for
vice-president,
contemplates his dirty
fingernails. Eleanor
comes across as
imperious, intelligent
and brave, but clumsy
dialogue, historical
minutiae and an absence
of narrative tension
sink the story. The
premise is intriguing,
though, especially given
a former First Lady's
run for the nomination.
(Jan.)
Copyright © Reed
Business Information, a
division of Reed
Elsevier Inc. All rights
reserved.
James MacGregor
Burns, Pulitzer Prize
winning author of
ROOSEVELT: The Lion and
the Fox
"A fascinating
combination of truth and
fantasy…a brilliant
fictional recreation"
Ellen Feldman, author
of Lucy
"a fast-paced, savvy,
and oh-so-timely novel
of political
maneuvering, sexual
politics, and human
longing."
House Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer of Maryland
"the plausibility of
[Eleanor Roosevelt’s]
candidacy is what kept
me turning the pages to
see if she would beat
Eisenhower!"
Dee Dee Myers, former
White House Press
Secretary
"I could hardly put the
book down as Eleanor’s
"what if" political
campaign raced toward
election day."
About the Author:
robin gerber
is a
political columnist, commentator, and
the author of Leadership the Eleanor
Roosevelt Way: Timeless Strategies from
the First Lady of Courage and
Katharine Graham: The Leadership Journey
of an American Icon. Robin
frequently speaks on women in politics
and leadership and has appeared on radio
and television and writing opinions on
these topics.
Robin spent more
than a decade
working on Capitol
Hill, both as a
congressional staff
member and as a
government affairs
director for two
major national
organizations. She
is also a lawyer and
a senior faculty
member for the
Gallup Organization,
as well as a senior
fellow in Executive
Education at the
Robert H. Smith
School of Business,
University of MD,
College Park. A
member of the Board
of Contributors for
the opinion pages of
USA Today and
a columnist for
Reader's Digest,
she has been a
commentator on NPR's
"Marketplace and
Morning Edition,"
and has appeared on
"The NewsHour with
Jim Lehrer" and
dozens of radio talk
shows. She lives in
Bethesda, Maryland.
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