Biographer Jeffrey Frank on Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon's Complicated Relationship

[@CP-012]

Maybe Ike was a great judge of character

[@BillyBob-ec5ox]

Ike said himself that he liked Nixon as a person, and that a lot of this was overblown

[@robertpolityka8464]

1-Ike was old enough to be Nixon's father. "Stop slouching Dick" or "straighten out your suit jacket" might be something a father might say to a son, no matter how a father and son are. And I wouldn't be surprised if Eisenhower did that to Nixon. 2-Ike could have been elected as either a Republican or a Democrat. But, it was Ike's presence on the Republican ticket, which allowed the Republicans to win the Presidency in 1952 and 1956. The GOP needed Ike more than Ike needed the GOP. Ike preferred to act as "nonpartisan" as possible and he delegated Nixon to serve as the "party spokesman". (I said "spokesman", not leader. Eisenhower is still technically party leader.) This put Nixon in a tight spot, because he and The Republican Party in general, was more conservative than Eisenhower. Nixon couldn't "publicly" disagree with Ike, but Nixon also knew that he'd need the GOP, when it came to running for President in 1960. Nixon also knew that he'd need Eisenhower's support in a future campaign.