--- JDG <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Oh please. While historians find Presidential > documents to be absolutely > invaluable for a number of purposes, the exercise of > rating Presidents is > not one of them.
That might have been true in the 19th century, John, but it's certainly not true today. In those days nothing was classified - today everything is. The massive re-evaluation of the Eisenhower Presidency that has taken place over the last few years is entirely a product of the release of classified documents - particularly those relating to his strategy to face the Soviets - which show, quite conclusively, that far from being an absent President he was, in fact, one who used power with an astonishing level of skill and subtlety to serve a remarkably well-thought-through (and _successful_) foreign policy - and he did it all with such subtlety that most people weren't even aware he was doing it. The historical perspective on Eisenhower has changed _radically_ over the last 10-20 years because of these sorts of revelatons. ===== Gautam Mukunda [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Freedom is not free" http://www.mukunda.blogspot.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today! http://my.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
