HumanitiesNATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES • VOLUME 11 • NUMBER 5 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1990 THE EISENHOWER CENTENNIAL Editor's Note The Eisenhower Centennial General, college president, thirty-fourth President of the United States— Dwight David Eisenhower, whose hundredth birthday is being celebrated this October, carried many illustrious titles. But the moment that was to make him an American hero forever is described by his biographer, Stephen E. Ambrose: "His place in history was fixed as night fell on the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944. Hundreds of thousands, indeed millions, of men and women Dwight D. Eisenhower on the campaign trail contributed to the success of Operation Overlord, and 200,000 soldiers, sail­ in 1952. October 14, 1990, is the centennial ors, and airmen participated directly on D-Day itself, but the operation will of his birth. (Dwight D. Eisenhower Library) forever be linked to one man, Dwight David Eisenhower. From inception to completion, it bore his personal stamp. He was the central figure in the Humanities preparation, the planning, the training, the deception, the organization, and A bimonthly review published by the the execution of the greatest invasion in history. At the decisive moment, he National Endowment for the Humanities was the commanding General who, standing alone, weighed all the factors, considered all the alternatives, listened to the views of his senior subordi­ Chairman: Lynne V. Cheney nates, and then made the decision to go." Publisher, Editorial Director: The choice of Eisenhower as supreme commander of Allied expeditionary Marguerite Hoxie Sullivan forces in Europe held a particular irony for General George C. Marshall, Editor: Mary Lou Beatty who was both Eisenhower's mentor and the leading choice himself to direct Assistant Editors: James S. Turner the invasion. In this issue marking the Eisenhower centennial, historian For­ Ellen Marsh rest C. Pogue describes that particular passage of history. Production Editor: Scott Sanborn We follow Eisenhower through the postwar years, as chief of staff, presi­ Production Assistant: Susan Q. Jaffe dent of Columbia University, commander of NATO, and then President of Editorial Assistant: Kristen Hall the United States. His place in history as President, continues Ambrose in Marketing Director: Joy Evans his Eisenhower Centennial Foundation essay, is inevitably less clearcut: "He Editorial Board: Marjorie Berlincourt, did not meet the challenges that George Washington did, nor Abraham Lin­ Harold Cannon, Richard Ekman, George coln, nor Franklin Roosevelt. How he would have responded to a civil war, Farr, Donald Gibson, Guinevere Griest, or to a depression, or to a world war, we cannot know." Since 1965, scholars James Herbert, Thomas Kingston, Jerry at Johns Hopkins University have been putting together original source ma­ Martin, Malcolm Richardson terial in The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, with the volumes 14 to 17 on Design: Hausmann Graphic Design, Inc. the early years of his presidency soon to be published. The role of hero as President is a curious one— the closest parallel may be The opinions and conclusions expressed in U. S. Grant, West Pointer, hero of the Civil War, and the youngest man to Humanities are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect Endowment policy. Material become President at the time of his election in 1868. His presidency was star- appearing in this publication, except for that crossed. "If he had served only one term," says John Y. Simon, editor of The already copyrighted, may be freely re­ Papers of U. S. Grant, "I think he would be remembered as one of the better produced. Please notify the editor in advance so that appropriate credit can be given. The Presidents of the United States." Eisenhower is expected to fare better with Chairman of the Endowment has determined the historians. When Eisenhower left office, historians ranked him near the that the publication of this periodical is neces­ bottom of the Presidents; in the early 1980s, a new poll ranked him ninth. sary in the transaction of the public business required by law of this agency. Use of funds "His reputation is almost certain to continue to rise," maintains Ambrose, for printing this periodical has been approved "to the point that he will soon be ranked with Wilson and the two Roose­ by the director of the Office of Management velts as one of the four truly great presidents of the twentieth century." and Budget through September 1992. Send re­ quests for subscriptions and other communi­ cations to the editor, Humanities, National En­ — Mary Lou Beatty dowment for the Humanities, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506. Telephone 202/786-0435. Annual subscription rate: $11. 2 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER Contents Education A Conversation with . NEH Chairman Lynne V. Cheney 4 discusses education and literary criticism with Modern Language Association president Catharine R. Stimpson. The Numbers Game by Jeffrey Thomas. 29 Where the Ph.D.s go. Opening Doors by James S. Turner. The first group of 31 NEH/Reader's Digest Teacher-Scholars, returning to the classroom this fall, describes their year away. The Eisenhower Centennial In Search of the Real Eisenhower by Louis Galambos, Daun 8 van Ee, and Elizabeth S. Hughes. Forthcoming volumes will provide insight into his presidency. Ike: The Movie by Susanne Roschwalb. The gathering of 15 new source material for a three-part documentary. The Politics of Command by Forrest C. Pogue. The turn of 16 fate that put Eisenhower in command on D-Day. Other Features U. S. Grant: From West Point to the White House by James 19 S. Turner. The link between his literary skill and leadership ability. Picture Essay: Uncle Sam vs. John Bull by Peter Mellini. 22 What the icons tell about national character. 25 Calendar The Humanities Guide Applying for an Editions Grant by Douglas M. Arnold, 35. Current NEH Fellowship Grants, 36. Deadlines, 46. HUMANITIES 3 A Conversation with... Catharine R. Stimpson Lynne V. Cheney: I opened your tions that literature explores that I new book and came across the idea call part of the human spirit. Maybe Lynne V. Cheney that there isn't anything called the what's troubling to me is not that human spirit or the human condi­ you and I would disagree, but that I tion. It might be helpful for those of keep again and again coming across us of a more traditional mind-set if this idea among people in literary you could explain what you mean. studies that the matter has been Catharine R. Stimpson: Did I say it solved and that I'm wrong and so bluntly, Lynne? you're right, so to speak. Cheney: You talk about "human na­ Stimpson: I think that to be a hu­ ture" and "immortal works," and manist is by definition to reject rigid­ then you say, "these words are about ity and fixity; that to be a humanist illusions." is to respect what a hard process it is to reach any understandings. My Stimpson: What I mean when I ask back goes up whenever anybody us to be suspicious of the term "hu­ says, "This is the truth and you are a man universal" or "immortal work" liar." X and Y may be fine for a is this. You and I have things in mathematical formula, but not for common other than the fact that we my understanding of the difficulty of were both born in the West. Obvi­ ethical and aesthetic judgments. ously, all people have had things in Once, Lynne, I tried to teach myself common. We were all born; we were logic. I had an introductory logic born of man and woman; we all die. book and I was going through it and In between, we eat and we speak, doing elementary truth tables, and we hope, we love, and we take care there was a sentence to the effect of children. that ambiguities are for poetry. At Cheney: But isn't that the human that point I threw the logic book condition? down and went back to poetry. Stimpson: There is a difference be­ Where you and I are in agreement tween saying there is a human con­ is in what are the things that people dition that refers to a specific set of do. Of course we dream, and of Catharine R. Stimpson needs and saying that there are val­ course we hope, and of course our ues that tie us all or there are tran­ hearts break, and of course we hope hen Endowment Chairman scendent truths that exist outside of that our hearts heal. But when I say Lynne V. Cheney talked by our construction of them. Are there those things I am conscious of being telephone recently with commonalities? Yes. But can we read within a structure of speech that has W from commonalities into the exis­ Catharine R. Stimpson, president of the given me my language. You and I to­ Modern Language Association, the con­ tence of metaphysical forms that we gether can look at an automobile and versation turned to approaches to liter­ ourselves have not constructed we'll both say, for example, "steering ature and criticism. Stimpson is dean of through our speech and our wheel," but our entire understand­ the graduate school at Rutgers Univer­ thought? There I am skeptical. ing of how that steering wheel sity/New Brunswick and former chair of Cheney: I suppose I'm not. Just in works within the car as a machine the New York State Humanities Council. that list of things you mentioned— and how that steering wheel works She is the author of Where the Mean­ the idea that we do seek love, we do metaphorically is given to us ings Are: Feminism and Cultural dream, we do hope, we are often through structures of language that Spaces.