Catherine M. Lewis', Don't Ask What I Shot: How Eisenhower's Love of Golf Helped Shape 1950s America, is a terrific look back at the game and its impact on the Boomer generation.
Step back in time to a day when CNN and Fox didn't cover the minutiae of every presidential movement.
That was the world we grew up in and the world where President Dwight D. Eisenhower played nearly 800 rounds of golf during his two-terms in the White House.
Lewis is a superb historian with an eagle's eye for detail. She doesn't leave many stones uncovered in her 320-page dissection of Ike and his passion for the game. It's a fascinating portrait of a man who was often portrayed as a doddering duffer.
The 1950s were a time when we hadn't yet coined the terms "Type A" and "Multi-Tasker". Ike, as Lewis points out, was a serious golfer but like every good soldier never abandoned his post. Even without the multi-tasker moniker, the 34th president conducted foreign and domestic policy from the links.
This is the man who supervised the integration of Little Rock's Central High School and dealt with Gary Powers capture by the Soviets - all from the fairways and clubhouses of some of America's best golf courses.
Muti-tasker? Hell, the man almost invented the word.
Along the way we're treated to a treasure trove of vignettes of some of golf's greats. The names Hogan, Jones, Nelson and Palmer dot the historic fairway along with anecdotes that are always entertaining and (sometimes) unnerving.
Eisenhower was the first president to have a putting green installed on the White House grounds (it was the USGA's idea). And he once instructed a U.S. Air Force pilot in Italy to drop a bomb on a golf course for the sole purpose of building a new sand trap. These are all colorful stories that today would provide fodder for more than one news cycle. In the 1950s it was just the way things were done.
Lewis is no apologist - and she doesn't need to be. There was a reason America liked Ike. He led America through one of the greatest economic expansions in its history and shepherded us through the tumultuous postwar period.
All this, while maintaining an 18 handicap.
Now that's a president I could support.
Author: Catherine M. Lewis
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Penned: April 2007
Time Out: The 320 pages are full of 50's anecdotes that will have you walking down memory lane.
Beach Worthy: Sure. I also suggest taking along your sand wedge.
Available: $24.95 (hardcover) from Amazon.com
Prepare your own Mexican quick fix with this Chipotle-inspired bowl. Carbs are moderated by filling the bowl with beans, extra veggies and chicken. No need for rice, since the beans count as carbs.
Tips:
If you love tomatoes, increase the quantity to 1/2 cup, but note that the carbohydrates will also increase.
If preparing this recipe for one person, cut all of the ingredients in half. Or simply prepare the full recipe up to the end of step 2 and store leftover chicken and vegetable-bean mixture in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Reheat in the microwave on High for 1 to 2 minutes, or until heated through, and continue with step 3.
Health Bite: The iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc in black beans help to keep bones strong and healthy.
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