Letter: Eisenhower set the right example for GOP

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 | 8:16 a.m.

These are dark days for Eisenhower Republicans. The quiet ex-general from the heart of America had the United States leading the world on a healing path after World War II, building a higher civilization.

In the spirit of the People to People organization he fostered, we reached out to underdeveloped nations with educational and monetary aid, helping them catch up. Back then, nearly all Americans believed that people who have a decent level of living aren't likely to war against each other.

Under Ike's leadership, the U.N., Marshall Plan, USAID, UNESCO, World Food Bank and many other peaceful innovations thrived. Through the U.S. Aid for International Development programs, business and industry were brought together to help countries modernize and build their economies.

At home, as among the temperamental generals in World War II, this gentle, behind-the-scenes worker got some of the best minds of the nation working together to achieve common goals. They launched a network of interstate highways that brought prosperity wherever these beautiful roadways went. They expanded and improved national parks, forests and monuments that brought pleasure to all who would use them and created new professions for those who would dedicate their lives to preserving them.

Historians are just beginning to discover the unheralded intellect of Dwight D. Eisenhower. His colleagues even balanced the budget!

What irony: Republicans allowing a mediocre-minded scion of the Walker/Bush dynasty to take over the party and run our government in favor of a small clique of robber barons, disgracing our nation - and democracy itself - in the eyes of the world.

Paul Gwin, Las Vegas