"Ike at the Mike" is an alternate history short story by

Howard Waldrop Howard Waldrop (born September 15, 1946) is a science fiction author who works primarily in short fiction. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2021. Personal life Though born in Houston, Mississippi, Waldrop has spent ...

. It was first published in '' Omni'', in June 1982.

Synopsis

Decades after he decided to pursue music rather than attend

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

, an elderly Dwight Eisenhower — now a legendary jazz clarinetist — performs at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

and reminisces about his late friend, drummer "Wild" George S. Patton; in the audience, Senator Presley considers the path of his own life.

Reception

"Ike at the Mike" was a finalist for the 1983

Hugo Award for Best Short Story The Hugo Award for Best Short Story is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The short story award is available for works of fiction o ...

.1983 Hugo Awards
at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved August 23, 2020 In the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'',

Michael Dirda Michael Dirda (born 1948) is a book critic for the ''Washington Post''. He has been a Fulbright Fellow and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993. Career Having studied at Oberlin College for his undergraduate degree in 1970, Dirda took an M.A. in 1974 a ...

called it "comic and touching".The Magazine Rack: Currents and Choices
by Michael Dirda; in the ''

''; published March 28, 1986; retrieved August 23, 2020 '' Kirkus Reviews'' found it "amusing",THE WAY IT WASN'T: GREAT SCIENCE FICTION STORIES OF ALTERNATE HISTORY
reviewed at '' Kirkus Reviews''; published February 1, 1996; archived online, May 20, 2010; retrieved August 23, 2020 while

Graham Sleight Graham Sleight (born 1972) is a British writer, editor and critic, specialising in healthcare and science fiction. He is Head of Governance and Contracts at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, and editor of the science fiction p ...

, writing in ''

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in September 2000, and ...

'', noted that it is "more concise" and "less a prisoner of its own research" than some of Waldrop's other stories.Other Worlds, Better Lives: A Howard Waldrop Reader—Selected Long Fiction 1989-2003
reviewed by

, at ''

''; published December 22, 2008; retrieved August 23, 2020

References

External links

* 1982 short stories Alternate history short stories Cultural depictions of Dwight D. Eisenhower Works by Howard Waldrop Cultural depictions of George S. Patton Works originally published in Omni (magazine) Cultural depictions of Elvis Presley {{1980s-story-stub