Sentence:  And I select this sentence as its pertinent summation : `` In essence the drama of his ( Eisenhower 's ) Presidency can be described as the <WSD>ordeal</WSD> of a nation turned conservative and struggling - thus far with but limited and precarious success - to give effective voice and force to that conservatism '' . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a severe or trying experience