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{{Infobox_President| name=Dwight David Eisenhower| nationality=American| image=General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower 1947.jpg| order=34th
President of the United States [1953 [1961| successor=[John F. Kennedy| term_start2=[April 2,
1951, [1952| birth_date=| birth_place=[Denison, Texas| spouse=[Mamie Eisenhower| alma_mater=
United States Military Academy| occupation=Soldier (General of the Army)]| vicepresident=Richard Nixon| signature=Dwight D. Eisenhower signature.png|-->
Dwight David Eisenhower ([October 14
1890 –
March 28 1969), nicknamed "
Ike", was a five-star General of the Army (United States) in the
United States Army and Politics of the United States, who served as the thirty-fourth
President of the United States (1953–1961). During
World War II, he served as
Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force of the Allies of World War II in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful Battle of Normandy and
Drive to the Siegfried Line in 1944-45. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of
NATO. "Supreme commander", Encyclopædia Britannica, Dwight D. Eisenhower article, p. 3 of 6.
URL retrieved on January 21 2007. As a
History of the United States Republican Party, he was elected the 34th U.S. President, serving for two terms. As president, he oversaw the cease-fire of the Korean War, kept up the pressure on the
Soviet Union during the Cold War, made Nuclear weapons and the United States a higher defense priority, launched the
Space Race, enlarged the
Social Security (United States) program, and began the
Interstate Highway System.
Early life and family
Eisenhower (historically "Eisenhauer") was born
David Dwight Eisenhower in Denison, Texas. "Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower", Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Center, accessed
August 7,
2007 He was the first U.S. President born in Texas. (Lyndon B. Johnson would be the second; Presidents
George H.W. Bush and
George W. Bush spent significant political years in Texas, but were not native-born.) Eisenhower was the third of seven sons born to David Jacob Eisenhower and
Ida Elizabeth Stover. He was named David Dwight and was called Dwight. Later, the order of his given names was switched (according to the staff at the Eisenhower Library and Museum, the name switch occurred upon Eisenhower's matriculation at
United States Military Academy).
Hans Nicol Eisenhauer and his family emigrated from
Großrosseln (
Saarland), Germany to
Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1741. The family settled in Abilene, Kansas in 1892. Eisenhower's father was a college-educated engineer.Growing up, Ike and his brothers were all very competitive and loved sports. When he was fourteen, Ike received an infection in his leg that threatened to spread to his stomach. It kept him bedridden for months and the doctor recommended amputation more than once—Ike, barely conscious at times, steadfastly refused to have his leg amputated and his family respected his wishes. Ambrose (1983), p.as -14 Eisenhower graduated from
Abilene High School (Abilene, Kansas) in 1909.{{cite web|url = http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/Quick_links/Geneology/Doud_Eisenhower_geneaology.html|title = Eisenhower Genealogy|accessdate = 2007-07-12|publisher = Eisenhower Presidential Center-->
in 1916Eisenhower married Mamie Eisenhower (1896–1979) of
Denver, Colorado on July 1
1916. The couple had two sons. Doud Dwight Eisenhower was born September 24,
1917, and was nicknamed "Icky" by his parents, but died of scarlet fever on
January 2,
1921, at the age of three. Lawrence Berger-Knorr,
The Pennsylvania Relations of Dwight D. Eisenhower, p8
John Eisenhower was born the following year on August 3,
1922; John grew up to serve in the United States Army (retiring as a brigadier general from the Army reserve), became an author, and served as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium from 1969 to 1971. John's son,
David Eisenhower, after whom
Camp David is named, married Richard Nixon's daughter
Julie Nixon Eisenhower in 1968.
Religion
David Jacob Eisenhower's family arrived in the United States in 1741 when Hans Nicholas Eisenhauer emigrated from Odenwald, Germany. Eisenhower's mother, Ida E. Eisenhower, previously a member of the River Brethren, joined the Legal instruments of Jehovah's Witnesses (now more commonly known as Jehovah's Witnesses) in 1895, when Eisenhower was 4 or 5 years old. The Eisenhower home served as the local meeting hall from 1896 to 1915.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are opposed to killing or any doctrines such as
militarism; Eisenhower's ties to the group were weakened when he joined the United States Military Academy at
West Point, New York in 1911. By 1915, the home no longer served as the meeting hall. All the men in the household abandoned the Witnesses as adults, and some even hid their previous affiliation.Bergman, Jerry, Ph.D. Northwest State Community College. " Why President Eisenhower Hid His Jehovah's Witness Upbringing". edited version of a paper published in the JW Research Journal, vol. 6, #2, July-Dec., 1999.
URL retrieved on April 29 2007. Eisenhower Library holdings re Jehovah's Witnesses. However, on his death in 1942, Eisenhower's father was given his
funeral rites as though he remained a Jehovah's Witness, and Eisenhower's mother continued as an active Jehovah's Witness until her death. Despite their differences in religious beliefs, Eisenhower enjoyed a close relationship with his mother throughout her lifetime.
Eisenhower was baptized, confirmed, and became a
Eucharist in the Presbyterianism church in a single ceremony on
February 1 1953, just 12 days after his first inauguration.{{cite web] in 1954, and the 1956 adoption of "
In God We Trust" as the
motto of the US, and its 1957 introduction on paper currency. In his retirement years, he was a member of the
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Presbyterian Church. www.gettysburg.com Gettysburg Presbyterian Church.
URL retrieved on April 29 2007. The chapel at his presidential library is intentionally inter-denominational.
Education
Dwight D. Eisenhower (and his six brothers) attended Abilene High School in Abilene, Kansas; Dwight graduated with the class of 1909. He then took a job as a night foreman at the Belle Springs Creamery. "Eisenhower: Soldier of Peace",
Time (magazine). April 4 1969. Page 3 of 10.
URL retrieved on January 5 2007.
After Dwight worked for two years to support his brother Edgar's college education, a friend urged him to apply to the
United States Naval Academy. Though Eisenhower passed the entrance exam, he was beyond the age of eligibility for admission to the Naval Academy. "Biography: DDE", Dwight D. Eisenhower Foundation.
URL retrieved on December 21 2006.
Kansas
United States Senate Joseph L. Bristow recommended Dwight for an appointment to the Military Academy in 1911, which he received. Eisenhower graduated in the upper half "Timeline Biography". Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.
URL retrieved on December 21 2006. of the class of 1915. "Dwight David Eisenhower". Presidents of the United States. Internet Public Library.
URL retrieved on December 21 2006.
Early military career
Eisenhower enrolled at the United States Military Academy at West Point in June 1911. His parents were against militarism, but did not object to his entering West Point because they supported his education. Eisenhower was a strong athlete. In 1912, a spectacular Eisenhower touchdown won praise from the sports reporter of the
New York Herald, and he even managed, with the help of a linebacker partner, to tackle the legendary Jim Thorpe. In the very next week, however, his promising sports career came to a quick and painful end — he injured his knee quite severely when he was tackled around the ankles.© Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, Washington, D.C., 2005
Eisenhower graduated in 1915. He served with the
infantry until 1918 at various camps in Texas and Georgia (U.S. state). During
World War I, Eisenhower became the #3 leader of the new tank corps and rose to temporary
Lieutenant Colonel (United States) in the National Army. He spent the war training tank crews in Pennsylvania and never saw combat. After the war, Eisenhower reverted to his regular rank of
Captain (United States) (and was promoted to
major a few days later) before assuming duties at
Camp Meade, Maryland, where he remained until 1922. His interest in tank warfare was strengthened by many conversations with George S. Patton and other senior tank leaders; however their ideas on tank warfare were strongly discouraged by superiors.Sixsmith, ibid, p.6
Eisenhower became executive officer to General Fox Conner in the
Panama Canal Zone, where he served until 1924. Under Conner's tutelage, he studied military history and theory (including
Karl von Clausewitz's
On War), and later cited Conner's enormous influence on his military thinking. In 1925-26, he attended the
Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and then served as a battalion commander at
Fort Benning, Georgia until 1927., PhilippinesDuring the late 1920s and early 1930s Eisenhower's career in the peacetime Army stagnated; many of his friends resigned for high paying business jobs. He was assigned to the
American Battle Monuments Commission, directed by General John J. Pershing, then to the
Army War College, and then served as executive officer to General George V. Mosely, Assistant Secretary of War, from 1929 to 1933. He then served as chief military aide to General
Douglas MacArthur, Army Chief of staff (military), until 1935, when he accompanied MacArthur to the
Philippines, where he served as assistant military adviser to the Philippine government. It is sometimes said that this assignment provided valuable preparation for handling the egos of
Winston Churchill, George S. Patton and Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein during World War II. Eisenhower was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1936 after sixteen years as a major. He also learned to fly, although he was never rated as a military pilot. He made a solo flight over the Philippines in 1937.
Eisenhower returned to the U.S. in 1939 and held a series of staff positions in
Washington, D.C., California and Texas. In June 1941, he was appointed Chief of Staff to General Walter Krueger, Commander of the 3rd Army, at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. He was promoted to brigadier general in September 1941. Although his administrative abilities had been noticed, on the eve of the U.S. entry into World War II he had never held an active command and was far from being considered as a potential commander of major operations.
World War II
After the Empire of Japan
attack on Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower was assigned to the General Staff in Washington, where he served until June 1942 with responsibility for creating the major war plans to defeat Japan and
Nazi Germany. He was appointed Deputy Chief in charge of Pacific Defenses under the Chief of War Plans Division, General Leonard T. Gerow, and then succeeded Gerow as Chief of the War Plans Division. Then he was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff in charge of Operations Division under Chief of Staff General
George C. Marshall. It was his close association with Marshall which finally brought Eisenhower to senior command positions. Marshall recognized his great organizational and administrative abilities.
In 1942, Eisenhower was appointed Commanding General, European Theater of Operations (ETOUSA) and was based in London. In November, he was also appointed
Supreme Commander Allied (Expeditionary) Force of the
North African Theater of Operations (NATOUSA) through the new operational Headquarters
AFHQ. The word "expeditionary" was dropped soon after his appointment for security reasons. In February 1943, his authority was extended as commander of AFHQ across the Mediterranean basin to include the
British 8th Army, commanded by General Bernard Law Montgomery. The 8th Army had advanced across the Western Desert Campaign from the east and was ready for the start of the
Tunisia Campaign. Eisenhower gained his fourth star and gave up command of ETOUSA to be commander of NATOUSA. After the capitulation of Axis Powers forces in North Africa, Eisenhower remained in command of the renamed
Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO), keeping the operational title and continued in command of NATOUSA redesignated MTOUSA. In this position he oversaw the Operation Husky and the Allied invasion of Italy.
,
101st Airborne Division on the evening of
June 5,
1944.
In December 1943, it was announced that Eisenhower would be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. In January 1944, he resumed command of ETOUSA and the following month was officially designated as the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), serving in a dual role until the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945. In these positions he was charged with planning and carrying out the Allied
Battle of Normandy in June 1944 under the code name
Operation Overlord, the liberation of western Europe and the invasion of Germany. A month after the Normandy
D-Day landings on June 6
1944, the
Operation Dragoon took place, and control of the forces which took part in the southern invasion passed from the AFHQ to the SHAEF. From then until the
The end of World War II in Europe on
May 8 1945, Eisenhower through SHAEF had supreme command of all operational Allied forces
#Notes, and through his command of ETOUSA, administrative command of all U.S. forces, on the
Western Front (WWII)#1944 – 1945 north of the
Alps.
As recognition of his senior position in the Allied command, on December 20
1944, he was promoted to General of the Army (United States) equivalent to the rank of Field Marshal in most European armies. In this and the previous high commands he held, Eisenhower showed his great talents for leadership and diplomacy. Although he had never seen action himself, he won the respect of front-line commanders. He dealt skillfully with difficult subordinates such as Omar Bradley and
George S. Patton, and allies such as
Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and General
Charles de Gaulle. He had fundamental disagreements with Churchill and Montgomery over questions of strategy, but these rarely upset his relationships with them. He negotiated with Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov, and such was the confidence that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had in him, he sometimes worked directly with Joseph Stalin, much to the chagrin of the British High Command who disliked being bypassed. During the advance towards Berlin, he came to the conclusion that Allied forces would suffer an estimated of 100,000 casualties before taking the city. The Soviet Army sustained 80,000 casualties during the fighting in and around Berlin, the last large number of casualties suffered in the war against Nazism.D'Este (2002) pp 694-96; Stephen E. Ambrose,
Eisenhower and Berlin, 1945: The Decision to Halt at the Elbe (2000)
It was never certain that
Operation Overlord would succeed. The seriousness surrounding the entire decision, including the timing and the location of the Normandy invasion, might be summarized by a second shorter speech that Eisenhower wrote in advance, in case he needed it. In it, he states he would take full responsibility for catastrophic failure, should that be the final result. Long after the successful landings on D-Day and the BBC broadcast of Eisenhower's brief speech concerning them, the never-used second speech was found in a shirt pocket by an
Aide-de-camp. It read:
Aftermath of World War II
Following the German unconditional surrender on May 8
1945, Eisenhower was appointed Military Governor of the
Allied Occupation Zones in Germany, based in
Frankfurt am Main. Germany was divided into four Occupation Zones, one each for the U.S., Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. Upon full discovery of the death camps that were part of the Final Solution (the Holocaust), he ordered camera crews to comprehensively document evidence of the atrocity so as to prevent any doubt of its occurrence. He made the decision to reclassify German prisoner of war (POWs) in U.S. custody as
Disarmed Enemy Forces (DEFs), thus depriving them of the protection of the Geneva convention. As DEFs, their food rations could be lowered and they could be compelled to serve as
unfree labor (see
Eisenhower and German POWs). Eisenhower was an early supporter of the Morgenthau Plan to permanently remove Germany's industrial capacity to wage future wars. In November 1945 he approved the distribution of 1000 free copies of
Henry Morgenthau, Jr.'s book
Germany is Our Problem, which promoted and described the plan in detail, to American military officials in occupied Germany. Historian
Stephen Ambrose draws the conclusion that, despite Eisenhower's later claims that the act was not an endorsement of the Morgenthau plan, Eisenhower both approved of the plan and had previously given Morgenthau at least some of his ideas on how Germany should be treated.Stephen Ambrose,
Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect (1893-1952), New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983, p. 422. He also incorporated officials from Morgenthau's
United States Department of the Treasury into the army of occupation. These were commonly called "Morgenthau boys" for their zeal in interpreting the occupation directive
Morgenthau plan#JCS 1067, which had been heavily influenced by Morgenthau and his plan, as strictly as possible.Vladimir Petrov,
Money and conquest; allied occupation currencies in World War II. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press (1967) pp. 228-229Eisenhower served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army from 1945-48. In December 1950, he was named Supreme Commander of the NATO (NATO), and given operational command of NATO forces in Europe. Eisenhower retired from active service on May 31 1952, upon entering politics. He wrote
Crusade in Europe, widely regarded as one of the finest U.S. military memoirs. During this period Eisenhower served as President of Columbia University from 1948 until 1953, though he was on leave from the university while he served as NATO commander.
After his many wartime successes, General Eisenhower returned to the U.S. a great hero. He was unusual for a military hero in that he never saw the front line in his life. The nearest that he came to being under enemy fire was in 1944 when a German fighter strafed the ground while he was inspecting troops in Normandy. Eisenhower dived for cover like everyone else and after the plane flew off, a British brigadier helped him up and seemed very relieved that he was not hurt. When Eisenhower thanked him for his solicitude, the brigadier deflated him by explaining that "my concern was that you should not be injured in my sector". This incident formed part of Eisenhower's fund of funny stories that he would tell now and again.
Not long after his return, a "Draft Eisenhower" movement in the Republican party persuaded him to declare his candidacy in the United States presidential election, 1952 to counter the candidacy of isolationist Senator Robert Taft. (Eisenhower had been courted by both parties in 1948 and had declined to run then.) Eisenhower defeated Taft for the nomination but came to an agreement that Taft would stay out of foreign affairs while Eisenhower followed a conservative domestic policy. Eisenhower's campaign was a crusade against the
Harry S. Truman administration's policies regarding "Korea,
Communism and Corruption" and was also noted for the simple but effective phrase "I Like Ike." Eisenhower promised to go to Korea himself and end the war and maintain both a strong NATO abroad against Communism and a corruption-free frugal administration at home. He and his running mate
Richard Nixon, whose daughter later married Eisenhower's grandson David, defeated Democrats
Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman in a landslide, marking the first Republican return to the White House in 20 years. Eisenhower was the only general to serve as President in the 20th century.
Presidency 1953-1961
,
Nikita Khrushchev and Dwight Eisenhower at a state dinner in 1959 and President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Madrid in 1959 briefs President Eisenhower in front of a Saturn 1 vehicle at the
Marshall Space Flight Center dedication on
September 8, 1960.
Interstate Highway System
One of Eisenhower's most enduring achievements as President was championing and signing the bill that authorized the Interstate Highway System in 1956. He justified the project through the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 as essential to American security during the Cold War. It was believed that large cities would be targets in a possible future war, and the highways were designed to evacuate them and allow the military to move in.
Eisenhower's goal to create improved highways was influenced by his involvement in the U.S. Army's 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy. He was assigned as an observer for the mission, which involved sending a convoy of U.S. Army vehicles coast to coast.Lippman, David H.
The Last Week - The Road to War World War II Plus 55. Chapter 8, Part 1.
URL retrieved on January 9 2007. His subsequent experience with German autobahns during World War II convinced him of the benefits of an Interstate Highway System. "Interstate Highway System", The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
Dynamic Conservatism
Throughout his presidency, Eisenhower preached a doctrine of Dynamic
Conservatism.
Although he maintained a conservative economic policy, he continued all the major New Deal programs still in operation, especially
Social Security (United States). He expanded its programs and rolled them into a new cabinet-level agency, the
United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, while extending benefits to an additional 10 million workers. His cabinet, consisting of several corporate executives and one labor leader, was dubbed by one journalist, "Eight millionaires and a plumber."
Eisenhower was extremely popular, winning his second term in 1956 with 457 of 531 votes in the
Electoral College, and 57.6% of the
popular vote.
Eisenhower Doctrine
After the
Suez Crisis, the United States became the protector of most Western interests in the Middle East. As a result, Eisenhower proclaimed the "
Eisenhower Doctrine" in January 1957. In relation to the Middle East, the U.S. would be "prepared to use armed force... counter aggression from any country controlled by international communism." On
July 15 1958, he sent just under 15,000 soldiers to Lebanon (a combined force of Army and Marine Corps) as part of
Operation Blue Bat, a non-combat peace keeping mission to stabilize the pro-Western government. They left in the following October.
In addition, Eisenhower explored the option of supporting the French colonial forces in
Vietnam who were fighting an independence insurrection there. However, Chief of Staff Matthew Ridgway dissuaded the President from intervening by presenting a comprehensive estimate of the massive military deployment that would be necessary.
Civil Rights
Eisenhower supported the 1954
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka U.S. Supreme Court decision, in which segregated ("Plessy v. Ferguson") schools were ruled to be unconstitutional. The very next day he told District of Columbia officials to make Washington a model for the rest of the country in integrating black and white public school children.Eisenhower (1963) p. 230; Parmet 438; Eisenhower is purported to have regretted his 1953 appointment of California Governor
Earl Warren as Chief Justice of the United States, but no reliable evidence exists. Ibid. 439 His critics complained Eisenhower was never enthusiastic about civil rights, but he did propose to Congress the Civil Rights Acts of Civil Rights Act of 1957 and Civil Rights Act of 1960 and signed those acts into law, although both Acts were very weak and added little to the total electorate. Nonetheless, they constituted the first significant civil rights acts since the 1870s.
The "
Little Rock Nine" incident of 1957 involved state refusal to honor a federal court order to integrate the schools. Eisenhower placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and sent Army troops to escort nine black students into an all-white public school; this integration did not occur without violence, and Eisenhower and Arkansas governor Orval Faubus engaged in tense arguments.
Supreme Court Appointments
Eisenhower appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
States admitted to the Union
Post-presidency
In 1961, Eisenhower became the first U.S. president to be "constitutionally forced" from office, having served the maximum two terms allowed by the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (amendment was ratified in 1951---before Eisenhower took office--but the amendment stipulated that the president at that time, Harry Truman, would not be held to the amendment).
In the 1960 election to choose his successor, Eisenhower endorsed his own Vice President, Republican Richard Nixon against Democrat John F. Kennedy. However, he only campaigned for Nixon in the campaign's final days and even did Nixon some harm when asked by reporters on TV to list one of Nixon's policy ideas he had adopted, replying "give me a week, I might think of one, I don't remember". Kennedy's campaign used the quote in one of their campaign commercials. Nixon lost narrowly to Kennedy.
On January 17
1961, Eisenhower gave his final televised Address to the Nation from the Oval Office. In his farewell speech to the nation, Eisenhower raised the issue of the Cold War and role of the U.S. armed forces. He described the Cold War saying: "We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose and insidious in method..." and warned about what he saw as unjustified government spending proposals and continued with a warning that "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex... Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
After Eisenhower left office, his reputation declined and he was seen as having been a "do-nothing" President. This was partly because of the contrast between Eisenhower and his young activist successor, John F. Kennedy, but also because of his reluctance not only to support the
civil rights movement to the degree that more liberal individuals would have preferred, but also to stop
McCarthyism, even though he opposed McCarthy's tactics and claims. The Presidents - pbs.org Such omissions were held against him during the
American liberalism climate of the 1960s and 1970s. Since that time, however, Eisenhower's reputation has risen because of his non-partisan nature, his wartime leadership,
Little Rock Integration Crisis and an increasing appreciation of how difficult it is today to maintain a prolonged peace. In
Historical rankings of U.S. Presidents of historians, Eisenhower often is ranked in the top 10 among all US Presidents.
Eisenhower retired to the place where he and Mamie had spent much of their post-war time, a working farm adjacent to the battlefield at
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Gettysburg farm is a
Eisenhower National Historic Site . In retirement, he did not completely retreat from political life; he spoke at the
1964 Republican National Convention and appeared with
Barry Goldwater in a Republican campaign commercial from Gettysburg. Web reference
Because of legal issues related to holding a military rank while in a civilian office, Eisenhower resigned his permanent commission as
General of the Army (United States) before entering the office of President of the United States. Upon completion of his Presidential term, his commission on the retired list was reactivated and Eisenhower again was commissioned a five-star general in the United States Army.
Eisenhower died at 12:25 p.m. on
March 28 1969, at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C., of
congestive heart failure. He lies alongside his wife and their first child, who died in childhood, in a small chapel called the Place of Meditation, at the
Eisenhower Presidential Library, located in Abilene. His state funeral was unique because it was presided over by Richard Nixon, who was Vice President under Eisenhower and was serving as President of the United States. US Army website
Tributes and memorials
Eisenhower's picture was on the
Eisenhower Dollar from 1971 to 1978. Nearly 700 million of the copper-nickel clad coins were minted for general circulation, and far smaller numbers of uncirculated and
proof coinage issues (in both copper-nickel and 40% silver varieties) were produced for collectors. He reappeared on a
commemorative silver dollar issued in 1990, celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth, which with a double image of him showed his two roles, as both a soldier and a statesman. As part of the
Presidential $1 Coin Program, Eisenhower will be featured on a gold dollar coin in 2015.
He is remembered for ending the Korean War.
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), the second Nimitz class carrier
supercarrier, was named in his honor.
The
Interstate 290 (Illinois) (Interstate 290), a 30-mile long expressway in the Chicago area, was renamed after him.
The British A4 class steam locomotive No. 4496 (renumbered 60008)
Golden Shuttle was renamed
Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1946. It is preserved at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Eisenhower College was a small, liberal arts college chartered in Seneca Falls, New York in 1965, with classes beginning in 1968. Financial problems forced the school to fall under the management of the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1979. Its last class graduated in 1982.
The Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California was named after the President in 1971.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, located at
Fort Gordon near
Augusta, Georgia, was named in his honor. History of Eisenhower Army Medical Center.
URL retrieved on February 20 2007.
In February 1971,
Dwight D. Eisenhower School of
Freehold Township, New Jersey was officially opened. "Eisenhower Middle School History".
URL retrieved on January 21 2007.The
Eisenhower Tunnel was completed in 1979; it conveys westbound traffic on
I-70 through the
Continental Divide, 60 miles west of Denver, Colorado.
In 1983, The Eisenhower Institute was founded in Washington, D.C., as a policy institute to advance Eisenhower's intellectual and leadership legacies.
In 1999, the
United States Congress created the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, which is in the planning stages of creating an enduring
national memorial in Washington, D.C., across the street from the
National Air and Space Museum on the
National Mall.
A county park in
East Meadow, New York (Long Island) is named in his honor. "Eisenhower Park". Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums.
URL retrieved on January 22 2007. In addition, Eisenhower State Park, Texas on
Lake Texoma near his birthplace of Denison is named in his honor; his actual birthplace is currently operated by the State of Texas as
Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site.
Many public
Eisenhower High School and
Eisenhower Middle School in the U.S. are named after Eisenhower.
There is a Mount Eisenhower in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains (New Hampshire) in New Hampshire.
Awards and decorations
United States awards
in 1969 commemorating Dwight D. EisenhowerIn Order of Precedence
He was also an honorary member of the Boy Scouts of America's Samoset Council#Tom Kita Chara.
International awards
List of citations bestowed by other countries. Eisenhower Decorations & Awards - Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Center
- Argentinian Order of the Liberator San Martin, Great Cross
- Belgian Order of Leopold
- Belgian Croix de Guerre
- Brazil Campaign Medal
- Brazil War Medal
- Brazilian Order of Military Merit, Grand Cross
- Brazilian Order of Aeronautical Merit, Grand Cross
- Brazilian National Order of the Southern Cross
- British Order of the Bath, Knight Grand Cross
- British Order of Merit (Commonwealth)
- British Africa Star with "8" and "1" numerical devices.
- Chilean Chief Commander of the Order of Merit
- Chinese Order of Yun Hui, Grand Cordon
- Chinese Order of Yun Fei, Grand Cordon
- Order of the White Lion
- Czechoslovakian Golden Star of Victory
- Order of the Elephant
- Ecuadorian Star of Abdon Calderon
- Egyptian Order of Ismal, Grand Cordon
- Ethiopian Order of Solomon
- Croix de Guerre
- Légion d'honneur
- Ordre de la Libération
- Médaille Militaire
- Italy: Military Order of Italy, Knight Grand Cross
- Italy: Order of Malta
- Greece Order of George I with swords
- Guatemalan Cross of Military Merit, First Class
- Haitian Order of Honor and Merit, Grand Cross
- Luxembourg Medal of Merit
- Luxembourg War Cross
- Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, First Class
- Mexican Medal of Civic Merit
- Mexican Order of Military Merit
- Moroccan Order of Ouissam Alaouite
- Netherlands Order of the Dutch Lion, Grand Cross
- Norwegian The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav
- Pakistanian Order of Pakistan, Nisham, First Class
- Panama Order of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Grand Cross
- Panama Order of Manuel Amador Guerrero, Grand Master (collar grade)
- Philippines Distinguished Service Star
- Philippines Shield of Honor Medal, Chief Commander
- Philippines Order of Sikatuna, Raja (First Class)
- Polish Cross of Grunwald
- Polish Rastituta Chevalier
- Polish Virtuti Militari
- Soviet Order of Suvorov
- Soviet Order of Victory
- Tunisian Order of Nichan Iftikhar, Gand Cordon
Other honors
See also
Footnotes
Bibliography
Military career
- Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890-1952 (1983);
- D'Este, Carlo. Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life (2002), military biography to 1945
- Eisenhower, David. Eisenhower at War 1943-1945 (1986), detailed study by his grandson
- Irish, Kerry E. "Apt Pupil: Dwight Eisenhower and the 1930 Industrial Mobilization Plan," The Journal of Military History 70.1 (2006) 31-61 online in Project Muse.
- Pogue, Forrest C. The Supreme Command (1996) official Army history of SHAEF
- Sixsmith, E.K.G. Eisenhower, His Life and Campaigns (1973), military
- Russell Weigley. Eisenhower's Lieutenants. Indiana University Press, 1981. Ike's dealings with his key generals in WW2
Civilian career
- Albertson, Dean, ed. Eisenhower as President (1963).
- Alexander, Charles C. Holding the Line: The Eisenhower Era, 1952-1961 (1975).
- Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890-1952 (1983); Eisenhower. The President (1984); one volume edition titled Eisenhower: Soldier and President (2003). Standard biography.
- Bowie, Robert R. and Richard H. Immerman; Waging Peace: How Eisenhower Shaped an Enduring Cold War Strategy, Oxford University Press, 1998.
- Damms, Richard V. The Eisenhower Presidency, 1953-1961 (2002).
- David Paul T. (ed.), Presidential Nominating Politics in 1952. 5 vols., Johns Hopkins Press, 1954.
- Divine, Robert A. Eisenhower and the Cold War (1981).
- Greenstein, Fred I. The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader (1991).
- Harris, Douglas B. "Dwight Eisenhower and the New Deal: The Politics of Preemption" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997.
- Harris, Seymour E. The Economics of the Political Parties, with Special Attention to Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy (1962).
- Krieg, Joann P. ed. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Soldier, President, Statesman (1987). 24 essays by scholars.
- McAuliffe, Mary S. "Eisenhower, the President", Journal of American History 68 (1981), pp. 625-632.
- Medhurst, Martin J. Dwight D. Eisenhower: Strategic Communicator Greenwood Press, 1993.
- Pach, Chester J. and Elmo Richardson. Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower (1991). Standard scholarly survey.
- Parmet, Herbert S. Eisenhower and the American Crusades (1972). Scholarly biography of post 1945 years.
Primary sources
- Boyle, Peter G., ed. The Churchill-Eisenhower Correspondence, 1953-1955 University of North Carolina Press, 1990.
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. Crusade in Europe (1948), his war memoirs.
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. Mandate for Change, 1953-1956 (1963).
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. Waging Peace (1965), presidency 1956-1960.
- Eisenhower Papers 21 volume scholarly edition; complete for 1940-1961.
- Summersby, Kay. Eisenhower was my boss (1948) New York: Prentice Hall; (1949) Dell paperback.
Media
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External links
- Extensive essay on Dwight D. Eisenhower (with shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs)
- Full audio of Eisenhower speeches via the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)
- Eisenhower's Secret White House Recordings via the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)
- Audio clips of Eisenhower's speeches
- Dwight David Eisenhower biography
- Eisenhower Chronology World History Database
- Eisenhower Home and Tomb
- Essay: Why the Eisenhower administration embraced nuclear weapons (PDF)
- wikisource:Eisenhower's farewell address (Wikisource)
- Guardians of Freedom - 50th Anniversary of Operation Arkansas, by ARMY.MIL
- First Inaugural Address
- Original Document: D-Day Statement from Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Second Inaugural Address
- Spartacus Educational Biography
- The Arms of Dwight David Eisenhower
- The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission
- The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum
- The Last Salute: Civil and Military Funeral, 1921-1969, CHAPTER XXIX, Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, State Funeral, 28 March-2 April 1969 by B. C. Mossman and M. W. Stark
- The Presidential Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower (searchable online)
-
{{Infobox_President| name=Dwight David Eisenhower| nationality=American| image=General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower 1947.jpg| order=34th President of the United States [1953 [1961| successor=[John F. Kennedy| term_start2=[April 2, 1951, [1952| birth_date=| birth_place=[Denison, Texas| spouse=[Mamie Eisenhower| alma_mater=United States Military Academy| occupation=Soldier (General of the Army)]| vicepresident=Richard Nixon| signature=Dwight D. Eisenhower signature.png|-->Dwight David Eisenhower ([October 14 1890 – March 28 1969), nicknamed "Ike", was a five-star General of the Army (United States) in the United States Army and Politics of the United States, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953–1961). During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force of the Allies of World War II in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful Battle of Normandy and Drive to the Siegfried Line in 1944-45. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO. "Supreme commander", Encyclopædia Britannica, Dwight D. Eisenhower article, p. 3 of 6. URL retrieved on January 21 2007. As a History of the United States Republican Party, he was elected the 34th U.S. President, serving for two terms. As president, he oversaw the cease-fire of the Korean War, kept up the pressure on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, made Nuclear weapons and the United States a higher defense priority, launched the Space Race, enlarged the Social Security (United States) program, and began the Interstate Highway System.
Early life and family
Eisenhower (historically "Eisenhauer") was born David Dwight Eisenhower in Denison, Texas. "Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower", Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Center, accessed August 7, 2007 He was the first U.S. President born in Texas. (Lyndon B. Johnson would be the second; Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush spent significant political years in Texas, but were not native-born.) Eisenhower was the third of seven sons born to David Jacob Eisenhower and Ida Elizabeth Stover. He was named David Dwight and was called Dwight. Later, the order of his given names was switched (according to the staff at the Eisenhower Library and Museum, the name switch occurred upon Eisenhower's matriculation at United States Military Academy). Hans Nicol Eisenhauer and his family emigrated from Großrosseln (Saarland), Germany to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1741. The family settled in Abilene, Kansas in 1892. Eisenhower's father was a college-educated engineer.Growing up, Ike and his brothers were all very competitive and loved sports. When he was fourteen, Ike received an infection in his leg that threatened to spread to his stomach. It kept him bedridden for months and the doctor recommended amputation more than once—Ike, barely conscious at times, steadfastly refused to have his leg amputated and his family respected his wishes. Ambrose (1983), p.as -14 Eisenhower graduated from Abilene High School (Abilene, Kansas) in 1909.{{cite web|url = http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/Quick_links/Geneology/Doud_Eisenhower_geneaology.html|title = Eisenhower Genealogy|accessdate = 2007-07-12|publisher = Eisenhower Presidential Center-->
in 1916Eisenhower married Mamie Eisenhower (1896–1979) of Denver, Colorado on July 1 1916. The couple had two sons. Doud Dwight Eisenhower was born September 24, 1917, and was nicknamed "Icky" by his parents, but died of scarlet fever on January 2, 1921, at the age of three. Lawrence Berger-Knorr, The Pennsylvania Relations of Dwight D. Eisenhower, p8 John Eisenhower was born the following year on August 3, 1922; John grew up to serve in the United States Army (retiring as a brigadier general from the Army reserve), became an author, and served as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium from 1969 to 1971. John's son, David Eisenhower, after whom Camp David is named, married Richard Nixon's daughter Julie Nixon Eisenhower in 1968.
Religion
David Jacob Eisenhower's family arrived in the United States in 1741 when Hans Nicholas Eisenhauer emigrated from Odenwald, Germany. Eisenhower's mother, Ida E. Eisenhower, previously a member of the River Brethren, joined the Legal instruments of Jehovah's Witnesses (now more commonly known as Jehovah's Witnesses) in 1895, when Eisenhower was 4 or 5 years old. The Eisenhower home served as the local meeting hall from 1896 to 1915.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are opposed to killing or any doctrines such as militarism; Eisenhower's ties to the group were weakened when he joined the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1911. By 1915, the home no longer served as the meeting hall. All the men in the household abandoned the Witnesses as adults, and some even hid their previous affiliation.Bergman, Jerry, Ph.D. Northwest State Community College. " Why President Eisenhower Hid His Jehovah's Witness Upbringing". edited version of a paper published in the JW Research Journal, vol. 6, #2, July-Dec., 1999. URL retrieved on April 29 2007. Eisenhower Library holdings re Jehovah's Witnesses. However, on his death in 1942, Eisenhower's father was given his funeral rites as though he remained a Jehovah's Witness, and Eisenhower's mother continued as an active Jehovah's Witness until her death. Despite their differences in religious beliefs, Eisenhower enjoyed a close relationship with his mother throughout her lifetime.
Eisenhower was baptized, confirmed, and became a Eucharist in the Presbyterianism church in a single ceremony on February 1 1953, just 12 days after his first inauguration.{{cite web] in 1954, and the 1956 adoption of "In God We Trust" as the motto of the US, and its 1957 introduction on paper currency. In his retirement years, he was a member of the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Presbyterian Church. www.gettysburg.com Gettysburg Presbyterian Church. URL retrieved on April 29 2007. The chapel at his presidential library is intentionally inter-denominational.
Education
Dwight D. Eisenhower (and his six brothers) attended Abilene High School in Abilene, Kansas; Dwight graduated with the class of 1909. He then took a job as a night foreman at the Belle Springs Creamery. "Eisenhower: Soldier of Peace", Time (magazine). April 4 1969. Page 3 of 10. URL retrieved on January 5 2007.
After Dwight worked for two years to support his brother Edgar's college education, a friend urged him to apply to the United States Naval Academy. Though Eisenhower passed the entrance exam, he was beyond the age of eligibility for admission to the Naval Academy. "Biography: DDE", Dwight D. Eisenhower Foundation. URL retrieved on December 21 2006.
Kansas United States Senate Joseph L. Bristow recommended Dwight for an appointment to the Military Academy in 1911, which he received. Eisenhower graduated in the upper half "Timeline Biography". Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library. URL retrieved on December 21 2006. of the class of 1915. "Dwight David Eisenhower". Presidents of the United States. Internet Public Library. URL retrieved on December 21 2006.
Early military career
Eisenhower enrolled at the United States Military Academy at West Point in June 1911. His parents were against militarism, but did not object to his entering West Point because they supported his education. Eisenhower was a strong athlete. In 1912, a spectacular Eisenhower touchdown won praise from the sports reporter of the New York Herald, and he even managed, with the help of a linebacker partner, to tackle the legendary Jim Thorpe. In the very next week, however, his promising sports career came to a quick and painful end — he injured his knee quite severely when he was tackled around the ankles.© Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, Washington, D.C., 2005
Eisenhower graduated in 1915. He served with the infantry until 1918 at various camps in Texas and Georgia (U.S. state). During World War I, Eisenhower became the #3 leader of the new tank corps and rose to temporary Lieutenant Colonel (United States) in the National Army. He spent the war training tank crews in Pennsylvania and never saw combat. After the war, Eisenhower reverted to his regular rank of Captain (United States) (and was promoted to major a few days later) before assuming duties at Camp Meade, Maryland, where he remained until 1922. His interest in tank warfare was strengthened by many conversations with George S. Patton and other senior tank leaders; however their ideas on tank warfare were strongly discouraged by superiors.Sixsmith, ibid, p.6
Eisenhower became executive officer to General Fox Conner in the Panama Canal Zone, where he served until 1924. Under Conner's tutelage, he studied military history and theory (including Karl von Clausewitz's On War), and later cited Conner's enormous influence on his military thinking. In 1925-26, he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and then served as a battalion commander at Fort Benning, Georgia until 1927., PhilippinesDuring the late 1920s and early 1930s Eisenhower's career in the peacetime Army stagnated; many of his friends resigned for high paying business jobs. He was assigned to the American Battle Monuments Commission, directed by General John J. Pershing, then to the Army War College, and then served as executive officer to General George V. Mosely, Assistant Secretary of War, from 1929 to 1933. He then served as chief military aide to General Douglas MacArthur, Army Chief of staff (military), until 1935, when he accompanied MacArthur to the Philippines, where he served as assistant military adviser to the Philippine government. It is sometimes said that this assignment provided valuable preparation for handling the egos of Winston Churchill, George S. Patton and Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein during World War II. Eisenhower was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1936 after sixteen years as a major. He also learned to fly, although he was never rated as a military pilot. He made a solo flight over the Philippines in 1937.
Eisenhower returned to the U.S. in 1939 and held a series of staff positions in Washington, D.C., California and Texas. In June 1941, he was appointed Chief of Staff to General Walter Krueger, Commander of the 3rd Army, at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. He was promoted to brigadier general in September 1941. Although his administrative abilities had been noticed, on the eve of the U.S. entry into World War II he had never held an active command and was far from being considered as a potential commander of major operations.
World War II
After the Empire of Japan attack on Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower was assigned to the General Staff in Washington, where he served until June 1942 with responsibility for creating the major war plans to defeat Japan and Nazi Germany. He was appointed Deputy Chief in charge of Pacific Defenses under the Chief of War Plans Division, General Leonard T. Gerow, and then succeeded Gerow as Chief of the War Plans Division. Then he was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff in charge of Operations Division under Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall. It was his close association with Marshall which finally brought Eisenhower to senior command positions. Marshall recognized his great organizational and administrative abilities.
In 1942, Eisenhower was appointed Commanding General, European Theater of Operations (ETOUSA) and was based in London. In November, he was also appointed Supreme Commander Allied (Expeditionary) Force of the North African Theater of Operations (NATOUSA) through the new operational Headquarters AFHQ. The word "expeditionary" was dropped soon after his appointment for security reasons. In February 1943, his authority was extended as commander of AFHQ across the Mediterranean basin to include the British 8th Army, commanded by General Bernard Law Montgomery. The 8th Army had advanced across the Western Desert Campaign from the east and was ready for the start of the Tunisia Campaign. Eisenhower gained his fourth star and gave up command of ETOUSA to be commander of NATOUSA. After the capitulation of Axis Powers forces in North Africa, Eisenhower remained in command of the renamed Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO), keeping the operational title and continued in command of NATOUSA redesignated MTOUSA. In this position he oversaw the Operation Husky and the Allied invasion of Italy.
, 101st Airborne Division on the evening of June 5, 1944.
In December 1943, it was announced that Eisenhower would be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. In January 1944, he resumed command of ETOUSA and the following month was officially designated as the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), serving in a dual role until the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945. In these positions he was charged with planning and carrying out the Allied Battle of Normandy in June 1944 under the code name Operation Overlord, the liberation of western Europe and the invasion of Germany. A month after the Normandy D-Day landings on June 6 1944, the Operation Dragoon took place, and control of the forces which took part in the southern invasion passed from the AFHQ to the SHAEF. From then until the The end of World War II in Europe on May 8 1945, Eisenhower through SHAEF had supreme command of all operational Allied forces#Notes, and through his command of ETOUSA, administrative command of all U.S. forces, on the Western Front (WWII)#1944 – 1945 north of the Alps.
As recognition of his senior position in the Allied command, on December 20 1944, he was promoted to General of the Army (United States) equivalent to the rank of Field Marshal in most European armies. In this and the previous high commands he held, Eisenhower showed his great talents for leadership and diplomacy. Although he had never seen action himself, he won the respect of front-line commanders. He dealt skillfully with difficult subordinates such as Omar Bradley and George S. Patton, and allies such as Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and General Charles de Gaulle. He had fundamental disagreements with Churchill and Montgomery over questions of strategy, but these rarely upset his relationships with them. He negotiated with Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov, and such was the confidence that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had in him, he sometimes worked directly with Joseph Stalin, much to the chagrin of the British High Command who disliked being bypassed. During the advance towards Berlin, he came to the conclusion that Allied forces would suffer an estimated of 100,000 casualties before taking the city. The Soviet Army sustained 80,000 casualties during the fighting in and around Berlin, the last large number of casualties suffered in the war against Nazism.D'Este (2002) pp 694-96; Stephen E. Ambrose, Eisenhower and Berlin, 1945: The Decision to Halt at the Elbe (2000)
It was never certain that Operation Overlord would succeed. The seriousness surrounding the entire decision, including the timing and the location of the Normandy invasion, might be summarized by a second shorter speech that Eisenhower wrote in advance, in case he needed it. In it, he states he would take full responsibility for catastrophic failure, should that be the final result. Long after the successful landings on D-Day and the BBC broadcast of Eisenhower's brief speech concerning them, the never-used second speech was found in a shirt pocket by an Aide-de-camp. It read:
Aftermath of World War II
Following the German unconditional surrender on May 8 1945, Eisenhower was appointed Military Governor of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany, based in Frankfurt am Main. Germany was divided into four Occupation Zones, one each for the U.S., Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. Upon full discovery of the death camps that were part of the Final Solution (the Holocaust), he ordered camera crews to comprehensively document evidence of the atrocity so as to prevent any doubt of its occurrence. He made the decision to reclassify German prisoner of war (POWs) in U.S. custody as Disarmed Enemy Forces (DEFs), thus depriving them of the protection of the Geneva convention. As DEFs, their food rations could be lowered and they could be compelled to serve as unfree labor (see Eisenhower and German POWs). Eisenhower was an early supporter of the Morgenthau Plan to permanently remove Germany's industrial capacity to wage future wars. In November 1945 he approved the distribution of 1000 free copies of Henry Morgenthau, Jr.'s book Germany is Our Problem, which promoted and described the plan in detail, to American military officials in occupied Germany. Historian Stephen Ambrose draws the conclusion that, despite Eisenhower's later claims that the act was not an endorsement of the Morgenthau plan, Eisenhower both approved of the plan and had previously given Morgenthau at least some of his ideas on how Germany should be treated.Stephen Ambrose, Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect (1893-1952), New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983, p. 422. He also incorporated officials from Morgenthau's United States Department of the Treasury into the army of occupation. These were commonly called "Morgenthau boys" for their zeal in interpreting the occupation directive Morgenthau plan#JCS 1067, which had been heavily influenced by Morgenthau and his plan, as strictly as possible.Vladimir Petrov, Money and conquest; allied occupation currencies in World War II. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press (1967) pp. 228-229Eisenhower served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army from 1945-48. In December 1950, he was named Supreme Commander of the NATO (NATO), and given operational command of NATO forces in Europe. Eisenhower retired from active service on May 31 1952, upon entering politics. He wrote Crusade in Europe, widely regarded as one of the finest U.S. military memoirs. During this period Eisenhower served as President of Columbia University from 1948 until 1953, though he was on leave from the university while he served as NATO commander.
After his many wartime successes, General Eisenhower returned to the U.S. a great hero. He was unusual for a military hero in that he never saw the front line in his life. The nearest that he came to being under enemy fire was in 1944 when a German fighter strafed the ground while he was inspecting troops in Normandy. Eisenhower dived for cover like everyone else and after the plane flew off, a British brigadier helped him up and seemed very relieved that he was not hurt. When Eisenhower thanked him for his solicitude, the brigadier deflated him by explaining that "my concern was that you should not be injured in my sector". This incident formed part of Eisenhower's fund of funny stories that he would tell now and again.
Not long after his return, a "Draft Eisenhower" movement in the Republican party persuaded him to declare his candidacy in the United States presidential election, 1952 to counter the candidacy of isolationist Senator Robert Taft. (Eisenhower had been courted by both parties in 1948 and had declined to run then.) Eisenhower defeated Taft for the nomination but came to an agreement that Taft would stay out of foreign affairs while Eisenhower followed a conservative domestic policy. Eisenhower's campaign was a crusade against the Harry S. Truman administration's policies regarding "Korea, Communism and Corruption" and was also noted for the simple but effective phrase "I Like Ike." Eisenhower promised to go to Korea himself and end the war and maintain both a strong NATO abroad against Communism and a corruption-free frugal administration at home. He and his running mate Richard Nixon, whose daughter later married Eisenhower's grandson David, defeated Democrats Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman in a landslide, marking the first Republican return to the White House in 20 years. Eisenhower was the only general to serve as President in the 20th century.
Presidency 1953-1961
, Nikita Khrushchev and Dwight Eisenhower at a state dinner in 1959 and President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Madrid in 1959 briefs President Eisenhower in front of a Saturn 1 vehicle at the Marshall Space Flight Center dedication on September 8, 1960.
Interstate Highway System
One of Eisenhower's most enduring achievements as President was championing and signing the bill that authorized the Interstate Highway System in 1956. He justified the project through the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 as essential to American security during the Cold War. It was believed that large cities would be targets in a possible future war, and the highways were designed to evacuate them and allow the military to move in.
Eisenhower's goal to create improved highways was influenced by his involvement in the U.S. Army's 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy. He was assigned as an observer for the mission, which involved sending a convoy of U.S. Army vehicles coast to coast.Lippman, David H. The Last Week - The Road to War World War II Plus 55. Chapter 8, Part 1. URL retrieved on January 9 2007. His subsequent experience with German autobahns during World War II convinced him of the benefits of an Interstate Highway System. "Interstate Highway System", The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
Dynamic Conservatism
Throughout his presidency, Eisenhower preached a doctrine of Dynamic Conservatism.
Although he maintained a conservative economic policy, he continued all the major New Deal programs still in operation, especially Social Security (United States). He expanded its programs and rolled them into a new cabinet-level agency, the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, while extending benefits to an additional 10 million workers. His cabinet, consisting of several corporate executives and one labor leader, was dubbed by one journalist, "Eight millionaires and a plumber."
Eisenhower was extremely popular, winning his second term in 1956 with 457 of 531 votes in the Electoral College, and 57.6% of the popular vote.
Eisenhower Doctrine
After the Suez Crisis, the United States became the protector of most Western interests in the Middle East. As a result, Eisenhower proclaimed the "Eisenhower Doctrine" in January 1957. In relation to the Middle East, the U.S. would be "prepared to use armed force... counter aggression from any country controlled by international communism." On July 15 1958, he sent just under 15,000 soldiers to Lebanon (a combined force of Army and Marine Corps) as part of Operation Blue Bat, a non-combat peace keeping mission to stabilize the pro-Western government. They left in the following October.
In addition, Eisenhower explored the option of supporting the French colonial forces in Vietnam who were fighting an independence insurrection there. However, Chief of Staff Matthew Ridgway dissuaded the President from intervening by presenting a comprehensive estimate of the massive military deployment that would be necessary.
Civil Rights
Eisenhower supported the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka U.S. Supreme Court decision, in which segregated ("Plessy v. Ferguson") schools were ruled to be unconstitutional. The very next day he told District of Columbia officials to make Washington a model for the rest of the country in integrating black and white public school children.Eisenhower (1963) p. 230; Parmet 438; Eisenhower is purported to have regretted his 1953 appointment of California Governor Earl Warren as Chief Justice of the United States, but no reliable evidence exists. Ibid. 439 His critics complained Eisenhower was never enthusiastic about civil rights, but he did propose to Congress the Civil Rights Acts of Civil Rights Act of 1957 and Civil Rights Act of 1960 and signed those acts into law, although both Acts were very weak and added little to the total electorate. Nonetheless, they constituted the first significant civil rights acts since the 1870s.
The "Little Rock Nine" incident of 1957 involved state refusal to honor a federal court order to integrate the schools. Eisenhower placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and sent Army troops to escort nine black students into an all-white public school; this integration did not occur without violence, and Eisenhower and Arkansas governor Orval Faubus engaged in tense arguments.
Supreme Court Appointments
Eisenhower appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
States admitted to the Union
- Alaska – January 3 1959 49th state
- Hawaii – August 21 1959 50th state
Post-presidency
In 1961, Eisenhower became the first U.S. president to be "constitutionally forced" from office, having served the maximum two terms allowed by the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (amendment was ratified in 1951---before Eisenhower took office--but the amendment stipulated that the president at that time, Harry Truman, would not be held to the amendment).
In the 1960 election to choose his successor, Eisenhower endorsed his own Vice President, Republican Richard Nixon against Democrat John F. Kennedy. However, he only campaigned for Nixon in the campaign's final days and even did Nixon some harm when asked by reporters on TV to list one of Nixon's policy ideas he had adopted, replying "give me a week, I might think of one, I don't remember". Kennedy's campaign used the quote in one of their campaign commercials. Nixon lost narrowly to Kennedy.
On January 17 1961, Eisenhower gave his final televised Address to the Nation from the Oval Office. In his farewell speech to the nation, Eisenhower raised the issue of the Cold War and role of the U.S. armed forces. He described the Cold War saying: "We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose and insidious in method..." and warned about what he saw as unjustified government spending proposals and continued with a warning that "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex... Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
After Eisenhower left office, his reputation declined and he was seen as having been a "do-nothing" President. This was partly because of the contrast between Eisenhower and his young activist successor, John F. Kennedy, but also because of his reluctance not only to support the civil rights movement to the degree that more liberal individuals would have preferred, but also to stop McCarthyism, even though he opposed McCarthy's tactics and claims. The Presidents - pbs.org Such omissions were held against him during the American liberalism climate of the 1960s and 1970s. Since that time, however, Eisenhower's reputation has risen because of his non-partisan nature, his wartime leadership, Little Rock Integration Crisis and an increasing appreciation of how difficult it is today to maintain a prolonged peace. In Historical rankings of U.S. Presidents of historians, Eisenhower often is ranked in the top 10 among all US Presidents.
Eisenhower retired to the place where he and Mamie had spent much of their post-war time, a working farm adjacent to the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Gettysburg farm is a Eisenhower National Historic Site . In retirement, he did not completely retreat from political life; he spoke at the 1964 Republican National Convention and appeared with Barry Goldwater in a Republican campaign commercial from Gettysburg. Web reference
Because of legal issues related to holding a military rank while in a civilian office, Eisenhower resigned his permanent commission as General of the Army (United States) before entering the office of President of the United States. Upon completion of his Presidential term, his commission on the retired list was reactivated and Eisenhower again was commissioned a five-star general in the United States Army.
Eisenhower died at 12:25 p.m. on March 28 1969, at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C., of congestive heart failure. He lies alongside his wife and their first child, who died in childhood, in a small chapel called the Place of Meditation, at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, located in Abilene. His state funeral was unique because it was presided over by Richard Nixon, who was Vice President under Eisenhower and was serving as President of the United States. US Army website
Tributes and memorials
Eisenhower's picture was on the Eisenhower Dollar from 1971 to 1978. Nearly 700 million of the copper-nickel clad coins were minted for general circulation, and far smaller numbers of uncirculated and proof coinage issues (in both copper-nickel and 40% silver varieties) were produced for collectors. He reappeared on a commemorative silver dollar issued in 1990, celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth, which with a double image of him showed his two roles, as both a soldier and a statesman. As part of the Presidential $1 Coin Program, Eisenhower will be featured on a gold dollar coin in 2015.
He is remembered for ending the Korean War. USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), the second Nimitz class carrier supercarrier, was named in his honor.
The Interstate 290 (Illinois) (Interstate 290), a 30-mile long expressway in the Chicago area, was renamed after him.
The British A4 class steam locomotive No. 4496 (renumbered 60008) Golden Shuttle was renamed Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1946. It is preserved at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Eisenhower College was a small, liberal arts college chartered in Seneca Falls, New York in 1965, with classes beginning in 1968. Financial problems forced the school to fall under the management of the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1979. Its last class graduated in 1982.
The Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California was named after the President in 1971.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, located at Fort Gordon near Augusta, Georgia, was named in his honor. History of Eisenhower Army Medical Center. URL retrieved on February 20 2007.
In February 1971, Dwight D. Eisenhower School of Freehold Township, New Jersey was officially opened. "Eisenhower Middle School History". URL retrieved on January 21 2007.
The Eisenhower Tunnel was completed in 1979; it conveys westbound traffic on I-70 through the Continental Divide, 60 miles west of Denver, Colorado.
In 1983, The Eisenhower Institute was founded in Washington, D.C., as a policy institute to advance Eisenhower's intellectual and leadership legacies.
In 1999, the United States Congress created the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, which is in the planning stages of creating an enduring national memorial in Washington, D.C., across the street from the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall.
A county park in East Meadow, New York (Long Island) is named in his honor. "Eisenhower Park". Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums. URL retrieved on January 22 2007. In addition, Eisenhower State Park, Texas on Lake Texoma near his birthplace of Denison is named in his honor; his actual birthplace is currently operated by the State of Texas as Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site.
Many public Eisenhower High School and Eisenhower Middle School in the U.S. are named after Eisenhower.
There is a Mount Eisenhower in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains (New Hampshire) in New Hampshire.
Awards and decorations
United States awards
in 1969 commemorating Dwight D. EisenhowerIn Order of Precedence
He was also an honorary member of the Boy Scouts of America's Samoset Council#Tom Kita Chara.
International awards
List of citations bestowed by other countries. Eisenhower Decorations & Awards - Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Center
- Argentinian Order of the Liberator San Martin, Great Cross
- Belgian Order of Leopold
- Belgian Croix de Guerre
- Brazil Campaign Medal
- Brazil War Medal
- Brazilian Order of Military Merit, Grand Cross
- Brazilian Order of Aeronautical Merit, Grand Cross
- Brazilian National Order of the Southern Cross
- British Order of the Bath, Knight Grand Cross
- British Order of Merit (Commonwealth)
- British Africa Star with "8" and "1" numerical devices.
- Chilean Chief Commander of the Order of Merit
- Chinese Order of Yun Hui, Grand Cordon
- Chinese Order of Yun Fei, Grand Cordon
- Order of the White Lion
- Czechoslovakian Golden Star of Victory
- Order of the Elephant
- Ecuadorian Star of Abdon Calderon
- Egyptian Order of Ismal, Grand Cordon
- Ethiopian Order of Solomon
- Croix de Guerre
- Légion d'honneur
- Ordre de la Libération
- Médaille Militaire
- Italy: Military Order of Italy, Knight Grand Cross
- Italy: Order of Malta
- Greece Order of George I with swords
- Guatemalan Cross of Military Merit, First Class
- Haitian Order of Honor and Merit, Grand Cross
- Luxembourg Medal of Merit
- Luxembourg War Cross
- Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, First Class
- Mexican Medal of Civic Merit
- Mexican Order of Military Merit
- Moroccan Order of Ouissam Alaouite
- Netherlands Order of the Dutch Lion, Grand Cross
- Norwegian The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav
- Pakistanian Order of Pakistan, Nisham, First Class
- Panama Order of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Grand Cross
- Panama Order of Manuel Amador Guerrero, Grand Master (collar grade)
- Philippines Distinguished Service Star
- Philippines Shield of Honor Medal, Chief Commander
- Philippines Order of Sikatuna, Raja (First Class)
- Polish Cross of Grunwald
- Polish Rastituta Chevalier
- Polish Virtuti Militari
- Soviet Order of Suvorov
- Soviet Order of Victory
- Tunisian Order of Nichan Iftikhar, Gand Cordon
Other honors
- Eisenhower's name was given to a variety of streets, avenues, etc., in cities around the world, including Paris, France.
- In December 1999, Eisenhower was listed on Gallup's List of Widely Admired People.
See also
Footnotes
Bibliography
Military career
- Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890-1952 (1983);
- D'Este, Carlo. Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life (2002), military biography to 1945
- Eisenhower, David. Eisenhower at War 1943-1945 (1986), detailed study by his grandson
- Irish, Kerry E. "Apt Pupil: Dwight Eisenhower and the 1930 Industrial Mobilization Plan," The Journal of Military History 70.1 (2006) 31-61 online in Project Muse.
- Pogue, Forrest C. The Supreme Command (1996) official Army history of SHAEF
- Sixsmith, E.K.G. Eisenhower, His Life and Campaigns (1973), military
- Russell Weigley. Eisenhower's Lieutenants. Indiana University Press, 1981. Ike's dealings with his key generals in WW2
Civilian career
- Albertson, Dean, ed. Eisenhower as President (1963).
- Alexander, Charles C. Holding the Line: The Eisenhower Era, 1952-1961 (1975).
- Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890-1952 (1983); Eisenhower. The President (1984); one volume edition titled Eisenhower: Soldier and President (2003). Standard biography.
- Bowie, Robert R. and Richard H. Immerman; Waging Peace: How Eisenhower Shaped an Enduring Cold War Strategy, Oxford University Press, 1998.
- Damms, Richard V. The Eisenhower Presidency, 1953-1961 (2002).
- David Paul T. (ed.), Presidential Nominating Politics in 1952. 5 vols., Johns Hopkins Press, 1954.
- Divine, Robert A. Eisenhower and the Cold War (1981).
- Greenstein, Fred I. The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader (1991).
- Harris, Douglas B. "Dwight Eisenhower and the New Deal: The Politics of Preemption" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997.
- Harris, Seymour E. The Economics of the Political Parties, with Special Attention to Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy (1962).
- Krieg, Joann P. ed. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Soldier, President, Statesman (1987). 24 essays by scholars.
- McAuliffe, Mary S. "Eisenhower, the President", Journal of American History 68 (1981), pp. 625-632.
- Medhurst, Martin J. Dwight D. Eisenhower: Strategic Communicator Greenwood Press, 1993.
- Pach, Chester J. and Elmo Richardson. Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower (1991). Standard scholarly survey.
- Parmet, Herbert S. Eisenhower and the American Crusades (1972). Scholarly biography of post 1945 years.
Primary sources
- Boyle, Peter G., ed. The Churchill-Eisenhower Correspondence, 1953-1955 University of North Carolina Press, 1990.
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. Crusade in Europe (1948), his war memoirs.
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. Mandate for Change, 1953-1956 (1963).
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. Waging Peace (1965), presidency 1956-1960.
- Eisenhower Papers 21 volume scholarly edition; complete for 1940-1961.
- Summersby, Kay. Eisenhower was my boss (1948) New York: Prentice Hall; (1949) Dell paperback.
Media
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External links
- Extensive essay on Dwight D. Eisenhower (with shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs)
- Full audio of Eisenhower speeches via the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)
- Eisenhower's Secret White House Recordings via the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)
- Audio clips of Eisenhower's speeches
- Dwight David Eisenhower biography
- Eisenhower Chronology World History Database
- Eisenhower Home and Tomb
- Essay: Why the Eisenhower administration embraced nuclear weapons (PDF)
- wikisource:Eisenhower's farewell address (Wikisource)
- Guardians of Freedom - 50th Anniversary of Operation Arkansas, by ARMY.MIL
- First Inaugural Address
- Original Document: D-Day Statement from Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Second Inaugural Address
- Spartacus Educational Biography
- The Arms of Dwight David Eisenhower
- The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission
- The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum
- The Last Salute: Civil and Military Funeral, 1921-1969, CHAPTER XXIX, Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, State Funeral, 28 March-2 April 1969 by B. C. Mossman and M. W. Stark
- The Presidential Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower (searchable online)
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Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David Eisenhower, the son of a small farmer, was born in Denison, Texas, on 14th October, 1890. He attended West Point Military Academy and graduated in 1915 (61/164).
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