Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

His accomplishments include WWII commander of the Allies, U.S. Army Chief of Staff (1945- 1948), North Atlantic Treaty Organization military chief (1951-1952), Columbia University President (1948 -1950), and the United States of America’s 34th president. It is agreed by everyone that as a president and as a general Eisenhower was a very likable and popular.

Dwight David Eisenhower was born on October 14 in Denison, Texas. He was the third out of seven sons born to Ida and David Eisenhower. Even though he was born in Texas his supportive family moved to Abilene, Kansas to grow up. Eisenhower’s family was poor as he was growing up (even though he did not know this) so that Dwight knew work and developed a good work ethic. The family smoked their own meat and the mother made and fixed all the boys clothes. Eisenhower, along with his siblings, did chores such as laundry, ironing, feeding the animals, collecting eggs, milking the cows, picking fruit, tending the garden, and washing dishes.

When Dwight was a young child he learned the lesson to only fight for a reasonable purpose that you think can be accomplished. On Halloween Dwight wanted to go out late with his older brother Edgar but his parents thought it would be too late for him to stay out. Dwight thought it was not fair and hit a tree in their yard with his hand as hard as he could. Besides hurting his hand his father whipped him and his hand had to be bandaged. The lesson was learned by Dwight.

In school Dwight was a very active, popular boy. He was a great speller, had a “logical mind”, great memory, and was a good mathematician. Also, Dwight loved sports and excelled at them. Dwight played center field for the baseball team and on the line for his football team. He starred on both of them and was a leader. Once when Dwight raced his friends he fell and hurt his knee. His knee became infected and he got blood poisoning. The doctor wanted to amputate his leg but Dwight refused and asked his brother Edgar to guard the door so that the doctor would not be able to amputate his leg. Dwight said that “he would rather be dead then be a cripple and not be able to play ball”. For two days the Eisenhowers prayed. Dwight not only survived but was eventually able to play sports again.

Dwight David Eisenhower was nicknamed Ike for the “Ei” in Eisenhower. Ike was a commonly used nickname throughout the Eisenhower family. Dwight and his older brother Edgar were so close that their parents sometimes called them “Big Ike” and “Little Ike”.

Edgar and Dwight both wanted to go to college, but since the family was poor their parents had no money for them to be able to attend college. So Edgar and Dwight pooled their money so that they each would be able to go to college. Since Edgar was older his time came first and he chose the University of Michigan. However, Dwight decided it would take much too long to acquire the money necessary for a normal college, so he decided to try and get an appointment to West Point. If he was accepted there, the government would pay for everything and it would be completely free. He was an excellent student and passed the tests for acceptance into West Point. Dwight was hoping to star in both football and baseball but a knee injury prevented him from ever realizing his dreams on the playing fields. He became very depressed when he wasn’t able to play sports any longer. However, the head football coach made him an assistant coach for the first year players and Ike was able to train them well, showing exceptional leadership qualities. Eisenhower graduated in 1915 from West Point and soon after was commissioned an officer in the United States Army.

While stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Eisenhower met Mary Geneva Doud who was nicknamed “Mamie”. They fell in love and were married on July 1, 1916. They had two children named Doud Dwight Eisenhower (1917-1920) and John Sheldon Eisenhower (1922- ). Doud was nicknamed Icky but he died at age three from scarlet fever. Eisenhower thought of Ickie’s death as such a tragedy that he and his wife sent each other flowers every year on his birthday.

In 1914, Eisenhower was anxious to go overseas and fight because he believed that a soldier’s job was fighting. Instead, Eisenhower was kept in the U.S. and became skilled as an excellent trainer and organizer of men. Next, he was executive officer for General Fox Conner who was lead commander of the Panama Canal which Eisenhower traveled with him to in 1922. Eisenhower vowed to be ready and fight hard in the next war that General Fox Conner assured them that was soon to happen. Conner encouraged Eisenhower and helped him get admitted into the General Staff School where Eisenhower graduated first in his class in 1926. Next, he worked as a Battle Monuments Commission and understood the duty as a secretary of war. Also, Eisenhower graduated from Army College where he was rated a superior student. Now he was known as a great staff officer and writer. Next, Eisenhower worked with General Douglas MacArthur as an assistant from 1938-1939 whom Eisenhower thoroughly impressed because MacArthur said, “This is the best officer in the U.S. Army”. Eisenhower worked his way in 1941 to Chief of Staff for the Third Army in 1941. General Eisenhower was highly regarded for his aggressive strategies as a war planner in his duties while Chief of Staff and was soon promoted to Brigadier General. After the attack of Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower was immediately sent to work with George C. Marshall, who was U.S. Army Chief of Staff, to train for battle in WWII.

In 1942, General Eisenhower was sent to England as the head of the American army. Eisenhower helped to shape the war primarily by being a leader in getting everyone to work together, planning strategies, organizing soldiers and generals, performing public relations tasks in helping the general public understand military topics, and solving pretty much any conflict. By 1944 Eisenhower was the commander of the allied forces. His extraordinary qualities included simplicity, kindness, toughness, truthfulness, common sense, persistence, and coordination. Eisenhower was able to get people to understand and work together. Eisenhower was successful in planning and commanding successful invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and D-Day. Operation Overlord, or D-Day as it became more commonly known, was the largest land invasion by sea in the history of warfare. In 1945, Eisenhower was named U.S. Army Chief of Staff, the Americans took over Berlin, and Germany would soon surrender.

Eisenhower turned down a request by the Democrats to run for president in 1948 and instead decided to accept an offer to become president of New York’s Columbia University. Also, in 1950 Harry Truman appointed Eisenhower to be the first Commander of NATO ( National Atlantic Treaty Organization).

In 1952, Dwight Eisenhower decided not to turn down another chance to run for president. He decided to run as a Republican with the very catchy campaign phrase of: “I Like Ike”. It seemed to really strike a nerve with the American public and made

everyone think about Dwight Eisenhower for president. He ran with Richard M. Nixon. And at age 62, Dwight David Eisenhower was elected the 34th president of the United States of America. He went on to serve two terms as a very popular president from January 20th, 1953 until January 20th, 1961. As a Republican president, Eisenhower did as he chose and what he believed was best for the country and did not always vote the conservative party way. He described himself as a “middle-of-the-roader” and neither always overturned traditional Democratic Party legislation or always pushed the Republican Party ideas. If he made any mistakes during his presidency, it would be that he didn’t actively support civil rights legislation as much as he could have and he never took a public stand against Senator Joe McCarthy’s anti-Communist campaigns.

Eisenhower accomplished many things as president. Surprisingly, Eisenhower detested war and wanted to keep peace. As soon as he became president he stopped the Korean War with a truce in 1953. Also, the president tried to promote peace everywhere throughout the world. Eisenhower wanted to try and ease the tensions that had been created by the ongoing Cold War. The U.S. and Russia both had hydrogen/ nuclear weapons which they were ready to use against each other at any time. Eisenhower orchestrated a meeting with the leaders of Russia, Great Britain, and France to try and prevent another war. As president, Eisenhower was very well respected and popular among citizens and officials. In addition, Eisenhower came up with a program called “Atoms for Peace” which showed how atomic energy could be put to good uses besides being put into bombs and weapons. The President also began NASA which is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The president dreamed of someone going to moon and predicted that someday man would eventually go the moon. While Eisenhower was president he enacted legislation to create a better U.S. highway system. He never forgot his younger days traveling around in army trucks that could only go five hours a mile sometimes because of the bad road conditions. He always wanted to be able to travel faster. During Eisenhower’s terms, the television and telephone were invented and put into common household use. Finally, Eisenhower started the process of public school integration. Once, he even sent troops into Arkansas so that black children could be safe to go to an all white school in 1957. All of the above are things that Eisenhower had an active role in that still affect our world today.

Dwight D. Eisenhower finished his second term in 1960. Dwight and Mamie then retired to their Gettysburg farm. Eisenhower was still a very well respected man even during his retirement . Many high government officials came to him for advice including President Kennedy. As a grandfather of four grandchildren Eisenhower spent much time with them. Some of his favorite hobbies then were golf, painting, fishing, and cooking. Eisenhower died on March 28 in 1969 at the age of 79 in Washington D.C.