Who is Dwight David?

I like Ike was the chant of the elections in the 1950s, and there was a reason why the world liked Ike: He was a national and international hero, the supreme commander of the Allied forces and the victor over fascism in Europe. What is not to like and admire?

There was a quiet effectiveness about this man that made him a hero. Both as a general and as a politician, he always took the high road. Even though he suffered by comparison to his highly popular and energetic successor, the tag that he did little is both misleading and historically not correct. We admired him for his determination, respected him for his integrity, and most of all revered him for seeing us through one of the most turbulent times in our history.

What made him the President?

It is often said that throughout its history, the United States has been able to find the right man at the right time. This is arguably the case with Dwight Eisenhower. He demonstrated a remarkable natural ability as a leader, helping the various Allies to work together for one common cause. During his two terms as president, he confronted the Soviet Union as part of the Cold War, ended the Korean War and began the American space program.

Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890, in Denison Texas, son of David Jacob Eisenhower and Ida Elizabeth Stover. He was their only child. Eisenhower could trace his family roots in the United States as far back as 1741, when his Mennonite family immigrated to the American colonies. The family initially settled in the Pennsylvania Dutch community of Lancaster and then in Kansas. Two years after Eisenhower was born, his parents moved the family back to Abilene, Kansas, where his father made a living as a college-educated engineer. Eisenhower was originally named David Dwight but everybody called him Dwight.

Even though his family were pacifists by religion, Eisenhower showed an interest in the military. After graduating from Abilene High School in 1909, he applied for and was accepted into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. Eisenhower was not a top student, but he made an impression as an athlete and a leader.

“His college football career ended, however, when he injured his knee trying to tackle the famous Jim Thorpe.”

Eisenhower graduated from West Point in 1915. Supposedly, his name was officially flipped to Dwight David while he was in school. A year after graduating, he married Mamie Geneva Doud of Denver, Colorado. They had two sons: Doud Dwight Eisenhower who died tragically in childhood, and John Sheldon David Doud Eisenhower, who would go on to serve in World War II and would later become U.S. ambassador to Belgium.

Eisenhower was on the move in the years after graduation. He initially served with the infantry and was eventually promoted to third in command of the new Army tank corps during World War I (attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel). He was made a major after the war and served at Camp Meade, Maryland, until 1922. It was here that Eisenhower would become convinced of the importance of tank warfare in future combat.

In 1924, Eisenhower was transferred to the Panama Canal Zone, where he was executive officer to General Fox Conner. Conner helped Eisenhower expand his knowledge of war strategy and tactics. During the prewar years of the 1920s and 1930s, Eisenhower’s career went nowhere fast. He served as an aide to General Douglas MacArthur (where he learned how to deal with large egos) and was demoted to lieutenant colonel in 1936. Eisenhower returned to the United States in 1939 and worked in several lackluster staff positions in Washington, D.C. A big break came when he was appointed chief of staff to the commander of the 3rd Army in Texas and was promoted to brigadier general in 1941. Eisenhower had made a name as a talented administrator, but at that point had never held an active command.

After the United States entered World War II, Eisenhower returned to the General Staff in Washington, where he helped draw battle plans against the Japanese and Germans. In 1942, he was appointed Commanding General, European Theater of Operations, based in London. He was later made Supreme Commander of the Allied forces fighting in Africa and Italy. Finally, in 1943, Eisenhower was made Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, charged with drafting a plan to invade the Continent and defeat Germany. He was promoted to General of the Army (equivalent to the rank of field marshal).

He was able to work with the egos of Omar Bradley, George Patton, Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Montgomery and Charles de Gaulle. The Allies invaded Europe on June 6, 1944, and by May 1945, had defeated the German armies and entered Berlin as triumphant victors. After the German surrender, Eisenhower was named military governor of the U.S. Occupation Zone.

Eisenhower returned to the United States and served as the chief of staff of the Army and later Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He officially retired from active service in 1952 and was president of Columbia University until 1953-

Based on his heroic status, the Republican Party sought out Eisenhower as a candidate for president in the 1952 election. He agreed, and won the nomination. In a campaign stressing conservative domestic policies and vigilance against communism, he easily defeated Adlai Stevenson, winning re-election in 1956— again against Adlai Stevenson.

Eisenhower’s foreign policy did not result in a major thaw in the Cold War. The Korean War ground to a stalemate. Even with the death of Stalin, Eisenhower could make little progress toward any detente with the Soviet Union. Although Eisenhower refused to rescue French colonial forces in Vietnam, he did support the division of the country into a south region allied with the United States and a communist north. He sent a few hundred advisers to the region to help the South Vietnamese armed forces.

Domestically, Eisenhower was more successful. He created the interstate highway system (in part to help with transporting troops in case of war). He maintained and, in some cases, expanded the existing New Deal programs and supported the growing civil rights movement. After the Soviets launched Sputnik, Eisenhower pushed hard to create a viable American space program.

Eisenhower left office in January 1961 and retired to a working farm near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He remained somewhat active in politics and promoted the candidacy of Barry Goldwater for president.

The war hero and two-term president succumbed to congestive heart failure and died on March 28,1969, at Walter Reed Army Hospital. He was buried alongside his parents in a small chapel at the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene.

The Legacy of the Dwight David

Dwight Eisenhower is considered one of the heroes of World War II, but his record as a president is more complicated. After the inauguration of the dynamic John F. Kennedy, Eisenhower seemed to be a dull symbol of the 1950s. He was labelled the do-nothing president because critics felt he had basically let the country run itself. He was also seen as a reluctant supporter of the civil rights movement.

However, Eisenhower’s reputation began to rise again in the latter part of the 20th century, based on his wartime leadership, his support of the civil rights movement in Arkansas, his ability to balance the federal budget and a prolonged period of peace during his administration. Many historians now include Eisenhower in the list of top ten presidents.

Eisenhower’s name is associated with the interstate highway system, and many institutions and schools are named after him. His image was on the dollar coin from 1971 to 1979, and the second Navy supercarrier was named the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in his honor.

Courtesy

You can read more about Eisenhower’s background, his war years and his legacy as president at www.dwightdeisenhower.com.

Many books have been written by and about Eisenhower the war hero and the president, including Eisenhower, Simon and Schuster, 1991; Crusade in Europe, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997; Eisenhower: A Soldier’s Life, Owl Books, 2003; Waging Peace: The White House Years, A Personal Account, Doubleday &Co., 1965; and Past Forgetting: My Love Affair With Dwight D. Eisenhower, Simon and Schuster, 1997.