|
Dwight Eisenhower was the 34th president. He will be remenbered
for his reasuring friendy smile during the dark days of Workd War II
and his leadership of the D-Day invasion which played a critical role in freeing Western Europe from NAZI tyranny. He precided over
America during a period of affluence and ably led the Western
alliance in its confrontation of Soviet expansion. Overtures to defuse the Cold War were not returned by the Soviets. He played a generally accomplished role in economic management and launched the inter-state highway system. His major failure came in Civil Rights. He did not approve of President Truman's decission to integrate the military. As president, his falure to marshall Federal authority after the Supreme Court ordered school desegregated led to painful period of violence and disorder throuhgout the South.
The Eisenhowers had many trying times. They lost their farm leaving Ike's mother with a life-long adversion to lawyers. His father ran a store in Hope Kansas, when the wheat market turned down he lost the store. He moved tghe family to Texas and got a job as a railroad hand at $10 a week. Ike described his mother as the most cheerful person that he ever knew. She certainly looks cheerful here (figure 1). With all those boys she would have had to have been a cheerful person. The the physical characteristic that most attracted Americans to Ike--the broad cheerful smile which he must have inherited from his mother. She was a pacifist and cried the day Ike left for West Point. Interesting that her son proved to be one of America's great military leaders.
There wasn't much money in thre Eisenhower family. The Eisenhowers were very strict pacifists. They were Mennonites and there families had fled religious persecution in Germany. The whole family got down on their knees every morning and evening and prayed. All the praying did not seem to do Ike a lot of good. His father was very harsh on Ike and his brothers. Ike was a mischecious boy as was Edgar and the two were severely beaten by their strict father on many occassions. One biographer believes that Ike's determination came from his father and his soft streak from his mother. [D'Este]
Ike was born in Texas during 1890. He was brought up in Abilene,
Kansas. He was the third of seven sons. He grew up in an impoverished family living on the wrong side of the tracks. He was a kind of barefoot Huck Finn. He loved to roughneck and fight. He got into a lot trouble as a boy. He was also an excellent ball player. He never got over the concern of being considered a country hick. [D'Este]
Ike played Class D basball for a couple years under the name of Wilson.
Ike excelled in sports in high school, and received an appointment to the U.S. military academy at West Point. He could not have afforded to go to college had he not obtained the appoinment. WEst Point also appealed to him because he wanted to play football. An injury cut his career short. [Wukovits]
Second Lieutenant Eisenhower was stationed in Texas where he mett
Mamie Geneva Doud, whom he married in 1916. In his early Army career, he excelled in staff assignments, serving under Generals John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur, and Walter Krueger. He was a fine young officer. He tried to get combat assignments, first in the Mexian campaign hunting for Pancho Villa (1916) and in World war I (1917-18), but received training assignments. [Wukovits] Ike was hard working and proved to be an efficent trainer and motivator. He developed a reputation as an organizer. He was one of the few subordinates who stood up to MacArthur. When World War II (September 1939) began, Eisenhower ws 49 years old and stll a major.
Understaning Dwight Eisenhower requires looking at his military career. Until he was sent to England by Marshall, he was largely unknown by the American people. It was General George C. Marshall that made Eisenhower's career. After Pearl Harbor (December 1941), Marshall called him to Washington for a war plans assignment. Eisenhower arrived in Europe (1942) convinced that the primary ffort should be to invade France and relieve the Red Army fighting for its life on the Eastern Front. Churchill convinced him that periferal areas should be secured first. [D'Este] Churchill was wrong about the "soft under-belly of the AXIS. He was right that American troops were not yet ready to take on the battle hardened Germans. Eisenhower He commanded the Allied Forces landing in North Africa (November 1942). It was to be Marshall that would command the Allied invasion of France, but FDR told him that he could not do without him in Washington. Marshall recommended Eienhower. FDR was hesitant to appoint such a junior officer, but aceeded to Marshall's judgement and appointed Eisenhower Supreme Commander of the European theater. Eisenhower thus oversaw the D-Day invasion (June 1944),
France. His order "Let's go" was the single most important decission of the War.
A British journalist observing Eisenhower interacting with the soldiers describes "an untimate bond with a great romantic enterprise". It is chilling to thank what might have occurred if it they had failed. It was Eisenhower's skills as a diplomat which were most valuable after D-Day, especially dealing with Montgomery. The campaign after the Normandy breakout and the liberation of Paris (August 1944) has been hotly bebated concerning the merits of a single thrust rather than the broad-front approach Eisenhower decided upon. Eisenhower had to decide on pushing the American offensive or to seek defensive positions to build up for a German counter offensive and the push in Germany. He rejected a plan proposed by Montgomery. [David Eisenhower] After the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944) and crossing the Rhine (March 1945), Allied armies rolled into Germany. Eisenhower did not cross the Elbe and push for Berlinthat he was, fooled by Stalin on the matter. [D'Este] Others claim that he had no sesire to lose men to achieve a political objective. [Wukovits] His son maintains that he made the correct decission to pursue the German field armies rather than racing the Russians to Berlin. [Davide Eisenhower] He was apauled at what he found at the the NAZI concentration camps. When the NAZI generals surrendered, Eisenhower had subordinates at the actual surrender ceremonies (May 1945). And afterwards refused to return military honors to the Germans.
After the war, he became President of Columbia University, then took leave to assume supreme command over the new NATO forces being assembled in 1951. His first confrontation with right-wing Republicans came as NATO military commander.
President Truman tried to convince him to run fir president as a Democrat. Republican emissaries to hisheadquarters near Paris persuaded him to run for President in 1952. His conduct during this period lends little credit to him, his behavior toward President Truman and especially Secretary of State Marshall was less than horable. Especially his failure to come to Marshall's defense when anti-Comminist zealots kmade scandalous charges. He was an instant success with American voters. The slogan "I like Ike" and that irresistible smile appealed to voters. Eisenhower won a sweeping election victory in 1952.
Bringing to the Presidency his prestige as commanding general of the victorious forces
in Europe during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower obtained a truce in Korea and worked
incessantly during his two terms to ease the tensions of the Cold War. He pursued the moderate
policies of "Modern Republicanism," pointing out as he left office, "America is today the strongest,
most influential, and most productive nation in the world."
Negotiating from military strength, he tried to reduce the strains of the Cold War. In 1953, the
signing of a truce brought an armed peace along the border of South Korea. The death of Stalin the
same year caused shifts in relations with Russia.
New Russian leaders consented to a peace treaty neutralizing Austria. Meanwhile, both Russia and
the United States had developed hydrogen bombs. With the threat of such destructive force hanging
over the world, Eisenhower, with the leaders of the British, French, and Russian governments, met at
Geneva in July 1955.
The President proposed that the United States and Russia exchange blueprints of each other's
military establishments and "provide within our countries facilities for aerial photography to the other
country." The Russians greeted the proposal with silence, but were so cordial throughout the
meetings that tensions relaxed.
Suddenly, in September 1955, Eisenhower suffered a heart attack in Denver, Colorado. After seven
weeks he left the hospital, and in February 1956 doctors reported his recovery. In November he
was elected for his second term.
In domestic policy the President pursued a middle
course, continuing most of
the New Deal and Fair Deal programs, emphasizing a
balanced budget. As
desegregation of schools began, he reluctantly sent troops into
Little Rock,
Arkansas, to assure compliance with the orders of a Federal court.
Although he had initially opposed the desegregation of the military,
he also ordered the complete desegregation of the Armed Forces, which
Truman had begun. "There must be no second class citizens in this
country," he wrote.
|
Eisenhower concentrated on maintaining world peace. He watched with pleasure the development of
his "atoms for peace" program--the loan of American uranium to "have not" nations for peaceful
purposes.
The Republican Party had been out of power for 20 years when Eisenhower was elected in 1952. Some historianshad speculated that restoring the Republican Party was a major achievement.
Before he left office in January 1961, for his farm in Gettysburg, he urged the necessity of maintaining
an adequate military strength, but cautioned that vast, long-continued military expenditures could
breed potential dangers to our way of life. He concluded with a prayer for peace "in the goodness of
time." Both themes remained timely and urgent when he died, after a long illness, on March 28,
1969.
Mamie Eisenhower's bangs and sparkling blue eyes were as much trademarks of an
administration as the President's famous grin. Her outgoing manner, her feminine love of pretty
clothes and jewelry, and her obvious pride in husband and home made her a very popular First
Lady.
Born in Boone, Iowa, Mamie Geneva Doud moved with her family to Colorado when she was
seven. Her father retired from business, and Mamie and her three sisters grew up in a large house in
Denver. During winters the family made long visits to relatives in the milder climate of San Antonio,
Texas.
There, in 1915, at Fort Sam Houston, Mamie met Dwight D. Eisenhower, a young second lieutenant
on his first tour of duty. She drew his attention instantly, he recalled: "a vivacious and attractive girl,
smaller than average, saucy in the look about her face and in her whole attitude." On St. Valentine's
Day in 1916 he gave her a miniature of his West Point class ring to seal a formal engagement; they
were married at the Doud home in Denver on July 1.
For years Mamie Eisenhower's life followed the pattern of other Army wives: a succession of posts
in the United States, in the Panama Canal Zone; duty in France, in the Philippines. She once
estimated that in 37 years she had unpacked her household at least 27 times. Each move meant
another step in the career ladder for her husband, with increasing responsibilities for her.
During World War II, while promotion and fame came to "Ike," his wife lived in Washington. After
he became president of Columbia University in 1948, the Eisenhowers purchased a farm at
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was the first home they had ever owned. His duties as commander of
North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces--and hers as his hostess at a chateau near Paris--delayed
work on their dream home, finally completed in 1955. They celebrated with a housewarming picnic
for the staff from their last temporary quarters: the White House.
When Eisenhower had campaigned for President, his wife cheerfully shared his travels; when he was
inaugurated in 1953, the American people warmly welcomed her as First Lady. Diplomacy--and air
travel--in the postwar world brought changes in their official hospitality. The Eisenhowers entertained
an unprecedented number of heads of state and leaders of foreign governments, and Mamie's
evident enjoyment of her role endeared her to her guests and to the public.
In 1961 the Eisenhowers returned to Gettysburg for 8 years of
contented retirement together.
After her husband's death in 1969, Mamie continued to live on the
farm, devoting more of her time
to her family and friends. Mamie Eisenhower died on November 1, 1979. She is buried beside her
husband in a small chapel on the grounds of the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas.
The first son Doud Dwight or "Icky," who was born in 1917. The boy died of scarlet fever in 1921. A second child, John, was born in 1922 in Denver. Like his father he had a career in the army; later he became an author and served as ambassador to Belgium. Two of his children are David and Susan Eisenhower who were children while their grandfather was in the White House.
The first son Doud Dwight or "Icky," was born in 1917. He was was the love of Ike's life. He tragically died of scarlet fever in 1921 while his father was stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland. His parents were heart broken. Ike later described it as the greatest tragedy of his life.
A second child, John, was born in 1922 in Denver. Like his father he had a career in the army. He was decorated in the Korean War. His military career was somewhat limited out of concern that his capture or death in combat would have negative propaganda consequences. He served in his father's White House. President Nixon appointed him Ambassador to Belgium. He published several books on military history and other subjects. His book The Bitter Woods is generally seen as the defintive study of the Battle of the Buldge. He married Barbara Jean Thompson in 1947, but they divorced in 1986. They had four children. The best known are Dwight David II and Susan Eisenhower who were children while their grandfather was in the White House. Dwight David married Julie Nixon, President Nixon's daughter.
Ambrose, Stephen.
Carlo D'Este, Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life (Henry Holt, 2002), 848p.
Davis, Kenneth. Soldier of Democracy.
Eisenhower, David. Esisenhower at War.
Wead, Doug. All the President's Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America's First Families (Atria: New York, 2003), 456p.
Wukovits, John. Eisenhower: A Biogtraphy.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main President's page]
[18th Century]
[19th Century]
[20th Century]
[21st Century]
