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Book: Dwight D. Eisenhower, by Tom Wicker.

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Book: Dwight D. Eisenhower, by Tom Wicker.

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Citation: Wicker, Tom. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Times Books, 2002.

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Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas.
"Dwight David Eisenhower was born in Dension, Texas, on October 14, 1890 (4)."

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The following year Eisenhower's family moves to Abilene, Kansas.
"His father moved the family to Abilene, Kansas, a year later (4)."

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Eisenhower graduates in 1915; "The class the stars fell on."
"None of this was intellectually or socially broadening, but his class of 1915 ( sometimes called “the class the stars fell on”)  was outstanding, numbering among its 164 members sixty-four young men who would become generals- and two, Omar Bradley and Eisenhower, who would earn four stars (5)."

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Dwight E. Eisenhower marries Mamie Doud

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Dwight and Mamie have their first child; a son named Doud Dwight. He passed away at the age of 3 on January 2nd.

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He was sent to an army unit, "20th Infantry Brigade in Panama Canal Zone." The commanding general Fox Connor finds favor in Eisenhower. Eisenhower and his wife Mamie have their second son.
"They lost a firstborn son, a devastating blow to both, but a second son, John, was born in 1922; and in army circles, at least, Eisenhower prospered-though that was not reflected in promotion (6)"

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Commanding General Fox Connor arranges for Eisenhower to go to Army Command school and General Staff school. Eisenhower graduates the following year top of his class.

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General John J. Pershing sends Eisenhower to Army War College.

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World War 2 begins in Europe. Eisenhower comes back into the states.

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Eisenhower's position got a promotion. He became a 4-star general and was called to command a cross-channel iinvasion called the Overlord.

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The Overlord move was successful and succeeded on Dooms-Day.

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The Germans surrendered on May 7th, and the Japanese surrendered on August 14th,

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Truman appointed Eisenhower as the army chief of staff.

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Eisenhower turns down offers from both parties to run for president.

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The Korean war begins and Eisenhower was appointed as supreme allied commander Europe (SACEUR) to organize the north Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) army.
"That day, the SACEUR called McCarthy a "Disciple of hate"-but only in his private diary (Later, as president, Eisenhower termed McCarthy, in a graphic but mixed metaphor)(57)."

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During one of Eisenhower's speeches, McCarthy spoke up and put the blame on Eisenhower and the current general for events that occurred.
"On June 14, 1951, in one of his most intemperate speeches, McCarthy had blasted one of Eisenhower's great patrons, General George Marshall, for 'losing China' through 'a conspiracy so immense and an infamy so black as to dwarf any precious venture in the history of man.' (57)"

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Eisenhower becomes announced as a candidate for presidency, then wins the election and becomes president November 4th.

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Eisenhower was opposed to the U.S. intervention in the French war in Indo-China.
"The French commander, General Henri Navarre, had made what Eisenhower in his military judgement considered the mistake of committing French forces to the supposed "fortress" of Dienbienphu-apparently in hopes of forcing the Viet Minh into a conventional war showdown. Instead, Navarre's army found itself isolated, under siege, and fighting for its life in the spring of 1954 (31)."

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In February, Eisenhower announces that he'll run for office again.
"In the autumn of 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower was campaigning for a second term as president of the United States (1)."

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Eisenhower enforced new court rules after he noticed injustices happening.
"Later, in 1957, he acted strongly to enforce the Court's ruling when Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas literally resisted by deploying the state's National Guard troops around Little Rock Central High School (53)."

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The economy was at a low, but as election season was coming back around, it was getting better.  Eisenhower teamed up with John F. Kennedy and they proclaimed victory.
"While the economic downturn and consequent rising unemployment were not alone the cause of Nixon's downfall in November 1960, economic recession was prominent among the many factors that gave John F. Kennedy his razor-thin victory (114)."

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Eisenhower officially retires and leaves office January 20th.

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Dwight E. Eisenhower passed away.

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Dwight D. Eisenhower impacted the world during his presidency in this source because it explains how Eisenhower made really wise decisions for our country through a rough economic patch in time.

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Dwight D. Eisenhower's reputation among historians has changed dramatically in the last five decades. A poll of prominent historians in 1962 placed Eisenhower 22nd among Presidents, a barely average chief executive who was as successful as Chester A. Arthur and a notch better than Andrew Johnson. Two decades later, his ranking had moved up to 11th, and by 1994, he placed 8th, the same position he held in a C-SPAN poll of presidential historians in 2009. Among Presidents who held office in the last 75 years, he ranked behind only Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.

Eisenhower's reputation has changed as more records and papers have become available to study his presidency. Contemporaries remembered Eisenhower's frequent golfing and fishing trips and wondered whether he was leaving most of the business of government to White House assistants. They also listened to his meandering, garbled answers to questions at press conferences and wondered whether he grasped issues and had clear ideas about how to deal with them. Previously closed records that started to become available at the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas, in the 1970s revealed that the President had thoughtful views about most major issues and frequently took an active role in discussing them with the cabinet or at meetings of the National Security Council. Historians now appreciate that Eisenhower recognized the political advantages of working behind the scenes to deal with controversial issues, using his "hidden hand" to guide policy while allowing subordinates to take any credit-as well as the political heat.

While critics in the 1950s scorned Eisenhower as a "do-nothing" President, historians in the 21st century sometimes praise him for not taking action. Eisenhower did not lead the country into war, although he might have chosen to do so in Indochina in 1954. He negotiated an armistice in the Korean War only six months after taking office. For the rest of his presidency, peace prevailed, even if at times Cold War tensions were high. Eisenhower also did not adopt policies that jeopardized the strong economic growth during the 1950s, and he made decisions that stimulated the economy, such as supporting the construction of the Interstate Highway System. Although national security spending was high during the Eisenhower years, the President did not give in to temptations to spend even more. After the Soviets launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik, on October 4, 1957, Eisenhower resisted panicked public demands for huge increases in military spending since he knew that the nation's defenses remained strong. He insisted that he would not spend one penny less than was necessary to maintain national security-nor one penny more.

Although Eisenhower now gets credit he deserves for preserving peace and prosperity, historians have not overlooked the limit of his achievements. His "hidden hand" eventually helped push Senator Joseph R. McCarthy out of the national spotlight, but Eisenhower's unwillingness to confront McCarthy directly allowed the senator to continue to abuse his power and sully the reputations of those he wrongfully accused. Despite some significant actions to advance civil rights, Eisenhower remained a gradualist who firmly believed that changes in individual hearts and minds more than the passage of laws would eliminate racial barriers. Despite this conviction, Eisenhower did not try to change contemporary thinking about racial issues by speaking out in favor of civil rights. He did take actions to end racial segregation, but he was unwilling to use his moral authority as President to advance the most important movement for social justice of the 20th century.

Although he avoided war, Eisenhower did not achieve the peace he desired. He hoped for détente with the Soviet Union but instead left to his successor an intensified Cold War. He was unable to secure a test-ban treaty, which he hoped would be an important part of his legacy. The covert interventions he authorized in Iran and Guatemala yielded short-term success but contributed to long-term instability.

Eisenhower, in short, achieved both important successes, but he sometimes fell short of his most cherished objectives. He left office a popular President, and his stature has grown with the passage of time.

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Dwight D. Eisenhower: Impact and Legacy | Miller Center

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Dwight D. Eisenhower's reputation among historians has changed dramatically in the last five decades. A poll of prominent historians in 1962 placed Eisenhower 22nd among Presidents, a barely average chief executive who was as successful as Chester A. Arthur and a notch better than Andrew Johnson.

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He impacted our country during his 2 presidency terms by gaining our respect by his actions. Dwight always confused on the people and worked hard on maintaining peace within and outside of the country.

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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 (1953-1961) to ease the tensions of the Cold War.

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."

Born in Texas in 1890, brought up in Abilene, Kansas, Eisenhower was the third of seven sons. He excelled in sports in high school, and received an appointment to West Point. Stationed in Texas as a second lieutenant, he met 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. After Pearl Harbor, General George C. Marshall called him to Washington for a war plans assignment. He commanded the Allied Forces landing in North Africa in November 1942; on D-Day, 1944, he was Supreme Commander of the troops invading France.

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. Republican emissaries to his headquarters near Paris persuaded him to run for President in 1952.

"I like Ike" was an irresistible slogan; Eisenhower won a sweeping victory.

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 sent troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, to assure compliance with the orders of a Federal court; he also ordered the complete desegregation of the Armed Forces. "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.

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.

For more information about President Eisenhower, please visit Dwight D. Eisenhower Library and Museum

Learn more about Dwight D. Eisenhower's spouse, Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower.

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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 (1953-1961) to ease the tensions of the Cold War.

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Eisenhower also impacted our country by promoting a stable economic environment and fighting to stabilize budgets.

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Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower. Courtesy: Dwight D. Eisenhower Library

Just prior to leading Allied troops in an invasion of North Africa in 1942, General Dwight Eisenhower made an astute observation about the nature of leadership. He wrote, "I firmly determined that my mannerisms and speech in public would always reflect cheerful certainty. Without optimism, victory is scarcely obtainable." Eisenhower would maintain this credo throughout his eight years in the White House. As an embodiment of unity and tranquillity, Ike vigorously maintained an air of optimistic dignity, regardless of the crisis at hand. There were, to be certain, instances when a positive countenance was about all he seemed to be able to offer -- the crises surrounding Little Rock and the U2 incident, for example. But more often than not, the restraint and moderation he exercised was a fitting antidote to the dangerous rhetoric of those early Cold War days.

Eisenhower promoted a stable economy and fought to balance the budget. While he accepted the basic premise of the New Deal, his economic policy followed a moderate course. His two terms produced eight years of growth and relative prosperity. Nearly every indicator of economic health -- GNP, capital investments, personal savings and income -- showed substantial upswings. Additionally, Eisenhower refused to further fuel the economy with politically popular tax cuts.

Critics have contended that Ike was too content to merely administer over the status quo, while pressing social issues, such as civil rights, cried out for attention. They described a scenario of "the bland leading the bland." But by the 1980s new research revealed an active politician behind the calm exterior. Scholars pointed to the success of Eisenhower's "hidden hand" tactics in solving problems quietly, while avoiding the pitfalls of partisan bickering that had stymied many of his predecessors.

In the arena of foreign affairs, Eisenhower was confident. His commanding, yet subdued presence on the world stage resulted in the U.S. being at peace for over seven years. He and the nation emerged from several potential international crises -- Quemoy and Matsu in 1955, Formosa in 1958, Berlin in 1959 -- without so much as losing "a soldier or a foot of ground." On keeping the peace in volatile times, Eisenhower commented, "People asked how it happened -- by God, it didn't just happen, I'll tell you that."

In his January 17, 1961 farewell address to the nation, Eisenhower sounded a cautionary note to his fellow Americans. While taking pride in the prosperity he had helped foster, he made an appeal to reject the lure of materialism and "the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow." As he urged the nation to maintain its vigilant stand against communism, which he termed "ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method," he saved his most forceful words to warn against a force already existing within our borders. The military legend issued a stern warning against "the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex." For years he had battled forces in Congress and within his own administration over increases in defense spending. He preached eloquently about how "every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." And he reserved a special disdain for the arms merchants who took advantage of the Cold War paranoia of the day to increase their profit margins. Eisenhower predicted that unless restraints were placed upon these un-elected factions, "the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power" would exist.

It would take another decade and a national fissure over the Vietnam War before Eisenhower's words of caution would begin to penetrate the national psyche.

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Eisenhower's Legacy | American Experience | PBS

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Just prior to leading Allied troops in an invasion of North Africa in 1942, General Dwight Eisenhower made an astute observation about the nature of leadership. He wrote, "I firmly determined that my mannerisms and speech in public would always reflect cheerful certainty. Without optimism, victory is scarcely obtainable."

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Another reason Dwight D. Eisenhower impacted the United States of America was by fearlessly leading our country as we were going through and out of the Cold War.

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Lastly, an impact Eisenhower made was that before his presidancy, he fought in the Korean War and helped end the Korean War. He knew that war wasn't the way to go so he always helped try and maintain peace.

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President Dwight D. Eisenhower was a popular war hero whose eight-year presidency was characterized by peace and prosperity, despite Cold War tensions and nuclear anxieties.

During his presidency the nation's consumer culture flourished. Workers' wages rose, the baby boom reached its peak, and the suburbs grew rapidly.

A moderate Republican, Eisenhower continued federal government activism in the economy and supported the largest public works project in history: the interstate highway system.

In 1957 Eisenhower deployed troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce the Supreme Court's ruling that public schools be desegregated.

Dwight D. Eisenhower and Modern Republicanism

Dwight Eisenhower was a celebrated hero of the Second World War, well known to the public as the five-star general who had commanded Allied forces in Europe on D-Day. Eisenhower won landslide victories in both the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections over his Democratic rival Adlai Stevenson, the former governor of Illinois.

Eisenhower was a moderate Republican. Eisenhower did not try to dismantle the social welfare programs of the New Deal; on the contrary, the federal government continued to grow during his presidency. He signed an expansion to Social Security-to cover the self-employed, and disabled-and established the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. He also signed legislation increasing the minimum wage by a third.

1950s prosperity

The Eisenhower era of the 1950s was a time of unprecedented economic growth and prosperity. GDP (gross domestic product) grew by an astonishing 150% in the period from 1945 to 1960. In the 1950s, with only five percent of the world's population the U.S. economy produced almost half of the world's manufactured products.

Americans drove three-quarters of the world's cars and consumed half of the world's energy. Union membership reached its historic peak in American history in 1954 when almost 35% of the nation's workforce was unionized. The GI Bill and Marshall Plan expenditures, along with Cold War defense spending, contributed to economic growth. So, too, did the nation's growing population-some 50 million babies were born during the continuing baby boom in the Eisenhower era.

Eisenhower and civil rights

Eisenhower was a limited supporter of civil rights legislation. He signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first civil rights bill passed by Congress since the nineteenth century, and appointed a Commission on Civil Rights to ensure that citizens were not being "deprived of their right to vote." In 1960, he signed the Civil Rights Act, which introduced penalties for anyone who destroyed voter registration records or attempted to block a person from registering to vote. The integration of the United States armed services, which began under President Truman, was completed during Eisenhower's administration. Finally, in 1957 Eisenhower deployed federal troops to aid with the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Eisenhower's foreign policy

Eisenhower's eight years in office were relatively peaceful ones for the nation. He ended the Korean War with a July 1953 armistice, and did not take the country into war in Vietnam when communists took over part of that country in 1954 (though he did supply South Vietnam with military advisers and equipment). In concert with Nikita Khrushchev, his Soviet counterpart, Eisenhower voluntarily suspended nuclear atmospheric testing in 1958, although an official test-ban treaty would not be signed until after he left office.

The Cold War framed Eisenhower's foreign policy. Cold War thinking frequently took on an "us-versus-them" mindset, and this view of the world as one polarized between Soviet totalitarian communism (them) and American democracy and freedoms (us) saw Eisenhower's administration both provide aid to dictators friendly to US interests (the Shah of Iran, Fulgencio Batista in Cuba, for example) and authorize covert CIA missions to overthrow governments sympathetic to the Soviets. For example, in 1954 Eisenhower authorized the CIA to depose the democratically elected president of Guatemala, Jacobo Arbenz.

What do you think?

Why do you think President Eisenhower was so popular?

What accounted for the incredible rise in the nation's wealth during the 1950s?

How would you characterize President Eisenhower's domestic politics?

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The Eisenhower era (article) | 1950s America | Khan Academy

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.