Dwight D. Eisenhower
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. |
