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U.S Presidents — Dwight D. Eisenhower

OVERVIEW Name: Dwight D. Eisenhower President: # 34 Term Number(s): 42, 43 Term Length: 8 Took Office: January 20, 1953 Left Office: January 20, 1961 Age when Elected: 62 Party: Republican Also Known As: "Ike" BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION Education: U.S. Military Academy West Point, New York Occupation: Soldier Other Governmental Position: 1st Supreme Allied Commander Europe, 1st Military Governor of the American Occupation Zone in Germany. Military Service: General of the Army, United States Army Religion: Presbyterian Spouse(s): Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower (July 1, 1916) Children: Doud Dwight Eisenhower, John Sheldon David Doud Eisenhower Birthdate: October 14, 1890 Birthplace: Denison, Texas Deathdate: March 28, 1969 Deathplace: Washington, D.C. Age at Death: 78 Cause of Death: heart disease (coronary thrombosis) Place of Internment: Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Kansas Signature FIRST ELECTION Election Year: 1952 Main Opponent: Adlai Stevenson Voter Participation: 63.30%   Electoral Popular States Click for larger image Winner 442 (83.00%) 34,075,529 (55.20%) 39 Main Opponent 89 (16.76%) 27,375,090 (44.30%) 9 total 531 61,769,147 48 SECOND ELECTION Election Year: 1956 Main Opponent: Adlai Stevenson Voter Participation: 60.60%   Electoral Popular States Click for larger image Winner 457 (86.00%) 35,579,180 (57.40%) 41 Main Opponent 73 (13.75%) 26,028,028 (42.00%) 7 total 531 62,021,328 48 CABINET AND COURT APPOINTMENTS Vice President: Richard Nixon Secretary of State: John Foster Dulles (1953–1959), Christian A. Herter (1959–1961) Secretary of the Treasury: George M. Humphrey (1953–1957), Robert Bernard Anderson (1957–1961) Secretary of Defense: Charles E. Wilson (1953–57), Neil H. McElroy (1957–1959), Thomas S. Gates Jr. (1959–1961) Secretary of the Interior: Douglas McKay (1953–1956), Fred A. Seaton (1956–1961) Secretary of Agriculture: Ezra Taft Benson (1953–1961) Secretary of Commerce: Sinclair Weeks (1953–1958), Lewis L. Strauss (1958–1959), Frederick H. Mueller (1959–1961) Secretary of Labor: Martin P. Durkin (1953), James P. Mitchell (1953–1961) Attorney General: Herbert Brownell, Jr. (1953–1957), William P. Rogers (1957–1961) Postmaster General: Arthur Summerfield (1953–1961) Supreme Court Assignments: Earl Warren (1953), John Marshall Harlan II (1954), William J. Brennan (1956), Charles Evans Whittaker (1957), Potter Stewart (1958) PRESIDENT'S BIOGRAPHY 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, Eisenhower 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, Pennsylvania, 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. FIRST LADY'S BIOGRAPHY Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower 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 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, in 1896, 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 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, 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. The first son Doud Dwight or "Icky," who was born in 1917, 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. 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 eight 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. MAJOR EVENTS 1953: Korean War ends. 1954: Brown vs. Board of Education. Supreme Court rules that separate schools for African American and Caucasian students is unconstitutional. 1956: Interstate Highway System is created. 1957: Eisenhower orders federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce integration. 1957: Eisenhower Doctrine. Eisenhower states that America would assist any country with economic or military aid if threatened by foreign armed aggression. 1959: Alaska joins the Union. 1959: Hawaii joins the Union. TRIVIA 1. Dwight Eisenhower was the first president of all 50 states. 2. Eisenhower loved to cook and was an excellent chef. 3. Eisenhower led the D-Day invasion during World War II.