Dwight D. Eisenhower: Difference between revisions
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* Albertson, Dean. ed. ''Eisenhower as President'' (1963) |
* Albertson, Dean. ed. ''Eisenhower as President'' (1963) |
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* Alexander, Charles C. ''Holding the Line: The Eisenhower Era, 1952-1961'' (1975) |
* Alexander, Charles C. ''Holding the Line: The Eisenhower Era, 1952-1961'' (1975) |
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* Ambrose, Stephen E. ''Eisenhower: Soldier and President'' (2003) |
* Ambrose, Stephen E. ''Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890-1952'' (1953); ''Eisenhower. The President'' (1984); ''Eisenhower: Soldier and President'' (2003) one volume version. standard biography |
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* Bowie, Robert R. and Richard H. Immerman; ''Waging Peace: How Eisenhower Shaped an Enduring Cold War Strategy'' Oxford University Press, 1998 |
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* Damms, Richard V. ''The Eisenhower Presidency, 1953-1961'' (2002) |
* Damms, Richard V. ''The Eisenhower Presidency, 1953-1961'' (2002) |
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* David Paul T. (ed.), ''Presidential Nominating Politics in 1952''. 5 vols., Johns Hopkins Press, 1954. |
* David Paul T. (ed.), ''Presidential Nominating Politics in 1952''. 5 vols., Johns Hopkins Press, 1954. |
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* D'Este, Carlo. ''Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life'' (2002), military biography to 1945 |
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* Divine, Robert A. ''Eisenhower and the Cold War'' (1981) |
* Divine, Robert A. ''Eisenhower and the Cold War'' (1981) |
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* Eisenhower, David. ''Eisenhower at War 1943-1945'' (1986), detailed study by his grandson |
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* Greenstein, Fred I. ''The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader'' (1991) |
* Greenstein, Fred I. ''The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader'' (1991) |
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* Harris, Douglas B. "Dwight Eisenhower and the New Deal: The Politics of Preemption" ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'', Vol. 27, 1997. |
* Harris, Douglas B. "Dwight Eisenhower and the New Deal: The Politics of Preemption" ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'', Vol. 27, 1997. |
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* Harris, Seymour E. ''The Economics of the Political Parties, with Special Attention to Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy'' (1962) |
* Harris, Seymour E. ''The Economics of the Political Parties, with Special Attention to Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy'' (1962) |
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* Krieg, Joann P. ed. ''Dwight D. Eisenhower, Soldier, President, Statesman'' (1987) |
* Krieg, Joann P. ed. ''Dwight D. Eisenhower, Soldier, President, Statesman'' (1987). 24 essays by scholars |
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* Mary S. McAuliffe, "Eisenhower, the President," ''Journal of American History'' 68 (1981): 625-632 |
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* Medhurst; Martin J. ''Dwight D. Eisenhower: Strategic Communicator'' Greenwood Press, 1993 |
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* Olson, James S. ''Historical Dictionary of the 1950s'' (2000) |
* Olson, James S. ''Historical Dictionary of the 1950s'' (2000) |
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* Pach, Chester J. And Elmo Richardson. ''Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower'' (1991) |
* Pach, Chester J. And Elmo Richardson. ''Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower'' (1991), standard scholarly survey |
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* Parmet, Herbert S. ''Eisenhower and the American Crusades'' (1972). |
* Parmet, Herbert S. ''Eisenhower and the American Crusades'' (1972). Scholarly biography of post 1945 years. |
||
* Pogue; Forrest C. ''The Supreme Command'' (1996) |
* Pogue; Forrest C. ''The Supreme Command'' (1996) official Army history of SHAEF |
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* Sixsmith, E. K.G. ''Eisenhower, His Life and Campaigns'' (1973) |
* Sixsmith, E. K.G. ''Eisenhower, His Life and Campaigns'' (1973) |
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===Primary sources=== |
===Primary sources=== |
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* Peter G. Boyle, ed. ''The Churchill-Eisenhower Correspondence, 1953-1955'' University of North Carolina Press, 1990 |
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* Eisenhower, Dwight D. ''Crusade in Europe'' (1948), his war memoirs |
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* Eisenhower, Dwight D. ''Mandate for Change, 1953-1956'' (1963) |
* Eisenhower, Dwight D. ''Mandate for Change, 1953-1956'' (1963) |
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* Eisenhower, Dwight D. ''Waging Peace'' (1965), presidency 1956-60 |
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[http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/reference/papers/eisenhower.html ''Eisenhower Papers''] 21 volume scholarly edition; complete for 1940-61. |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
Revision as of 12:27, 29 March 2006
Dwight David Eisenhower | |
---|---|
![]() | |
34th President | |
In office January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961 | |
Vice President | Richard Nixon |
Preceded by | Harry S. Truman |
Succeeded by | John F. Kennedy |
Personal details | |
Born | October 14, 1890 Denison, Texas |
Died | March 28, 1969 Washington DC |
Nationality | american |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Mamie Doud Eisenhower |
Dwight David Eisenhower, (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969, popularly known as "Ike") was an American soldier and politician. As a Republican he was elected the 34th President of the United States (1953–1961). During World War II he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe with the rank of General of the Army, and in 1949 became the first Supreme Commander of NATO.
Early life and family
Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, the third of seven sons born to David Jacob Eisenhower and Ida Elizabeth Stover, and their only child born in Texas. He was named David Dwight, and was called Dwight. The Eisenhower family is from German descent and came from Forbach, Lorraine, but had lived in America since the 18th century. The family moved back to Abilene, Kansas in 1892. Eisenhower graduated from Abilene High School in 1909.
Eisenhower married Mamie Geneva Doud (1896–1979), of Denver, Colorado, on July 1, 1916. They had two children, Doud Dwight Eisenhower (1917–1921) whose tragic death in childhood haunted the couple, and John Sheldon David Doud Eisenhower (born 1922). John Eisenhower served in the United States Army, then became an author and served as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium. John's son, David Eisenhower, after whom Camp David is named, married Richard Nixon's daughter Julie in 1968.
Religion
When Ike was five years old, his parents became followers of the WatchTower Society, whose members later took the name Jehovah's Witnesses. The Eisenhower home served as the local meeting Hall from 1896 to 1915. Ike and his brothers also stopped associating regularly after 1915, but Ike's mother continued as an active member until her death. Ike enjoyed a close relationship with his mother throughout her lifetime. In later years, Eisenhower became a communicant in the Presbyterian church in 1953; in his retirement years, he was a member of the Gettysburg Presbyterian Church [1] in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Military career
Preparing for Command
Eisenhower enrolled at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, in June, 1911.
Eisenhower was a great athlete at the time but his football career came to an end after he injured his knee trying to tackle the legendary Jim Thorpe.
In a 1961 speech, Eisenhower recalled, "Here and there, there are some people who are supremely endowed... My memory goes back to Jim Thorpe. He never practiced in his life, and he could do anything better than any other football player I ever saw."[2][3]
Eisenhower graduated in 1915. He served with the infantry until 1918 at various camps in Texas and Georgia. During World War I, Eisenhower was active in the tank corps and rose to Lieutenant Colonel in the National Army. Upon the conclusion of hostilities, Eisenhower reverted to his regular rank of Captain (and was promoted to Major the next day) before assuming duties at Camp Meade, Maryland where he remained until 1922.
He was next assigned as executive officer to General Fox Conner in the Panama Canal Zone, where he served until 1924, studying Karl von Clausewitz's On War under Conner's tutelage. In 1925 and 1926 he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and then served as a battalion commander, at Fort Benning, Georgia, until 1927.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Eisenhower_with_Mamie.jpg/200px-Eisenhower_with_Mamie.jpg)
During the late 1920s and early 1930s Eisenhower's career in the peacetime Army stagnated. He was assigned to the American Battle Monuments Commission, directed by General John J. Pershing, then to the Army War College, and then served as executive officer to General George V. Moseley, Assistant Secretary of War, from 1929 to 1933. He then served as chief military aide to General Douglas MacArthur, Army Chief of Staff, until 1935, when he accompanied MacArthur to the Philippines, where he served as assistant military advisor to the Philippine government. This would prove valuable preparation for handling the giant egos of Churchill, Patton and Montgomery during World War Two. Eisenhower was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1936 after sixteen years as a Major.
Eisenhower returned to the U.S. in 1939 and held a series of staff positions in Washington, D.C., California, and Texas. In June 1941 he was appointed Chief of Staff to General Walter Krueger, Commander of the 3rd Army, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He was promoted to Brigadier-General in September 1941. Although his administrative abilities had been noticed, on the eve of the U.S. entry into World War II he had never held an active command and was far from being considered as a potential commander of major operations.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower was assigned to the General Staff in Washington, where he served until June 1942. He was appointed Deputy Chief in charge of Pacific Defenses under the Chief of War Plans Division, General Leonard Gerow, and then succeeded Gerow as Chief of the War Plans Division. Then he was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff in charge of Operations Division under the Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall. It was his close association with Marshall which finally brought Eisenhower to senior command positions. Marshall recognized his great organizational and administrative abilities.
Wartime commander
World War II
In June 1942 Eisenhower was appointed Commanding General, European Theater of Operations (ETOUSA) and was based in London. In November he was also appointed Supreme Commander Allied (Expeditionary) Force of the North African Theater of Operations through the new operational Headquarters A(E)FHQ. The word Expeditionary was dropped soon after his appointment for security reasons. In February 1943 his authority was extended as commander of AFHQ across the Mediterranean Sea basin to include the British 8th Army, commanded by General Bernard Montgomery. The 8th Army had advanced across the Western Desert from the east and was ready for the start of the Tunisia Campaign. Eisenhower gained his fourth star and gave up command of ETOUSA to be commander of NATOUSA. After the capitulation of Axis forces in North Africa, Eisenhower remained in command of the renamed Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) keeping the operational title and continued in command of NATOUSA redesignated MTOUSA. In this position he oversaw the invasion of Sicily and the invasion of the Italian mainland.
In December 1943, it was announced that Eisenhower would be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. In January 1944 he resumed command of ETOUSA and the following month was officially designated as the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), serving in a dual role until the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945. In these positions he was charged with planning and carrying out the Allied assault on the coast of Normandy in June 1944 under the code name Operation Overlord, the liberation of western Europe and the invasion of Germany. A month after the Normandy D-Day on June 6, 1944, the invasion of southern France took place, and control of the forces which took part in the southern invasion passed from the AFHQ to the SHAEF. From then until the end of the War in Europe on May 8 1945, Eisenhower through SHAEF had supreme command of all operational Allied forces2, and through his command of ETOUSA, administrative command of all U.S. forces, on the Western Front north of the Alps.
As recognition of his senior position in the Allied command, on December 20, 1944, he was promoted to General of the Army equivalent to the rank of Field Marshal in most European armies. In this and the previous high commands he held, Eisenhower showed his great talents for leadership and diplomacy. Although he had never seen action himself, he won the respect of front-line commanders. He dealt skillfully with difficult subordinates such as Omar Bradley and George Patton and allies such as Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and General Charles de Gaulle. He had fundamental disagreements with Churchill and Montgomery over questions of strategy, but these rarely upset his relationships with them. He negotiated with Soviet Marshal Zhukov, and such was the confidence that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had in him, he sometimes worked directly with Stalin.
Eisenhower was offered the Medal of Honor for his leadership in the European Theater but refused it, saying that it should be reserved for bravery and valor.
It was never a certainty that Overlord would succeed. The tenuousness surrounding the entire decision including the timing and the location of the Normandy invasion might be summarized by a short speech that Eisenhower himself wrote, in advance, in case he might need it. In it, he took full responsibility for catastrophic failure, should that be the final result. Long after the successful landings on D-Day and the BBC broadcast of Eisenhower's brief speech concerning them, the never-used second speech was found in a shirt pocket by an aide. It read:
- "Our landings have failed and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery could do. If any blame or fault ataches to the attempt it is mine alone."
Following the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945, Eisenhower was appointed Military Governor of the U.S. Occupation Zone, based in Frankfurt-am-Main. Germany was divided into four Occupation Zones, one each for the U.S., Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. In addition, upon full discovery of the death camps that were part of the Final Solution of the Holocaust, he ordered camera crews to comprehensively document evidence of the atrocity so as to prevent any doubt of its occurrence. He made the controversial decision to reclassify German prisoners of war or POWs in U.S. custody as Disarmed Enemy Forces or DEFs. As DEFs, they could be compelled to serve as unpaid conscript labor. An unknown number may have died in custody as a consequence of malnutrition, exposure to the elements, and lack of medical care (see Eisenhower and German POWs).
Eisenhower was named Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army in 1945-48. , and in December 1950 was named Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and given operational command of NATO forces in Europe. Eisenhower retired from active service on May 31, 1952, upon entering politics. He wrote Crusade in Europe, widely regarded as one of the finest U.S. military memoirs. During this period Eisenhower served as president of Columbia University from 1948 until 1953, though he was on leave from the University while he served as NATO commander.
After his many wartime successes, General Eisenhower returned to the U.S. a great hero. It would not be long before Henry Cabot Lodge and other supporters were pressuring him to run for president in the 1952 presidential election to counter the candidacy of isolationist Senator [Robert A. Taft]]. Eisenhower defeated Taft for the nomination, but came to an agreement that Taft would stay out of foreign affairs, while Eisenhower followed a conservative domestic policy. Ike's campaign was a crusade against the Truman administration's policies regarding "Korea, Communism and Corruption." Eisenhower promised to go to Korea himself and end the war, and maintain both a strong NATO abroad against Communism and a corruption-free frugal administration at home. He and his running mate Richard Nixon easily defeated Adlai Stevenson in a landslide, marking the first Republican return to the White House in 20 years. He was the only general to serve as President in the 20th century.
Presidency 1953-1961
Foreign Policy
Eisenhower's threats to use nuclear weapons quickly dissolved the stalemate at the Korean truce talks, and an armistice was signed in July 1953. With the death of Stalin there was talk of some sort of détente with the Soviet Union. Eisenhower brought Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to tour the U.S. in 1959, but a planned reciprocal visit was canceled by the Soviets after they shot down an American spy plane. In 1954 the French implored Eisenhower to send the navy to rescue Vietnam. Eisenhower refused. He acquiesced in the division of Vietnam into a Communist North and a South informally allied with the United States, and sent a few hundred advisors.
Interstate Highway System
One of Eisenhower's lesser known but most important acts as president was championing the construction of the modern day Interstate Highway System, modeled after the Autobahn Americans had seen in Germany. Eisenhower viewed the highway system as essential to American safety during the Cold War; a means of quickly moving thousands of people out of cities or troops across the country was key in an era of nuclear paranoia and Soviet Union blitzkrieg invasion scenarios imagined by military strategists. It is a popular urban legend that Eisenhower required the Interstate Highway System to have one out of every five miles straight in case an airplane needed to make an emergency landing, or in case the highway needed to become an impromptu Air Force airport. This is not true; the closest to reality this ever came was a plan to build landing strips beside highways, but the "one in five" plan was never part of the original Intersate Highway System. (For a more in depth discussion, see [4].) Today, the American Interstate highway system is the largest and most extensive in world, and allows for the average American to proceed across distances in half the time as European or Asian counterparts without such systems.
Retirement and death
On January 17, 1961, Eisenhower gave his final televised speech from the Oval Office. In his farewell speech to the nation, Eisenhower raised the issue of the Cold War and role of the U.S. armed forces. He described the Cold War saying: "We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose and insidious in method...A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction."
Earlier in his remarks he had warned about what he saw as unjustified government spending proposals and continued with a warning that "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex... Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
Once Eisenhower left office his reputation declined, and he was seen as having been a "do-nothing" President. This was partly because of the contrast between Eisenhower and his young, activist successor, John F. Kennedy, but also due to his reluctance to support the civil rights movement or to stop McCarthyism. Such omissions were held against him during the liberal climate of the 1960s and 1970s. Eisenhower's reputation has risen since that time due to his non-partisan nature, his wartime leadership, his action in Arkansas, his being the last President to balance the budget (before the second Clinton term), and an increasing appreciation of how difficult it is today to maintain a prolonged peace. In recent surveys of historians, Eisenhower is often ranked in the top ten among all U.S. Presidents.
Eisenhower is purported to have said that his September 1953 appointment of California Governor Earl Warren as Chief Justice of the United States was "the biggest damn fool mistake I ever made". Some sources place this act on Eisenhower's own list of "My Top Five Lifetime Mistakes". Eisenhower disagreed vigorously with several of Warren's decisions.
Eisenhower retired to the place where he and Mamie had spent much of their post-war time, a working farm adjacent to the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Gettysburg farm is a National Historic Site [5]. In retirement, he did not completely retreat from political life; he spoke at the 1964 Republican convention, and also appeared with Barry Goldwater in a Republican campaign commercial from Gettysburg.[6]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Eisenhower_67-475-19.jpg/220px-Eisenhower_67-475-19.jpg)
Due to legal issues related to holding a military rank while in a civilian office, Eisenhower resigned his permanent commission as General of the Army before entering the office of President of the United States. Upon completion of his Presidential term, his commission on the retired list was reactivated and Eisenhower was again commissioned a five star general in the United States Army.
"Ike" Eisenhower died at 12:25 PM on March 28, 1969, at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C., after a long illness at the age of 78. He lies alongside his wife and their first child, who died in childhood, in a small chapel called the Place of Meditation, at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, located in Abilene. His state funeral was quite unique because it was presided over by Richard Nixon, who was vice-president under Eisenhower and was already serving as president of the United States. [7]
Legacy
Eisenhower's picture was on the dollar coin from 1971 to 1979. Nearly 700 million of the copper-nickel clad coins were minted for general circulation, and far smaller numbers of uncirculated and proof issues (in both copper-nickel and 40% silver varieties) were produced for collectors. Ike reappeared on a commemorative silver dollar issued in 1990, celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth.
In 1971, the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California was named for him.
In 1983, The Eisenhower Institute was founded in Washington, D.C. as a policy institute to advance Eisenhower's intellectual and leadership legacies.
In 1999, the United States Congress created the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, which is in the planning stages of creating an enduring national memorial in Washington, D.C. across the street from the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall.
Trivia
- The name Eisenhower means "ironworker" in German. More specifically, "he who hammers on iron".
- He named the presidential retreat Camp David after his grandson David Eisenhower.
- In 1961 when he handed over the presidency to John F. Kennedy, at 43 the youngest elected president, he was the oldest president to serve, at 70 years and 98 days – a record since broken by Ronald Reagan.
- Eisenhower was the first president affected by the 22nd Amendment, limiting presidential terms, and the first Republican president to be elected to two full terms since William McKinley (who did not live to serve them both).
- In 1945, General Eisenhower was the first American made an honorary member of the British Order of Merit. Only one other American has ever been given this honor, John Gilbert Winant in 1947. Eisenhower is one of very few Americans made an honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.
- Eisenhower is the only foreigner ever invited to stand at Lenin's Tomb and review the parade of Soviet troops through Moscow's Red Square.
- Eisenhower is only the third US President with military service to reenter the United States armed forces after leaving the presidency. The others were George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant.
- Eisenhower has been portrayed by several actors, including Tom Selleck in the 2004 television program "Ike: Countdown to D-Day" which depicts the 90 days leading up to the D-Day Invasion. On June 6 of that year, Eisenhower's grandson, David, along with Roosevelt's grandson, David, and Arabella Churchill, granddaughter of British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, appeared on MSNBC during the network's coverage of the 60th anniversary of D-Day and talked about the roles their respective grandfathers played during the allied invasion.Template:Fn
- Eisenhower's height was 5'10½," or 179 cm.
Awards and decorations
United States
- Army Distinguished Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
- Navy Distinguished Service Medal
- Legion of Merit
- World War I Victory Medal
- European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one silver and four bronze service stars
- American Campaign Medal
- American Defense Service Medal with "Foreign Service" clasp
- World War II Victory Medal
- Mexican Border Service Medal
- Army of Occupation Medal with "Germany" clasp
International Awards
- British Order of the Bath
- British Order of Merit
- British African Star
- Belgian Order of Leopold
- Belgian Croix de Guerre
- French Legion of Honor
- French Croix de Guerre
- French Liberation Medal
- Luxembourg War Cross
- Luxembourg Medal of Merit
- Czechoslovakian Order of the White Lion
- Czechoslovakian Golden Star of Victory
- Danish Order of the Elephant
- Moroccan Order of Ouissan Alaouite
- Netherlands Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion
- Russian Order of Victory
- Russian Order of Suvorov
- Polish Virtuti Militari
- Polish Cross of Grunwald
- Polish Rastituta Chevalier
- Argentinian Great Cross of the Order of the Liberator
- Brazilian Grand Cross Order of Military Merit
- Brazilian Grand Cross Order of Aeronautical Merit
- Brazilian National Order of the Southern Cross
- Brazil War Medal
- Brazil Campaign Medal
- Chief Commander of the Chilean Order of Merit
- Chinese Grand Cordon of the Order of Yun Hui
- Chinese Grand Cordon of the Order of Yun Fei
- Ecuadorian Star of Abdon Calderon
- Egyptian Grand Cordon of the Order of Ismal
- Ethiopian Order of Solomon
- Greek Order of George I with Swords
- Guatemalan Cross of Military Merit
- Haitian Great Cross of the Order of Honor and Merit
- Grand Cross of the Italian Military Order
- Order of Mexican Military Merit
- Mexican Aztec Eagle
- Medal of Mexican Civic Merit
- Norwegian Order of St. Olaf
- Tunisian Grand Cordon of the Nishan Iftikar
In addition, Eisenhower's name was given to a variety of streets, avenues, etc. in cities around the world, including Paris, France.
Quotes
Kinship among nations is not determined in such measurements as proximity of size and age. Rather we should turn to those inner things--call them what you will--I mean those intangibles that are the real treasures free men possess.
To preserve his freedom of worship, his equality before law, his liberty to speak and act as he sees fit, subject only to provisions that he trespass not upon similar rights of others--a Londoner will fight. So will a citizen of Abilene.
When we consider these things, then the valley of the Thames draws closer to the farms of Kansas and the plains of Texas.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower's London Guild Hall Address, June 12, 1945.[8]
From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city, every village, and every rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower when signing into law the phrase "One nation under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance.
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. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
-- Dwight Eisenhower, April 16, 1953
I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address January 17, 1961 (source: Fortune program)
Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower in a letter to his brother Edgar, November 8, 1954, Snopes page
Footnotes
- Template:Fnb All of the Eisenhower boys left the Jehovah's Witness religion when they reached adulthood and openly opposed major aspects of Watchtower teaching, although some of the values they learned from their Bible studies probably influenced them throughout their lives. Some Watchtower values may even have been reflected in Eisenhower's statements against war made in his latter life. Nonetheless, the Eisenhowers endeavored to hide the full extent of their mother's and family's Watchtower involvement although they did at times admit their affiliation with them.
- Template:Fnb As V-E Day came, Allied forces in Western Europe [not including Italy] consisted of 4.5 million men, including 9 armies (5 of them American—one of which, the Fifteenth, saw action only at the last), 23 corps, 91 divisions (61 of them American), 6 tactical air commands (4 American), and 2 strategic air forces (1 American). The Allies had 28,000 combat aircraft, of which 14,845 were American, and they had brought into Western Europe more than 970,000 vehicles and 18 million tons of supplies. At the same time they were achieving final victory in Italy with 18 divisions (7 of them American). [9]
- Template:Fnb "An Eisenhower, A Roosevelt, A Churchill". MSNBC D-Day 60th Anniversary Special Report. Retrieved March 29.
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Media
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See also
- U.S. presidential election, 1952
- U.S. presidential election, 1956
- History of the United States (1945–1964)
- Military-industrial complex, a term coined by Eisenhower
- Atoms for Peace, a speech to the UN General Assembly in December, 1953
- People to People Student Ambassador Program
- Mount Eisenhower
- Kay Summersby
- Eisenhower Presidential Center
- Eisenhower National Historic Site
- Eisenhower and German POWs
References
Secondary sources
- Albertson, Dean. ed. Eisenhower as President (1963)
- Alexander, Charles C. Holding the Line: The Eisenhower Era, 1952-1961 (1975)
- Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890-1952 (1953); Eisenhower. The President (1984); Eisenhower: Soldier and President (2003) one volume version. standard biography
- Bowie, Robert R. and Richard H. Immerman; Waging Peace: How Eisenhower Shaped an Enduring Cold War Strategy Oxford University Press, 1998
- Damms, Richard V. The Eisenhower Presidency, 1953-1961 (2002)
- David Paul T. (ed.), Presidential Nominating Politics in 1952. 5 vols., Johns Hopkins Press, 1954.
- D'Este, Carlo. Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life (2002), military biography to 1945
- Divine, Robert A. Eisenhower and the Cold War (1981)
- Eisenhower, David. Eisenhower at War 1943-1945 (1986), detailed study by his grandson
- Greenstein, Fred I. The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader (1991)
- Harris, Douglas B. "Dwight Eisenhower and the New Deal: The Politics of Preemption" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997.
- Harris, Seymour E. The Economics of the Political Parties, with Special Attention to Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy (1962)
- Krieg, Joann P. ed. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Soldier, President, Statesman (1987). 24 essays by scholars
- Mary S. McAuliffe, "Eisenhower, the President," Journal of American History 68 (1981): 625-632
- Medhurst; Martin J. Dwight D. Eisenhower: Strategic Communicator Greenwood Press, 1993
- Olson, James S. Historical Dictionary of the 1950s (2000)
- Pach, Chester J. And Elmo Richardson. Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower (1991), standard scholarly survey
- Parmet, Herbert S. Eisenhower and the American Crusades (1972). Scholarly biography of post 1945 years.
- Pogue; Forrest C. The Supreme Command (1996) official Army history of SHAEF
- Sixsmith, E. K.G. Eisenhower, His Life and Campaigns (1973)
Primary sources
- Peter G. Boyle, ed. The Churchill-Eisenhower Correspondence, 1953-1955 University of North Carolina Press, 1990
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. Crusade in Europe (1948), his war memoirs
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. Mandate for Change, 1953-1956 (1963)
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. Waging Peace (1965), presidency 1956-60
Eisenhower Papers 21 volume scholarly edition; complete for 1940-61.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
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- Works by Dwight D. Eisenhower at Project Gutenberg
- Eisenhower Chronology World History Database
- The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum
- Eisenhower Home and Tomb
- Armigerous American Presidents Series
- White House biography
- Eisenhower Tapes @ University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs (Oval Office recordings)
- First Inaugural Address
- Second Inaugural Address
- Audio clips of Eisenhower's speeches
- Farewell Address, Wikisource
- Essay: Why the Eisenhower administration embraced nuclear weapons (PDF)
- The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission
- The Presidential Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower (Searchable Online)