Dwight D. Eisenhower facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dwight David Eisenhower
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| 34th President of the United States | |
| 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 (aged 78) Washington, D.C. |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Mamie Doud Eisenhower |
| Children | Doud, John |
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 to 1961. He was known across the world for his help leading the Allied invasions in World War II.
Contents
Early life and education
The Eisenhauer (German for "iron hewer/miner") family migrated from Karlsbrunn in Nassau-Saarbrücken, to North America, first settling in York, Pennsylvania, in 1741, and in the 1880s moving to Kansas. Dwight D. Eisenhower's father, David Jacob Eisenhower (1863–1942), married Ida Elizabeth (Stover) Eisenhower, of German Protestant ancestry, on September 23, 1885.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890, in Denison, Texas, the third of seven boys. His mother originally named him David Dwight but reversed the two names after his birth to avoid the confusion of having two Davids in the family. All of the boys were called "Ike", such as "Big Ike" (Edgar) and "Little Ike" (Dwight).
In 1892, the family moved to Abilene, Kansas, which Eisenhower considered his hometown. While Eisenhower's mother was against war, she kept a collection of history books in their home. "Little Ike" loved reading them and learned as much as he could about military history.
His parents set aside specific times at breakfast and dinner for daily family Bible reading. Chores were regularly assigned and rotated among all the children, and misbehavior was met with discipline.
Eisenhower attended Abilene High School. During his freshmen year, he injured his knee, and it became badly infected. His doctor insisted that Dwight have his leg amputated, but Dwight would not allow it and miraculously recovered. He had to repeat his freshmen year and graduated with the class of 1909. He and his brother Edgar both wanted to attend college, though they lacked the money. They made a pact to take yearly turns in college while the other worked to earn money for tuition.
Edgar took his turn and asked for a second year, which Dwight approved. Dwight accepted an appointment to West Point in 1911. Academically, Eisenhower's best subject by far was English. Otherwise, his performance was average. In athletics, Eisenhower played varsity football and served as a junior varsity football coach and cheerleader. He graduated in the middle of the class of 1915, which became known as "the class the stars fell on" because 59 members eventually became general officers.
Personal life
While Eisenhower was stationed in Texas, he met Mamie Doud of Boone, Iowa. He proposed to her on Valentine's Day 1916 and planned their wedding for November. However, because of the U.S. entry into World War I, they moved the date to July 1. The Eisenhowers had two sons. Doud Dwight "Icky" Eisenhower (1917–1921) died of scarlet fever at the age of three. Their second son, John Eisenhower (1922–2013), was born in Denver, Colorado. He married Barbara Jean Thompson on June 10, 1947. John and Barbara had four children: David, Barbara Ann, Susan Elaine, and Mary Jean. David, after whom Camp David is named, married Richard Nixon's daughter Julie in 1968.
With his excellent memory and ability to focus, Eisenhower was skilled at card games. He learned poker, which he called his "favorite indoor sport," in Abilene. He learned how to play contract bridge at West Point and continued to play bridge throughout his military career. He earned the nickname "the bridge wizard of Manila." He was an excellent player, and he never gloated when he won or complained when he lost.
Later in life, Eisenhower developed a love for golf and played as often as he could. When he played in the winter, he ordered his golf balls painted black so he could see them better against snow on the ground.
Oil painting was another of Eisenhower's hobbies. To relax, Eisenhower painted about 260 oils during the last 20 years of his life. The paintings were mostly landscapes, but he also painted portraits of subjects such as Mamie, their grandchildren, General Bernard Montgomery, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln.
World War I
After graduation in 1915, Eisenhower requested to be assigned overseas, but he was denied. He stayed in the states and served in logistics and then in infantry at different camps in Texas and Georgia until 1918. When the U.S. entered World War I, he immediately requested to be assigned overseas, but he was denied again. He was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel in the National Army. He commanded a unit that trained tank crews at Camp Colt. When he finally received orders to go to France, he was unable to go because the armistice was signed a week before his departure date. Not being able to go to war left him bitter, even though he won the Distinguished Service Medal for his work at home.
In service of generals
After the war, Eisenhower was promoted to major, a rank he held for 16 years. He served under and with many talented generals (Fox Conner, John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur, George S. Patton, Sereno E. Brett, and other senior tank leaders). During this time, he became an expert in tank warfare. On Conner's recommendation, in 1925–26 he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he graduated first in a class of 245 officers. He then served as a battalion commander at Fort Benning, Georgia, until 1927.
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Eisenhower's army career slowed down. He was assigned to the Army War College and graduated in 1928. After a one-year assignment in France, his job was to plan for the next war. This was difficult because it was the middle of the Great Depression. He was posted as chief military aide to General MacArthur, Army Chief of Staff.
In 1935, he went to the Philippines with General MacArthur. There he helped the Philippine government develop its army. Eisenhower and MacArthur had some disagreements about how this should be done. This experience helped him handle the difficult personalities of Winston Churchill, George S. Patton, George Marshall, and General Montgomery during World War II.
In 1939, Eisenhower returned to the States, was promoted several times, and served in many U.S. Army forts. Although his superiors saw him as a good leader, he had not yet been in command of a battalion in war.
World War II
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower was assigned to the General Staff in Washington, where he served until June 1942. His responsibility was to create the major war plans to defeat Japan and Germany. At the end of May 1942, Eisenhower went to London to help determine how well Maj. Gen. James E. Chaney was doing in leading his English army. He and Lt. Gen. Henry H. Arnold reported that Cheney was not doing well. He was promoted to lieutenant general on July 7.
At the end of May 1942, Eisenhower went to London to help determine how well Maj. Gen. James E. Chaney was doing in leading the U.S. soldiers in England. He and Lt. Gen. Henry H. Arnold reported that Cheney was not doing well. On June 23, 1942, he returned to London and replaced Chaney as Commanding General, European Theater of Operations (ETOUSA).
Operations Torch and Avalanche
In November 1942, Eisenhower planned Operation Torch underground within the Rock of Gibraltar. Eisenhower was the first non-British person to command Gibraltar in 200 years. Operation Torch involved about 65,000 American and British troops who landed at Casablanca, Algiers, and Oran on the French North African coast. It was the first amphibious attack of World War II and the first time U.S. troops fought against Nazi Germany. The French signed an armistice with the Allies.
After the surrender of Axis forces in North Africa, Eisenhower oversaw the successful invasion of Sicily. Once Mussolini, the Italian leader, had fallen in Italy, the Allies switched their attention to the mainland of Italy with Operation Avalanche. President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill both insisted that the Italians should completely surrender to the Americans in exchange for their help. While they spent time arguing with Eisenhower about this, the Germans were able to gather strength in Italy. They made battle more difficult, but Allied forces were still able to defeat them.
Supreme Allied commander and Operation Overlord
In December 1943, President Roosevelt decided that Eisenhower Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in Europe. He also kept his title of Commanding General, European Theater of Operations (ETOUSA). While he was in these positions, he was assigned to plan and carry out the Allied attack on the coast of Normandy in June 1944. The code name for the attack was Operation Overlord.
On June 6, 1944 — known as D-Day — the Allies stormed ashore at Normandy from a fleet of about 4,000 ships. The Allies lost many soldiers that day. Eisenhower made it a point to visit every division in the invasion. He knew that they and their families had suffered much loss. The Battle of Normandy raged until German forces retreated across the Seine on August 30, 1944. This marked the close of Operation Overlord.
Liberation of France and victory in Europe
Once the coastal assault had succeeded, Eisenhower kept control over the land battle plan. He busied himself with the command and supply of many assaults through France and Germany. Eisenhower interacted skillfully with allies such as Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, and French General Charles de Gaulle. He had serious disagreements with Churchill and Montgomery over strategy, but these rarely upset his relationships with them. He dealt with Soviet Marshal Zhukov, the man with his position in Russia, and they became good friends.
Eisenhower showed his great talents for leadership and diplomacy, and on December 20, 1944, he was promoted to General of the Army. This rank was equal to the rank of Field Marshal in most European armies.
In December 1944, the Germans began a surprise attack on the Allies at Ardennes, Belgium. Eisenhower was able to reposition his armies and improved weather allowed the U.S. Air Force to help attack the Germans in 1945. This was called the Battle of the Bulge. German forces continued to weaken on both sides of Europe. The actual division of Germany followed the lines that (American) Roosevelt, (British) Churchill, and (Soviet Union) Joseph Stalin had previously agreed upon. The Soviet Red Army captured Berlin in a very large-scale bloody battle, and the Germans finally surrendered on May 7, 1945.
After World War II
Military Governor in Germany and Army Chief of Staff
After the surrender of the Germans, Germany was divided into areas that were controlled by the U.S., Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. Eisenhower was made Military Governor of the U.S. Occupation Zone, the part of Germany that was governed by the United States.
In 1945, Eisenhower expected that someday people would try to say that the Holocaust never happened or was not as bad as people say it was, so he demanded that many photographs and films be taken to prove that the Nazi death camps and the people who lived and died there existed. He ordered camera crews to document evidence of the atrocities in the concentration camps for use in the Nuremberg Trials. These trials were to punish the Nazis for war crimes. Eisenhower also sent 400,000 tons of food and medical equipment for civilians. This showed that the German people were victims of the Nazis.
In November 1945, Eisenhower returned to Washington to become Chief of Staff of the Army. His job was to bring troops home after the war. He did not like that the U.S. had used atomic bombs against Japan and hoped for a peaceful relationship with the Soviet Union. He strongly supported the new United Nations.
1948 presidential election, Columbia University, and NATO Supreme Commander
In 1945, President Truman said that he could help Eisenhower win the 1948 presidential election. In 1947, Truman offered to be Eisenhower's running mate on the Democratic ticket. Other important citizens and politicians from both parties asked Eisenhower to run for President. However, Eisenhower did not join with either political party and said he would not run for President.
In 1948, Eisenhower became President of Columbia University, an Ivy League university in New York City, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He led the Council on Foreign Relations, a study group that discussed social and political topics. He learned much about economics during these discussions. He also formed the American Assembly while he was president of Columbia. He thought educational institutions should be more involved in discussing the social and political problems of the day. The American Assembly was a place where people could safely meet to discuss them. He also published his memoir, Crusade in Europe, in 1948.
While Eisenhower was at Columbia, he was requested to advise U.S. Secretary of Defense James Forrestal on the unification of the armed services. About six months after his appointment, he became the informal Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington. In 1950, he was made Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and he was given operational command of NATO forces in Europe. Eisenhower retired from active service as an Army general on May 31, 1952. He remained president of Columbia University until January 20, 1953, when he became the President of the United States.
Presidential Elections
Eisenhower, a Republican from Kansas, used his nickname “Ike,” in his campaign slogan, “I Like Ike.” He told the American people that he would work for peace and prosperity as president. He became President of the United States after a landslide victory over Democrat Adlai Stevenson in both the 1952 and 1956 Presidential elections. The states that voted for Eisenhower were not identical in both elections, but he won many more votes than Stevenson in both elections.
Presidency (1953–1961)
Eisenhower saw the importance of keeping a good relationship with the press and thought they were a valuable way for him to directly communicate with the American people. He held more than 200 press conferences during his two terms as President.
Eisenhower accomplished many things during his presidency:
- In 1953, he helped end the Korean War. He placed American soldiers at the border between North and South Korea to help keep the peace between the two nations.
- He continued most of the New Deal and Fair Deal programs that were begun by previous presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. He also began the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
- On June 1, 1954, Eisenhower signed the legislation that changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day.
- By the end of 1954, Eisenhower's military and foreign policy experts had urged him five times to launch an atomic attack against communist China; however, Eisenhower refused and was able to keep the peace without attacking China. In 1956, Eisenhower established the "Eisenhower Doctrine" to stop the spread of communism. He said that any country that was being threatened by another country could request the help of the United States. He also gave the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) permission to run secret operations against communism.
- In 1956, he signed a bill that authorized the Intersate Highway System. Eisenhower believed highways between major cities would help the economy. He also saw them as a way to help the military travel faster in case of an attack.
- Eisenhower tried to calm the threats between the U.S. and Russia during the Cold War.
- After Russia launched the Sputnik in 1957, Eisenhower created NASA as a civilian space agency in October 1958, signed an important science education law, and improved relations with American scientists.
- Truman had begun desegregating the Armed Forces in 1948, but the process took a long time. President Eisenhower proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 to Congress and signed them into law.
- On August 26, 1959, Eisenhower became the first President to fly on Air Force One, the presidential plan that replaced the Columbine.
- Alaska and Hawaii were added to the Union (the United States) while "Ike" was President.
End of presidency
The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was made official in 1951, and it set term limits to the presidency of two terms. Eisenhower became the first U.S. President to be prevented by the U.S. Constitution from running for re-election to a third term.
Eisenhower was also the first outgoing President to come under the protection of the Former Presidents Act. Eisenhower was able to receive pay for the rest of his life, staff provided by the state, and a Secret Service detail for protection.
Eisenhower endorsed Richard Nixon for President after him. He did not want John F. Kennedy (JFK) to be President. However, Nixon narrowly lost to Kennedy. Eisenhower, who was the oldest president in history at that time (then 70), was followed by the youngest elected president, 43-year-old JFK.
After he completed his Presidential term, his commission was reactivated by Congress, and Eisenhower again was made a five-star general in the United States Army.
Post-presidency, death and funeral
After his presidency, Eisenhower and Mamie moved to a working farm near the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 70 miles from his ancestral home in Elizabethville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. In 1967 the Eisenhowers donated the Gettysburg farm to the National Park Service. They also had a retirement home in Palm Desert, California.
Eisenhower kept somewhat politically active after his Presidency. He supported Republican candidates and rejoiced when his former vice president, Richard Nixon, was elected as President in 1968.
On the morning of March 28, 1969, Eisenhower died in Washington, D.C., of congestive heart failure at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; he was 78 years old. The next day, his body was moved to the Washington National Cathedral's Bethlehem Chapel, where he lay in repose for 28 hours. On March 30, his body was brought by caisson to the United States Capitol, where he lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda. On March 31, Eisenhower's body was returned to the National Cathedral, where he was given an Episcopal Church funeral service.
Eisenhower was buried next to his son Doud in a small chapel on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Library. His wife Mamie was buried next to him after her death a decade later in 1979.
Awards and Honors
Major Dwight D. Eisenhower graduated from the Army Industrial College (Washington, DC) in 1933 and later served on the faculty (it was later expanded to become the Industrial College of the Armed Services and is now known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy).
Dwight D. Eisenhower quotes
.jpg)
- "The world could be fixed of its problems if every child understood the necessity of their existence."
- "The history of free men is never written by chance but by choice - their choice."
- "What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight- it's the size of the fight in the dog."
- "The search for a scapegoat is the easiest of all hunting expeditions."
- "The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office."
Interesting facts about Dwight D. Eisenhower
- His first name was originally David, but his mother didn't want him to be confused with his father so she switched his first and second names.
- Camp David is named after Eisenhower's grandson.
- He was best known for his military career, however, he never saw active combat.
- He was planning and logistics expert.
- Eisenhower didn't want to use nuclear weapons on Japan. Truman did.
- Eisenhower declared racial discrimination a national security issue. He saw that Communists around the world would use it against the United States.
- One of his hobbies was painting. He used to paint landscapes and portraits.
Images for kids
-
The Eisenhower family home in Abilene, Kansas
-
Eisenhower lighting the Columbia University Yule Log, 1949
-
Eisenhower posing in front of Alma Mater at Columbia in 1953
-
As president of Columbia, Eisenhower presents an honorary degree to Jawaharlal Nehru.
-
Eisenhower meeting with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser during Nasser's visit to United Nations in New York, September 1960
-
Eisenhower visits the Kingdom of Afghanistan and its king Mohammed Zahir Shah in Kabul.
-
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev during his 11-day U.S. visit as guest of President Eisenhower, September 1959
-
President Eisenhower with Wernher von Braun, 1960
-
Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and Eisenhower in Madrid in 1959
-
Eisenhower signs the legislation that changes Armistice Day to Veterans Day, June 1, 1954
-
President John F. Kennedy meets with General Eisenhower at Camp David, April 22, 1961, three days after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion
-
Eisenhower Interstate System sign south of San Antonio, Texas
-
Bronze statue of Eisenhower in the Capitol rotunda
-
The star of the Soviet Order of Victory awarded to Eisenhower
-
Eisenhower speaks to the press at the 1964 Republican National Convention
-
Graves of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Doud Dwight "Icky" Eisenhower and Mamie Eisenhower in Abilene, Kansas
.jpg)
See also
In Spanish: Dwight D. Eisenhower para niños
