34. DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER
1953-1961Bringing 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.
GENEALOGY ==>
NOTES:
Dwight David Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum
http://www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/
President Dwight David Eisenhower's
Farewell Address.
