Freedom and Capitalism, Ingenuity, Hardwork and Discipline

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower

October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969

Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890, in Denison, Texas, the third of seven boys. Eisenhower's father was a college-educated engineer but had trouble making a living and the family was poor. Eisenhower graduated from high school in 1909 and enrolled at the United States Military Academy in 1911 and received his commission as a second lieutenant in 1915. He served with the infantry until 1918 at various camps in Texas and Georgia. During World War I, Eisenhower became the #3 leader of the new tank corps and rose to Lieutenant Colonel. 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. Not long after his return in 1952, a "Draft Eisenhower" movement in the Republican party persuaded him to declare his candidacy. He and his running mate Richard Nixon defeated Democrats Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman in a landslide. In 1956, Eisenhower faced Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver on the Democratic ticket. Eisenhower won his second term with 457 of 531 votes in the Electoral College, and 57.6% of the popular vote. Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961, and the last to be born in the 19th century.