Eisenhower, Dwight D. 1890-1969

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower, a five-star general and the thirty-fourth president of the United States, was born in Texas and raised in Abilene, Kansas. He entered the United States Military Academy as a member of the class of 1915, later known as “The Class the Stars Fell On” for the record number of general officers it produced. As a West Point cadet, he was best known for his football skills and disregard for military discipline.

His first assignment was at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where he met and married Mamie Doud. When the United States entered World War I (1914–1918), Eisenhower expected orders to Europe; instead, he commanded a training base near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Certain his lack of combat duty meant the end of his career, his fears were compounded by the rejection of his proposals for the role of tanks in future warfare. Those concerns diminished under the mentorship of Brigadier General Fox Conner, who arranged to have Eisenhower assigned to his staff in Panama. He encouraged and inspired Eisenhower, and ensured his selection to attend the Army’s staff college, where Eisenhower graduated first in his class. In the 1930s Eisenhower held key political-military posts under Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur. He chafed at MacArthur’s control, and frequently requested reassignment. In 1939 MacArthur finally released Eisenhower for duty with troops.

Two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall summoned Eisenhower to serve as an Army war planner. Six months later, Eisenhower was selected to command all Allied forces in Europe. At the war’s end, Eisenhower was a five-star general, chief of staff of the Army, and an international hero touted as a possible Democratic candidate for president. In 1949 Eisenhower was named president of Columbia University. Despite his lack of academic credentials, he initiated important curriculum changes and established new academic programs. Eisenhower was recalled to active duty in 1950 to serve as Supreme Allied Commander–Europe.

Eisenhower was again urged to run for president in 1952, this time as a Republican challenging isolationist Senator Robert Taft for the GOP nomination. Taft was a strong candidate, but a compromise between those urging fiscal restraint and those promoting internationalist foreign policy resulted in Eisenhower’s nomination. The Korean War stalemate, and Eisenhower’s campaign promise to “go to Korea,” contributed significantly to his victory over Democrat Adlai Stevenson.

The cold war was President Eisenhower’s dominant foreign policy challenge. His efforts built a cohesive Allied defense capability in Europe, and his 1954 refusal to commit U.S. troops to support the French in Indochina is still considered one of his wisest decisions. His handling of the Hungarian uprising in 1956 and his use of the Central Intelligence Agency in covert operations were among his less successful policies. Eisenhower’s domestic successes included the interstate highway system. Following the Soviet launch of Sputnik, Eisenhower refocused the space program and increased support for math and science education. He used federal troops in Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce court-ordered school desegregation. Eisenhower would not, however, support a broader, proactive civil rights agenda.

Eisenhower was reelected in 1956 despite concerns about a heart attack suffered a year earlier. His second term was marked by foreign policy disappointments in Cuba, heightened Soviet–U.S. tensions, and charges of corruption against his chief of staff. In his final address as president, he warned against the influence “sought or unsought” by the “military-industrial complex”—an imperative of the cold war with “grave implications.” Eisenhower died in 1969 and is buried in Abilene, Kansas, near the small home where he was raised.

SEE ALSO Cold War; Cuban Revolution; Desegregation; Foreign Policy; Military-Industrial Complex; Nixon, Richard M.; Presidency, The; World War II

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ambrose, Stephen. 1983. Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890–1952. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Ambrose, Stephen. 1984. Eisenhower: The President. New York: Simon and Schuster.

D’Este, Carlo. 2002. Eisenhower: A Soldier’s Life. New York: Henry Holt.

Greenstein, Fred I. 1994. The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Jacobs, Travis Beal. 2001. Eisenhower at Columbia. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

Pickett, William B. 2000. Eisenhower Decides to Run: Presidential Politics and Cold War Strategy. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee.

Tudda, Chris. 2006. The Truth Is Our Weapon: The Rhetorical Diplomacy of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.

Jay M. Parker