Dwight Eisenhower
Historical Figure
Overview of His Life
-3rd of 7 children
-Moved to Abilene, Kansas shortly after he was born
-His younger brother Paul died of diphtheria but he still had happy memories as a child
-Graduated from Abilene High School in 1909, and went to work to help his brother pay for college
-Joined West Point Military Academy in 1911
-Met Mamie Geneva Doud while stationed in Texas and married her after 9 months
-First child Doud Dwight born in 1917, died of scarlet fever in 1920
-Second child John Sheldon Doud born in 1922
-Graduated first in his class from the General Staff School in Fort Leavenworth in 1926
-Served under General Douglas MacArthur as his military assistant in the Phillipines from 1935-1939
-Transferred to the War Plans Division in 1942
-Became Commander in Chief
-Led invasion in N. Africa (Operation Torch)
-Commander of the Attack on Normandy in 1944
-Received a hero's welcome home in 1945
-President of Columbia University from 1948-1950: left his post to be Supreme Allied Commander of NATO
-While in Paris, was convinced by the Republican Party to run as the Republican candidate from the presidency
-Won Election of 1952 by a landslide
-Negotiated peace between North and South Korea's border in 1953
-Atoms for Peace
-Meeting in Geneva to stop the threat of Atomic war in 1955
-Suffered from a heart attack in late 1955
-Re-elected for president in 1956
-Signed the 1957 Civil Rights Act
-NASA
-Left office after his second term in 1961, after his speech regarding the "industrial-military complex"
-Went to Gettysburg with his family and lived the rest of his life keeping an office in Gettysburg College, writing his memoirs and holding meetings
-Died in March of 1969 as a result of long-term heart problems
Life Influences
Elizabeth Eisenhower- Eisenhower's mother was a very influential figure in his life. The Eisenhowers when Dwight was a child were very poor, and this brought their relatively large family together. He became close with his mother as she would help him whenever he needed help with almost anything. "Many such persons of her faith, selflessness, and boundless consideration of others have been called saintly. She was that—but above all she was a worker, an administrator, a teacher and guide, a truly wonderful woman."
"Pessimism never won any battle."
Atoms for Peace
-This paragraph is basically a long sentence: this syntax is used to unify ideas into one body
-He gives not just himself, but also the public, some checkpoints to watch out for
-Uses sophisticated words such as "armaments" and "fissioning" to make himself sound like an expert on the topic
"Money and Power"
Ike's Spies: Eisenhower and the Espionage Establishment
Compare and Contrast
Historiography
Eisenhower was the 34th president of the US, and was not a man who reacted with impulse towards his problems. He took the time to break them down and slowly worked to achieve his goals. As president, he stopped the Korean War by threatening to use nuclear weapons, which may seem a little impulsive, but Eisenhower did not ever do something without prior planning. When meeting Khrushchev, the ignorant leader of Russia, discussing the ultimatum he delivered to the West telling them to get out of Berlin, Eisenhower took his time to get to know Khrushchev, and finally got him to recant his statement after showing him his grandchildren. Before the planned summit a year later however, A U2 pilot was shot down in Russian airspace: Khrushchev called off the summit and the Cold War got a whole lot worse. Eisenhower still tried to get things to settle down, trying to get his enemy to talk to him again, but it did not work, and Russia hated the West even more.