Country Vacations & Resorts

Time in Office: January 1953 to January 1961
Terms: Two
Birthday: October 14, 1890
Birth Place: Denison, Texas
Date of Death: March 28, 1969
Place of Death: Walter Reed Army Hospital, Washington, DC
Buried: Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene, Kansas

Notes:
~ Ranked as one of the top 10 US Presidents
~ A 5-Star General in the US Army
~ Began NASA
~ Signed the Federal Highway Act of 1956
~ Enthusiastic golfer
~ Camp David is named for his son
~ Only General to serve as President in the 20th century
~ Never held elected office before the Presidency
~ Alaska and Hawaii admitted as States during his terms in office

By the time “Ike” Eisenhower’s family moved to Abilene, Kansas in 1892 from Texas, America’s 34th President, Dwight David Eisenhower was only two years old. During his lifetime, he always considered Kansas his home.

Graduating from Abilene High School in 1909, Ike was a natural-born leader who entered the US Military Academy at West Point in 1911 – graduating in 1915.

His outstanding military career has been well-documented elsewhere. In his early career, Ike was in Texas, Georgia, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Camp Meade, Maryland, and the Panama Canal zone. He met his wife, Mamie Doud while stationed in Texas. The two later married in Denver – July 1916. A first son Doud, died at age 3 of scarlet fever. Eisenhower’s second son, John, born in 1922, later became a Brigadier General of the Army and served as the US Ambassador to Belgium from 1969 to 1971.

Eisenhower, once committed to his military career, never wavered – even though many in the peacetime Army of the late 1920s were leaving the military for civilian careers. Dwight was assigned to the American Battle Monuments Commission, attended Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and until 1939 was on the staff of General Douglas MacArthur in the Phillipines.

After a series of staff positions in Washington, DC, California and Texas and by the start of World War II, Eisenhower was serving as a staff officer at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas. His years of training and his own studies of historic military battles and strategies would serve the country well during World War II.

During the war, the now Brigadier General Eisenhower traveled extensively as part of his military assignments and duties. To London and Europe, where he was instrumental in planning the “D-Day” operation in June 1944. To Frankfurt at the war’s end where he was Military Governor of the US Occupation Zone. Eisenhower also toured Nazi Concentration Camps – ensuring that the devastating sites were filmed and documented to guarantee exposure and prosecution of Naza atrocities.

He returned to Washington, DC in 1945 – charged with the demobilization of the US Army.

In 1948 Eisenhower was chosen to be President of Columbia University in New York while also serving as the informal chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. He traveled the US constantly during this time frame – including a well-earned rest and health stop at the Augusta National Golf Club. His memiors, “Crusades in Europe” had by now also been published to critical acclaim. In December 1950, Dwight became the Supreme Commander of NATO, Brussels, Belgium – then returning to his Columbia University position which he resigned in 1952.

Presidential Travel – Dwight D. Eisenhower

“I Like Ike” became his Presidential campaign slogan and with his outstanding military record, private and financial support, and public recognition, Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected as the Republican President of the United States in the November 1952 elections. In November 1956, he was re-elected. His terms in office were often labeled as being “peaceful and productive.” Read specific info on Eisenhower’s many travels as President.

Dwight and his wife Mamie had purchased a 200-year old farm adjacent to the Gettysburg battlefield. The home was completely restored and post-war and post Presidency, he and his family spent much of their time there. Health problems had plagued President Eisenhower starting with a serious heart attack in 1955. In retirement, Dwight remained involved in politics, speaking at the 1964 Republican National Convention.

Dwight Eisenhower died of congestive heart failure in March, 1969. After brief stops at Washington National Cathedral and the United States Capitol, his body was placed on a train, returning him to his final resting place in Abilene, Kansas.

Links:
Eisenhower National Historic Site
Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

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