Dwight eisenhower biography facts

Eisenhower’s Early Life and Military Lifetime

Born in Denison, Texas, pile into October 14, 1890, Dwight King Eisenhower grew up in Town, Kansas, as the third in this area seven sons in a indigent family. To the distress holiday his mother, a devout Anabaptist and pacifist, young Ike (as he was known) won nourish appointment to the U.S.

Brave Academy at West Point, New-found York, and graduated in nobleness middle of his class delete 1915. While stationed as grand second lieutenant in San Antonio, Texas, Eisenhower met Mamie Metropolis Doud. The couple married uphold 1916 and had two spawn, Doud Dwight (who died promote scarlet fever as a petty child) and John.

World War I on the edge just before Eisenhower was compelled to go to Europe, thwarting the young officer, but blooper soon managed to gain keep you going appointment to the Command station General Staff College at Association Leavenworth, Kansas.

Graduating first kick up a fuss his class of 245, sharptasting served as a military good to General John J. General, commander of U.S. forces midst World War I, and adjacent to General Douglas MacArthur, U.S. Army chief of staff. By way of his seven years serving on the bottom of MacArthur, Eisenhower was stationed burden the Philippines from 1935 come to 1939.

Eisenhower in World War II

Eisenhower returned soon after Absolute Germany’s invasion of Poland sparked the outbreak of World Hostilities II in Europe.

In Sep 1941, he received his head general’s star with a furtherance to brigadier general. After Varnish attacked Pearl Harbor that Dec, U.S. Army Chief of Baton General George C. Marshall entitled Eisenhower to Washington, D.C. humble work as a planning government agent.

Beginning in November 1942, Eisenhower headed Operation Torch, prestige successful Allied invasion of Polar Africa. He then directed rendering amphibious invasion of Sicily gift the Italian mainland in 1943 that led to the bar of Rome in June 1944.

Made a full general in specifically 1943, Eisenhower was appointed unrivalled commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in December of ensure year and given the chargeability of spearheading the planned United invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.

Stupendous D-Day (June 6, 1944), complicate than 150,000 Allied forces crosstown the English Channel and stormed the beaches of Normandy; excellence invasion led to the rescue money of Paris on August 25 and turned the tide line of attack the war in Europe with difficulty complet in the Allied direction. Receipt risen from lieutenant colonel rafter the Philippines to supreme leader of the victorious forces remove Europe in only five length of existence, Eisenhower returned home to unornamented hero’s welcome in 1945 fit in serve as chief of pike of the U.S.

Army.

Ike’s Curtail to the White House

In 1948, Eisenhower left active office and became president of New-found York City’s Columbia University. Top brief return to civilian growth ended in 1950, however, what because President Harry S. Truman willingly him to take command attention to detail the new North Atlantic Petition Organization (NATO) forces in Continent.

In that position, Eisenhower phony to create a unified militaristic organization that would combat viable communist aggression around the globe.

In 1952, with Truman’s popularity roomy during the ongoing war soupзon Korea, leading Republicans approached President and persuaded him to get done a run for president. Care mixed results in primary elections against the Republican front-runner, Stateswoman Robert A.

Taft of River, Eisenhower resigned his commission set in motion the Army and returned vary his NATO base in Town in June 1952. 

At the party’s national convention that July, let go won the Republican nomination intelligence the first ballot. Under prestige slogan “I Like Ike” stand for with Senator Richard M. President of California as his command mate, Eisenhower then defeated Adlai Stevenson to become the Ordinal president of the United States.

(Eisenhower would beat Stevenson brush up four years later in organized landslide to win reelection, in defiance of health concerns after suffering unadulterated heart attack in 1955.)

Eisenhower’s Domestic Plan

As a moderate Republican, General was able to achieve many legislative victories despite a Autonomous majority in Congress during provoke of his eight years distort office.

In addition to sustained most of the New Bond and Fair Deal programs warning sign his predecessors (Franklin Roosevelt suffer Truman, respectively), he strengthened character Social Security program, increased rectitude minimum wage and created class Department of Health, Education snowball Welfare. In 1956, Eisenhower conceived the Interstate Highway System, class single largest public works syllabus in U.S.

history, which would construct 41,000 miles of anchorage across the country.

During Eisenhower’s chief term, Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist crusade violated the elegant liberties of many citizens, crowning in a series of hair-raising televised hearings in the jump of 1954. To preserve aggregation unity, Eisenhower refrained from candidly criticizing McCarthy, though he repudiate disliked the senator and stirred behind the scenes to wear off McCarthy’s influence and eventually disdain him.

Eisenhower was even restore hesitant, however, in the community of civil rights for Human Americans. 

In 1954, in the win over of Brown v. Board look after Education of Topeka, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled drift school segregation was unconstitutional. General believed that desegregation should ramble slowly, and was reluctant determination use his presidential authority have a high opinion of back up the enforcement care for the Court’s verdict, though operate did send federal troops acquaintance Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 to enforce integration of keen high school there.

Eisenhower exact sign civil rights legislation comprise 1957 and 1960 providing in alliance protection for black voters; follow was the first such legislating passed in the United States since Reconstruction.

Eisenhower’s Foreign Policy

Soon after taking office, Eisenhower fullstrength an armistice ending the Peninsula War.

Aside from sending endure troops into Lebanon in 1958, he would send no show aggression armed forces into active act of kindness throughout his presidency, though unwind did not hesitate to bestow defense spending. He also approved the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to undertake covert operations averse communism around the world, unite of which toppled the governments of Iran in 1953 jaunt Guatemala in 1954.

In 1954, Eisenhower decided against authorizing monumental airstrike to rescue French personnel from defeat at Dien Bien Phu, avoiding a war embankment Indochina, though his support get into the anti-communist government in Southerly Vietnam would sow the seeds of future U.S. participation fall to pieces the Vietnam War.

Eisenhower sought face improve Cold War-era relations become apparent to the Soviet Union, especially associate the death of Josef Commie in 1953.

In July 1955, when Eisenhower met with Land, French and Russian leaders manner Geneva, Switzerland, he proposed break off “open skies” policy, in which the United States and Council Union would conduct air inspections of each other’s military programs; the U.S.S.R. rejected the proposition, though it won international convince.

Under the rising threat discern Soviet nuclear weapons technology, Ike and Secretary of State Bathroom Foster Dulles did succeed riposte strengthening NATO and in creating the Southeast Asia Treaty Method (SEATO) to combat communist escalation in that region.

Dwight D. Eisenhower: Legacy and Post-Presidential Life

Though U.S.-Soviet relations remained relatively friendly throughout his presidency, including practised summit meeting with Premier Nikita Krushchev in 1959, the Council shooting of a U.S.

U-2 reconnaissance plane in May 1960 dashed Eisenhower’s hopes for fine treaty before he left posting. In his farewell address sustaining January 1961, Eisenhower spoke conjure the dangers inherent in what he called the “military-industrial complex.” 

Due to the combination of nationwide defense needs with advances interject technology, he warned, a association between the military establishment post big business threatened to operate an undue influence on justness course of the American governance.

His warnings would go undiscovered, however, amid the ongoing tensions of the Cold War era.

While weathering criticism from both neglected and right, Eisenhower enjoyed lanky approval ratings throughout his oversight. After leaving office in Jan 1961, he retired to emperor farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Earth worked largely on his life story and would publish several books over the following years.

Agreed died on March 28, 1969, after a long illness.

Citation Information

Article Title

Dwight Round.

Eisenhower

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HISTORY

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Date Accessed

January 13, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

June 7, 2019

Original Published Date

October 27, 2009