By Kate Williamson
Geary County CVB
On this President's Day the late president, Dwight D. Eisenhower is remembered.
What a coincidence that the 34th President, Dwight David Eisenhower was from the 34th state, Kansas? Eisenhower lived a full life that was in service to the United States. He was a West Point graduate, General in the Army, the first Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, President of Columbia University, Army Chief of Staff, NATO Supreme Commander, and President of the United States.
President Eisenhower was born on Oct. 14, 1890. He was the third of seven sons of David Eisenhower and his wife, Ida. He grew up loving sports in Abilene, Kansas. The Eisenhower’s’ lived in Abilene because his father worked at the Belle Springs Creamery. Eisenhower would eventually come to work with his father at the creamery from 1909 to 1911.
When he was 20 years old, Eisenhower heard about a competitive exam for the armed forces. The Naval Academy was his first choice. Before he took the exam, he discovered that he was too old to enter the academy. Because of this, Eisenhower entered West Point in 1911 and graduated in June 1915.
At the beginning of his military career, Eisenhower was stationed in Georgia and Texas. Texas is where he met the love of his life and wife, Mamie Doud. It was love at first sight and Eisenhower proposed to her on Valentine’s Day, in 1916. The couple would go on to have two sons, Doud Dwight Eisenhower, and John Eisenhower. Doud died of scarlet fever at the age of three. John served in the Army, became an author, and served as the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium.
While Eisenhower was in the military, he served in the Panama Canal and Philippines in the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1940’s he served in England during World War II. There he directed the Allied invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. In 1943, President Roosevelt gave him the title of Supreme Allied Commander of Europe. In this capacity, he oversaw the planning and execution of the Normandy Invasion.
Eisenhower’s presidential journey began in 1953 when he accepted the Republican Party presidential nomination. His slogan, “I Like Ike” was a catchy one and he would serve as president for two terms.
During his presidency, he authorized the Interstate Highway System, St. Lawrence Seaway the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Eisenhower negotiated the truce to end the conflict in Korea, dealt with crises in Lebanon, Suez, Berlin, and Hungary. He was the first president to appear on color television, the last president born in the 19th century, and is the only general who has served as president during the 20th century.
Eisenhower’s life should not be defined by his military career. He was a husband, a father and incredibly involved with his hobbies. Eisenhower was a skilled oil painter and painted about 260 paintings in 20 years. He also loved flying & fast cars.
He was also very skilled at card games. When he was playing bridge regularly with President Manuel Quezon in the Philippines, he earned the nickname, “Bridge Wizard of Manila” because he was that good.
Kansas is so lucky to have a President who made it his life mission to make the country better.
To learn more about President Eisenhower, please visit the Eisenhower library. At the library, visitors can tour his boyhood home, museum, and library. For more information on the museum go to https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/about-us.