Golfing at the National, shopping at the PX: Ike and Mamie Eisenhower loved Augusta

When Russell K. Brown was young, he attended the same Presbyterian church as President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mamie Eisenhower.

Years later, as a military police officer at Fort Gordon, he crossed paths with Mamie Eisenhower again. She would stay at Eisenhowers Cabin at the Augusta National and come to shop at the post exchange, or PX, on base.

"We'd meet her at the gate with an MP escort, and she'd drive up to the PX, and then she'd have a military policeman with a basket or a pushcart follow her around," Brown remembered. "Her car would park in the no-parking in front of the main entrance to the PX."

Now, a congressional committee tasked with changing the names of military assets named for confederates has recommended that Fort Gordon – named for Confederate general John Brown Gordon – be renamed for "Ike", in part because of his ties to Augusta.

Fort Gordon renaming:Fort Gordon should be renamed Fort Eisenhower, commission says

Mamie Eisenhower:April 23, 1971: Mamie Eisenhower attends Fort Gordon hospital groundbreaking

"Eisenhower spent a lifetime in service to the nation starting as a West Point cadet in 1911 and finishing as president 50 years later," said Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, a naming commission member, when announcing the new names on May 24 during a news conference.

"As supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, he understood how to bring together services and nations around a shared mission," Seidule continued. "Later, as president, relying on his military experience and keen judgment, Eisenhower led the nation through a perilous period during the early years of the nuclear age. Eisenhower also had a close relationship with the greater Augusta communities."

Eisenhower's ties to the fort itself, however, may not run much deeper than Mamie's shopping excursions. It was Augusta National that brought Eisenhower to the city. He even has his own chapter in "From Greenhouses to Green Jackets," a book of historical essays on the National edited by Brown and published by the Augusta-Richmond County Historical Society.

The chapter, written by then Augusta University student John Clark, says that the relationship began when New York Herald Tribune editor William E. Robinson, a member of Augusta National who had helped Eisenhower publish a war time memoir, invited Eisenhower in 1948. 

According to Clark's chapter, that 1948 trip was the first time Ike and Mamie had taken a vacation since 1937, and the then-general was able to find respite from his celebrity status on the green, as well as members happy to play bridge. Shortly after the first visit, the president became a member.

Eisenhower loved golf. A 2007 book, "Don't Ask What I Shot," is all about Eisenhower's relationship to the game, including his practice sessions on the White House lawn, and the cleat marks left on the floor of the Oval Office. The National became a natural vacation spot.

When he ran for president in 1952, Ike planned a visit to the Augusta National for after the election, regardless of the result. He arrived on Wednesday, Nov. 5, the day after the election, to a crowd of 250,000. At the time, that was more than twice the actual population of the Augusta metropolitan area. 

On April 8, 1953, the club announced it would build a cabin for the president and first lady, financed by donations from club members.

Eisenhower listed Augusta among several spots of "comparative isolation," where he could relax during his presidency in "Mandate for Change," a history of his first three years in the White House. These locations allowed him a break from Washington while still being near the personnel and communication resources of military bases, including Fort Gordon. 

In 1965, Eisenhower needed Fort Gordon's services for another reason. He suffered a heart attack while in Augusta and was treated at the Fort Gordon Hospital. Three years later, the president suffered another heart attack and died, but Mamie continued to visit Augusta.

In 1971, Fort Gordon announced a new medical facility named for the president.

"My heart is filled with gratefulness," Mamie Eisenhower, who attended the groundbreaking, was quoted as saying in the Chronicle. "You know, I'm proud. And I know this would have meant a great deal to him."

Eisenhower also made at least one formal visit to Fort Gordon, for his final troop review as President in January 1961.

"I have long been wanting to visit Fort Gordon in order that I might thank the personnel, which has been so helpful to my friends and my family and me during the intermittent trips that I make to Augusta," he told the troops. 

The president reflected, during this final review, that it was 50 years since he had first joined the Army.

 "I have been part of such ceremonies during this half-century," he said. "None has been more meaningful than this one. It gives me a chance, through you, to say goodbye to the Army."