Dwight David Eisenhower – 34th president of America
Dwight David Eisenhower was an American statesman and military leader, US army General (1944) and the 34th president of the United States (January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961). His two terms in office were a time of peace and prosperity. Eisenhower was the only postwar president who received more positive than negative ratings for his entire time in office.
Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890 in Denison, Texas. He was the third of the seven sons. Eisenhower was called Ike from an early age.
In 1915 Dwight graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. In 1916 he married Mamie Geneva Doud. They had two sons.
During World War I Eisenhower commanded a tank training center. After the war he served in the United States, the Panama Canal Zone, Europe, and the Philippines.
In 1939 Eisenhower became chief of staff.
When World War II began, Eisenhower became assistant chief of the War Plans Division of the Army General Staff. In December 1943 he became supreme commander of the Allied forces.
In 1948 he retired from military service to become president of Columbia University.
In 1950 he was named the first head of the armies of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
On January 20, 1953 Eisenhower became a president. In the same year he helped to end the Korean War.
In the 1956 election he won again.
In 1958 Eisenhower approved the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Dwight David Eisenhower died of heart failure on March 28, 1969 in Washington, DC. At the age of seventy eight.
When Marshal Zhukov met Eisenhower, who commanded US forces in Europe during World War II, he gave him a Coke. Zhukov liked the drink and asked Eisenhower to organize its delivery to his headquarters. So, Zhukov received 50 boxes of Coca-Cola.
Eisenhower always had three coins in his pocket – for good luck. Perhaps it worked because he passed through the First and the Second World War.
Eisenhower was the symbolic figure of the fifties. He embodied the strength and reliability of the leadership, the welfare of society and American power.