Happy Birthday Ike
On October 14, 1890 (121 years ago today) Dwight David Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States. was born in Denison, Texas. The family would later move to Abilene, Kansas two years later and would make their home there. Abilene is where the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum is located. I've been there three times.
Eisenhower is one of my favourite Presidents and is a very underrated one in my humble opinion. He served two terms during which he preserved the peace despite being in a cold war with Russia. The nation was prosperous and the US highway system was upgraded and improved significantly. Yes, perhaps Eisenhower should have done more in the field of civil rights, although to his credit he appointed Supreme Court judges who accelerated progress in that area, and he used the Army to enforce the court's decisions.
I think one of Eisenhower's strengths was that, although he was elected as a Republican, he was really non-partisan. He didn't bring any political baggage into office and had enough respect and gravitas that when he wanted to do something because it was morally right, it didn't matter as much to him whether or not it accorded with the wishes of his party. At least initially, his popularity as a successful general and a likeable personality transcended the wishes of his party. They wanted him to run for them, not the other way around, so the party was beholding to the leader, not the reverse.
Before becoming President, Eisenhowe had been a five-star general in the United States Army. During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in 1942-43 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.
Eisenhower entered the 1952 presidential race to counter the non-interventionism proposed by Senator Robert A. Taft, and to crusade against "Communism, Korea and corruption." He won by a landslide, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson and ending two decades of Democratic Party rule. As President, Eisenhower concluded negotiations with China to end the Korean War. His idea of a strong military was a policy of nuclear deterrence, which gave priority to nuclear weapons while reducing the funding for the other military forces. This kept pressure on the Soviet Union and reduced federal deficits at the same time. He created NASA to compete against the Soviet Union in the space race.
Eisenhower strongly and very publicly opposed military moves by Israel, during the Suez Crisis. His intervention in the Crisis saved the Egyptian dictator Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser from an Anglo-French invasion. Near the end of his term, the Eisenhower Administration was embarrassed by the U-2 incident (in which an American spy plane was captured over Russia, despite Eisenhower's public denial that such spying was taking place) and was planning the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
On the domestic front, he covertly helped remove Joseph McCarthy from power but otherwise left most political actions to his Vice President, Richard Nixon. He was a moderate conservative who continued the New Deal policies, and in fact enlarged the scope of Social Security, and signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. Though passive on civil rights at first, he sent federal troops to enforce the Supreme Court's ruling to desegregate schools. He was the first term-limited president in accordance with the 22nd Amendment, but it's unlikely that he would have sought a third term because of his health (a history of heart problems.)
Eisenhower's two terms were mainly peaceful, and generally prosperous except for a sharp economic recession in 1958–59. Although public approval for his administration was comparatively low by the end of his term, his reputation improved over time and in recent surveys of historians, Eisenhower is often ranked as one of the top ten U.S. Presidents. He was the last President who was born in the 19th century. He left the Presidency and enjoyed a role as an elder statesman, offering advice to his successors. On March 28, 1969, Eisenhower died of congestive heart failure at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. He is buried inside the chapel building on the grounds of his Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene. Engraved in marble beside his resting place is the following quotation from his famous "Chance for Peace" speech:
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
According to a tweet posted by the Eisenhower Museum this morning, if you visit there today they're serving cake!
Eisenhower is one of my favourite Presidents and is a very underrated one in my humble opinion. He served two terms during which he preserved the peace despite being in a cold war with Russia. The nation was prosperous and the US highway system was upgraded and improved significantly. Yes, perhaps Eisenhower should have done more in the field of civil rights, although to his credit he appointed Supreme Court judges who accelerated progress in that area, and he used the Army to enforce the court's decisions.
I think one of Eisenhower's strengths was that, although he was elected as a Republican, he was really non-partisan. He didn't bring any political baggage into office and had enough respect and gravitas that when he wanted to do something because it was morally right, it didn't matter as much to him whether or not it accorded with the wishes of his party. At least initially, his popularity as a successful general and a likeable personality transcended the wishes of his party. They wanted him to run for them, not the other way around, so the party was beholding to the leader, not the reverse.
Before becoming President, Eisenhowe had been a five-star general in the United States Army. During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in 1942-43 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.
Eisenhower entered the 1952 presidential race to counter the non-interventionism proposed by Senator Robert A. Taft, and to crusade against "Communism, Korea and corruption." He won by a landslide, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson and ending two decades of Democratic Party rule. As President, Eisenhower concluded negotiations with China to end the Korean War. His idea of a strong military was a policy of nuclear deterrence, which gave priority to nuclear weapons while reducing the funding for the other military forces. This kept pressure on the Soviet Union and reduced federal deficits at the same time. He created NASA to compete against the Soviet Union in the space race.
Eisenhower strongly and very publicly opposed military moves by Israel, during the Suez Crisis. His intervention in the Crisis saved the Egyptian dictator Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser from an Anglo-French invasion. Near the end of his term, the Eisenhower Administration was embarrassed by the U-2 incident (in which an American spy plane was captured over Russia, despite Eisenhower's public denial that such spying was taking place) and was planning the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
On the domestic front, he covertly helped remove Joseph McCarthy from power but otherwise left most political actions to his Vice President, Richard Nixon. He was a moderate conservative who continued the New Deal policies, and in fact enlarged the scope of Social Security, and signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. Though passive on civil rights at first, he sent federal troops to enforce the Supreme Court's ruling to desegregate schools. He was the first term-limited president in accordance with the 22nd Amendment, but it's unlikely that he would have sought a third term because of his health (a history of heart problems.)
Eisenhower's two terms were mainly peaceful, and generally prosperous except for a sharp economic recession in 1958–59. Although public approval for his administration was comparatively low by the end of his term, his reputation improved over time and in recent surveys of historians, Eisenhower is often ranked as one of the top ten U.S. Presidents. He was the last President who was born in the 19th century. He left the Presidency and enjoyed a role as an elder statesman, offering advice to his successors. On March 28, 1969, Eisenhower died of congestive heart failure at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. He is buried inside the chapel building on the grounds of his Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene. Engraved in marble beside his resting place is the following quotation from his famous "Chance for Peace" speech:
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
According to a tweet posted by the Eisenhower Museum this morning, if you visit there today they're serving cake!