Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike)
1890-1969
Ike (as his soldiers called him) was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force and the principal architect of the successful Allied invasion of Europe during World War II. This position meant that he commanded the most powerful force ever to be assembled under one man.
Eisenhower, a professional soldier, wasn't well known within the U.S. Army until the US joined the war in 1941. After that though, his rise to was meteoric: he was promoted from lieutenant colonel to end the war as a five-star general. He led the assault on the French coast at Normandy, on June 6, 1944, and the European campaign that followed, his single objective the defeat of Nazi Germany, which was completed on May 8, 1945.
Ike was born in Denison, Texas, one of seven boys. In 1909 he took an examination to join the Navy , but finding he was too old to take up the Naval scholarship, he went instead to West Point Military Academy, graduating in 1915. He was promoted to captain in 1917 when the US joined WWI, but although he wanted to lead men in battle, he was kept at home in the US to train the forces – something he was outstanding at, and for which he earned a Distinguished Service Medal.
Between the wars, much of his service was in administration. He was an extremely useful staff officer, serving with several Generals and he rose steadily through the ranks, but always behind a desk. It looked like the same might be true during WWII, when George Marshall, Army chief of staff, put him in the War Plans Division with special responsibility for the Far East, but Marshall was looking for younger men to lead the war effort. Ike impressed him, and he made him a major general and head of the Operations Division in 1942. In June of that year, Eisenhower was promoted again, and sent to London to take command of the U.S. forces in the European Theatre. He led the African and Italian campaigns in 1942 and 1943, and then as 1943 ended, returned to London to oversee the plans for the Allied invasion of France, which was to end in Berlin and victory.
After the war, he returned to the States, refusing to accept a presidential nomination from either party, insisting he wasn't interested in politics. He was president of Columbia University for a year, before becoming commander of the newly formed NATO forces in 1950. Both main parties continued to urge him to accept a presidential nomination, and finally in 1952, he did so, declaring as a Republican, with Richard Nixon as his running mate. He was elected in 1953 and served two terms in office. His biggest achievement in this role was to end American involvement in the Korean war. He was re-elected to a second term in 1956, and stood down in 1961.
Eisenhower suffered a serious heart attack in 1965, and withdrew from public life. He died in 1968.