Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)

Personal Facts:

  1. Born in 1890, in Denison, Texas, he was the third son of David and Ida Stover Eisenhower.
  2. In high school, he was an athletic star and played both football and baseball. He was an average student except in his favorite subject which was history.
  3. Not being able to afford his tuition, he decided to attend United States Military Academy because he heard it would be free.
  1. He married Mamie  Geneva Doud in 1916. they had two sons: Doud Dwight, who died in childhood, and John.
  2. When the US entered the war in 1917, he was promoted to captain. He never got to fight in actual combat though, and was very disappointed.
  3. He attended the army’s Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In 1926, he graduated as top student in a class of about 300.
  4. He served many years in the army and had achievements, including leading US Forces in the offensive during WW2.
  5. He was promoted to four-star general, the highest rank at the time and became Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during WW2.
  6. He organized the largest sea-land invasion in history, popularly known as D-day.
  7. From 1945-1948 he served as chief of staff of the army.
  8. In 1948, he became president of Columbia University. he held the position for two years.
  9. In 1950, he was appointed to command the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Presidential Facts

  1. He helped bring an end to the Korean war in 1953.
  2. He sent aid and protection .to south Vietnam in 1954.
  3. Launched a major federal works program that established the national interstate highway system and the Saint Lawrence Seaway.
  4. Enforced school integration with federal troops at Little Rock, Arkansas.
  5. Cut off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961, in response to the Cuban revolution of 1959.
  6. The concept of the domino theory was basd on his explanation U.S. involvement in South Vietnam.

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