Early life and marriage

Dwight David Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, on October 14, 1890. He was the third of seven sons of David Jacob and Ida Elizabeth (Stover) Eisenhower. Dwight spent most of his childhood in Abilene, Kansas.

During his school days Dwight was called Ike by his friends. The nickname stayed with him throughout his life. Ike enjoyed sports more than books. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1911.

After graduating in 1915 Eisenhower was assigned to serve at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. In nearby San Antonio he met Mamie Geneva Doud, who came from Denver, Colorado. They married in 1916 and had two sons, one of whom died in childhood.

Early military career

During World War I Eisenhower commanded a training center for tank crews. He was promoted to captain and received the Distinguished Service Medal. The war ended just before he was to sail for France.

After the war Eisenhower had assignments in the United States, the Panama Canal Zone, and Europe. In 1933 he became an aide to Army chief of staff Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Two years later MacArthur took Eisenhower with him to the Philippines to help organize and train the Philippine army. In 1940 Eisenhower returned to the United States as a lieutenant colonel. He became a full colonel in March 1941.

Service in World War II

In December 1941 the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II. In June 1942 Eisenhower became commander of the U.S. forces in Europe. Later that year Eisenhower led the Allied forces in an invasion of North Africa. He continued to advance through the Army ranks, eventually becoming a four-star general in February 1943. During that year he launched successful attacks on Tunisia, Sicily, and Italy.

In December 1943 Eisenhower was made supreme commander of the Allied forces that were to invade Europe. His troops landed in Normandy, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Germany surrendered in May 1945, ending the war in Europe. Meanwhile, in 1944, Eisenhower had received the highest U.S. military rank, five-star general.

After returning to the United States Eisenhower was made Army chief of staff. In 1948 he retired from the Army and became president of Columbia University in New York City. His career as an academic was brief, however. In 1950 he was named the first head of the armies of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Nomination and election

As early as 1943 Eisenhower was mentioned as a possible presidential candidate. Both Republican and Democratic party leaders urged him to run, but at first he refused to enter politics. In 1952, however, he declared himself a Republican and won the party's presidential nomination. His vice presidential running mate was Senator Richard M. Nixon of California.

During the campaign Eisenhower impressed voters with his warmth and honesty. In the election of November 1952, he easily defeated the Democratic candidate, Adlai Stevenson. The Eisenhower-Nixon ticket received almost 34 million popular votes and won the electoral vote 442 to 89.

First term

At the start of his presidency Eisenhower made clear his intention to work for world peace. Shortly after taking office he visited Korea to explore possibilities for ending the Korean War. He succeeded in negotiating a truce in July 1953.

A difficult problem for Eisenhower was the continuation of the Cold War, a tense rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union that had existed since the end of World War II. Eisenhower took steps to ease Cold War tensions. In 1955 he met with the leaders of Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union at a conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Nevertheless, hostile feelings continued between the Soviet Union and the West.

In domestic affairs, Eisenhower was generally conservative. He called for reduced taxes and less government control over the economy. However, he continued most of the social reforms begun under the Democratic presidents who came before him, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. The minimum wage was increased and the social security system was broadened. In 1953 the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was created.

Reelection and second term

Eisenhower suffered a heart attack in September 1955. He recovered quickly, however, and decided to seek a second term. In the 1956 election he against faced Adlai Stevenson. Eisenhower was reelected by the largest margin achieved by any Republican president up to that time.

In his second term Eisenhower faced serious problems at home and abroad. At home his biggest challenge was the integration of schools. In 1954 the United States Supreme Court had ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. In September 1957 the governor of Arkansas kept nine African American students from entering a high school in Little Rock. Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock to enforce the court order calling for integration.

In October 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first artificial space satellite, Sputnik. This achievement set off a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in the area of space technology. The United States put its own satellite, Explorer I, into orbit in January 1958. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established in July of that year.

Eisenhower continued to emphasize the achievement of world peace as one of his main objectives. In his last two years in office he went on a series of tours to various parts of the world. In 1959 he welcomed Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to the United States. In return Eisenhower was invited to the Soviet Union. The visit was cancelled, however, after a U.S. spy plane was shot down over Soviet territory. In January 1961, during the last weeks of Eisenhower's presidency, the United States broke off diplomatic relations with the Communist government in Cuba.

Retirement and death

John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, was elected president in November 1960. The following January Eisenhower retired to his farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He died of heart failure in Washington, D.C., on March 28, 1969. He was buried in Abilene, Kansas, his childhood home.