The General

By Taylor Keane

Purpose

• The purpose of this power point is to provide information about General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

• You will learn about Dwight, not as a president, as many remember him, but as a general, about his prestigious military career before his inauguration.

Dwight’s Childhood

• Dwight D. Eisenhower (then David Dwight Eisenhower) was born in Denison, Texas on October 14, 1890.

• He was the third of seven sons to David and Ida Eisenhower

• Most of Dwight’s youth, however, was spent in Abilene, Kansas

• Dwight was the average American boy, he participated avidly in activities such as hunting, fishing, and football, but he also had a strong love of military history, which foreshadowed his future military career

• After his graduation from Abilene High School in 1909, Dwight took a job as a night foreman in the Belle Springs Creamery to help put his brother Edgar through college

• In 1911, a friend, Swede Hazlett, recommended that he apply to the Annapolis Naval Academy, and although he passed his entrance exams, he was too old for enrollment

• He also applied to West Point, however, and passed the entrance exam there, and with a recommendation from Kansas Senator Joseph Bristow, he was accepted and enrolled.

Entering West Point

College and Disappointment

• During his years at West Point, Dwight enjoyed the reputable position of a football star, and an abrupt and painful end to it when a series of knee injuries took him off of the field for the rest of his college career.

• Angry and bitter, Eisenhower’s reaction to this was to smoke copiously and slack off in his classes, and he accumulated a long list of demerits before graduation.

• Even with this lack of dedication during school, Dwight still established himself as a talented and intelligent individual, becoming the coach of the junior varsity football team and yell leader, and graduating 61st in a class of 164 students.

Mamie, Icky, and Tragedy

• In October, 1915,during his stay at his first post, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, the now Lieutenant Dwight Eisenhower met his future wife Mamie Doud for the first time at a lawn party, and although he had recently sworn off women, Dwight was smitten.

• Dwight and Mamie quickly fell for each other, and on July 1, 1916, they were betrothed.

• One year later, Dwight and Mamie became the parents of Doud Dwight “Icky” Eisenhower, and continuing the family’s fast pace, they moved around several times in the next few years.

• On Christmas, 1920, Doud Dwight was diagnosed with Scarlet Fever, and in early January, 1921, he passed away, bringing heartache and strife into the lives of Dwight and Mamie.

Fox Conner and Ft. Leavenworth

• In 1922, Dwight was assigned as the Executive officer to General Fox Conner, an esteemed army officer, in the Panama Canal Zone.

• Fox served as Dwight’s mentor, introducing him to seminal works of philosophy, and military history and science, and also explained to him the inevitability of coming war.

• With Fox’s help, Dwight was accepted into the Command and General Staff school of Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, the most prestigious military graduate school in the nation.

• Through self application, Eisenhower proved his worth this time around in school, and graduated in 1926 at the top of a class of 245.

Dwight’s preparation

• A year after graduation, during Dwight’s stay in Ft. Benning, General John Pershing selected Eisenhower to write for the American Battle Monuments Commission in Washington and Paris.

• During this period, Dwight was exposed to Europe, it’s geography, people, and culture, knowledge needed for the coming war, and his tour ended in 1929

• For the next 10 years, Dwight transferred from high ranking general to high ranking general, building reputation and rank up to a Colonel, until 1939, when war broke out in Europe, and Dwight returned to make up for the war he missed (Dwight served no active duty in World War I).

He Has His Tools, He’s Ready• For the next two years, Dwight remained in inactive service, working

with troops first at Ft. Ord, California, and later Ft. Lewis, Washington, being given many opportunities to prove himself as a natural leader.

• Eisenhower was transferred to Ft. Sam Houston in June, 1941, his first post 26 years before, and was given the post of Chief of Staff for the United States Third Army under General Walter Krueger.

• Dwight received national recognition from his decisive route of the German Second Army, using his deft leadership skills to outwit the enemy commander, General Maximilian Reichsfreiherr von Weichs, in the Louisiana Maneuvers of August and September.

• With the Pearl Harbor bombing only months away, Dwight was given the position of Brigadier General, and his rise to the top was officially underway.

A Call from the Chief

• On December 12, 1941, Eisenhower received a call from Walter Bedell Smith, a secretary of general staff, ordering him to Washington on the behalf of General George C. Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff

• During his service to Marshall, Eisenhower dazzled his commanding officer with is skills with people, organization, and leadership, and by March of 1942, he received the rank of Major General

An Impressive Display

• In May of that same year, Eisenhower was sent to Europe, tasked with building unity amongst the Allies as the Commanding General of the European Theater

• By November he was the Commander in Chief of the Allied forces in Africa, and carried out Operation Torch, and in the next year, he became Commander of the invasion of Sicily and Italy.

• Nearly a year after Operation Torch, the planning for Operation Overlord, commonly known as D-Day, came underway, and Dwight became the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.

Operation Overlord and the Five Star General

• On June 6, 1944, Operation Overlord was executed, and the day was marked as the beginning of the end for the Axis of Evil, with Dwight Eisenhower the proprietor of their doom.

• In December, Dwight was promoted to five star General of the Army to commemorate his actions on D-Day

The Closing of Theatres

• In May, 1915, Germany surrendered to the Allied forces, bringing the bloodiest conflict in history to a close.

• Dwight Eisenhower was name Military Governor of United States Controlled Zones at the close of the war, and in November, he was selected as the U.S. Army’s Chief of Staff

Eisenhower the Peace Keeper• On November 4, 1952, Dwight Eisenhower became the 34th

president of the United States

• Dwight’s Presidency was marked by a strong push for peace around the world, with him having overseen the cease fire of the Korean War, pushed for peace with the Soviet Union regardless of America’s strong anti-communist beliefs, and refusal of Military intervention in Vietnam.

• The slogan of Dwight’s presidency became “Peace and Prosperity”, marking the five star general as a man of cause, one who fought for the results of the mission, and not the mission itself.

• Eisenhower became the first president to be forced from office by the constitution, as he had served two full terms, but it is likely he would have won a third

Eisenhower’s Military Awards• During his service, Eisenhower received many awards and decorations, here is a list

of those he won (these are only American Awards, as there is not enough space to list those he won internationally, because they number, combined, at 61).

1. Army Distinguished Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters

2. Navy Distinguished Service Medal

3. Legion of Merit

4. Mexican Border Service Medal

5. World War I Victory Medal

6. American Defense Service Medal

7. American Campaign Medal

8. European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one silver and four bronze service stars

9. World War II Victory Medal

10. Army of Occupation Medal with "Germany" clasp

11. National Defense Service Medal (2 awards)

The End

• I’m sorry to disappoint, but that’s the end of the power point. I know it’s awesome, I know all of yours pale in comparison and you want it to just keep going on and on, but all good things must come to an end. If you’ve made it this far into my ridiculously arrogant closing slide, I salute you. Oh, and about that picture in the back of the slide? That’s a gray-scaled picture of my eye.