Dwight D Eisenhower Biography

Lidia A. Hernandez
Junior ROTC
SFC Everett E. Dumas, Instructor
December 2, 2012

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1880. During World War II he was a five star general in the United States Army, and also served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. In 1951, Eisenhower became the first supreme commander of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He entered the presidential race as a Republican in 1952. He defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson. Eisenhower became the 34th President of the United States from 1953 to 1961.
Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, and was the third of seven boys. He was originally named David Dwight, but his mother reversed the two names after his birth to avoid the confusion…show more content…
He then served with the infantry until 1918 at various camps in Texas and Georgia. When World War I began he immediately requested an overseas assignment but was denied, and was assigned to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. After the war, Eisenhower was promoted to major, a rank he held for 16 years. In 1921, Eisenhower's first born son died of scarlet fever at the age of 3. In 1922 his second son was born. That same year, Eisenhower assumed the role of executive officer to General Fox Conner in the Panama Canal Zone. In 1924, Eisenhower applied to the Army’s prestigious graduate school, the Command and General Staff School at Ft. Leavenworth, and was accepted. He graduated first in his class in 1926, with a firm reputation for his military superior skill. From 1935 to 1939 Eisenhower served under MacArthur as assistant military advisor to the Philippines. He returned to the United States in 1940, over the next two years he was stationed in California and Washington state. In 1942, he was promoted to major general. Just months later, he became commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces and led Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. When Germany surrendered in 1945, he was made military governor of the U.S. Occupied Zone. A few months later, he was appointed U.S. Army chief of staff. In 1947 he was elected president of Columbia University, a position he held until December of 1950. In…show more content…
On November 4, 1952, after winning the election by a landslide, Eisenhower was elected the United States’ 34th president. His domestic policy picked up where Roosevelt’s New Deal and Fair Deal programs left off. Eisenhower made reducing Cold War tensions through military negotiation a main focus of his administration. In 1956 Eisenhower was a reelected to a second term, winning by an even wider margin than in his first election. Accomplishments during his time in office include creating the U.S. Information Agency, and establishing Alaska and Hawaii as states. He supported the creation of the Interstate Highway System. He signed the 1957 Civil Rights Act and setting up a permanent Civil Rights Commission. Eisenhower was in addition responsible for signing the bill to form the National Aeronautics and Space Administration