Dwight D. Eisenhower

Born: 1890 | Died: 1969

Statesman, Soldier and U.S. President

Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower, born David Dwight Eisenhower in Texas to a family of German immigrants who first arrived in America in 1732 and settled in York, Pennsylvania.

Eisenhower joined the U.S. military. In the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, where he was responsible for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France. In 1951, he was made the first supreme commander of NATO.

Eisenhower ran for president in 1952 with the campaign slogan “I like Ike” and won a sweeping victory. He served as the thirty-fourth Republican President of the U.S. for two terms (1953-1960) and was the first president to be affected by the 22nd Amendment, which limits a president to two terms.

During his presidency, Eisenhower obtained a truce with Korea for an armed peace along the border of South Korea, and worked exceptionally on easing the tensions with the Soviet Union. He also broadened the Social Security system and in 1953 created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Eisenhower was responsible for creating the National Interstate Highway System that America vastly depends on today.

After his last term as president, Eisenhower retired to his farm adjacent to the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He died in Walter Reed Army Hospital of heart failure.

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