Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Portrait, Dwight David EisenhowerDwight David Eisenhower 34th President of the United States (January 20, 1953 to January 20, 1961) Nickname: “Ike” Born: October 14, 1890, in Denison, Texas Died: March 28, 1969, in Washington, D.C.

Father: David Jacob Eisenhower Mother: Ida Elizabeth Stover Eisenhower Married: Mary “Mamie” Geneva Doud Eisenhower (1896-1979), on July 1, 1916 Children: Doud Dwight Eisenhower (1917-21); John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower (1922-2013) Religion: Presbyterian Education: Graduated from U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y. (1915) Occupation: Soldier Political Party: Republican Other Government Positions:

  • None

Presidential Salary: $100,000/year + $50,000 expense account

Presidential Election Results:
YearPopular VotesElectoral Votes
1952Dwight D. Eisenhower33,936,234442
Adlai E. Stevenson27,314,99289
1956Dwight D. Eisenhower35,590,472457
Adlai E. Stevenson26,022,75273
Walter B. Jones1

Vice President: tiny U.S. flag Richard M. Nixon (1953-61) Cabinet:

Secretary of State
John Foster Dulles (1953-59)
Christian A. Herter (1959-61)
Secretary of the Treasury
George M. Humphrey (1953-57)
Robert B. Anderson (1957-61)
Secretary of Defense
Charles E. Wilson (1953-57)
Neil H. McElroy (1957-59)
Thomas S. Gates, Jr. (1960-61)
Attorney General
Herbert Brownell, Jr. (1953-57)
William P. Rogers (1957-61)
Postmaster General
Arthur E. Summerfield (1953-61)
Secretary of the Interior
Douglas J. McKay (1953-56)
Frederick A. Seaton (1956-61)
Secretary of Agriculture
Ezra Taft Benson (1953-61)
Secretary of Commerce
Sinclair Weeks (1953-58)
Lewis Strauss (1958-59)
Frederick H. Mueller (1959-60)
Secretary of Labor
Martin P. Durkin (1953)
James P. Mitchell (1953-61)
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
Oveta Culp Hobby (1953-55)
Marion B. Folsom (1955-58)
Arthur S. Flemming (1958-61)

Supreme Court Appointments:

Chief Justice
Earl Warren (1953-69)
Associate Justice
John Marshall Harlan (1955-71)
William J. Brennan, Jr. (1956-90)
Charles Evans Whittaker (1957-62)
Potter Stewart (1958-81)

Notable Events:

  • 1953
  • 1954
  • 1955
  • 1956
  • 1957
  • 1958
    • Alaska becomes a state
    • Internal political tensions in Lebanon escalates into an armed conflict attracting US military intervention
    • Fidel Castro overthrows the Batista dictatorship in Cuba
  • 1959
  • 1960
    • Civil Rights Act of 1960 enacted
  • 1961 
    • US relations with Cuba severed in January

Internet Biographies:

Dwight D. Eisenhower — from The Presidents of the United States of America
Compiled by the White House.
Dwight D. Eisenhower — from American Presidents: Life Portraits — C-SPAN
Biographical information, trivia, key events, video, and other reference materials. Website created to accompany C-SPAN’s 20th Anniversary Television Series, American Presidents: Life Portraits.
Dwight Eisenhower — from U.S. Presidents
From the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, in addition to information on the Presidents themselves, they have first lady and cabinet member biographies, listings of presidential staff and advisers, and timelines detailing significant events in the lives of each administration.
Dwight D. Eisenhower — from Character Above All
From a PBS broadcast by the same name, this essay excerpt by Stephen Ambrose discusses some of the issues and events that molded Eisenhower.

Historical Documents:

First Inaugural Address (1953)
Second Inaugural Address (1957)
Farewell Address (1961)

Media Resources:

Audio
From his 1953 inaugural address. (0:55)
MP3 (433K)
From the Vincent Voice Library at Michigan State University.
A speech on the geopolitical considerations of the war in Indochina relative to France and the United States. (0:55)
MP3 (871K)
Eisenhower’s Presidential Farewell speech, more commonly known as his “Military / Industrial Complex” speech, it its entirety. (9:41)
MP3
From The Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library
Audio & Video
The American Presidency Project’s Presidential Audio/Video Archive for Dwight D. Eisenhower site

Other Internet Resources:

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
Information on the Abilene, Kansas library, along with biographical sketches of Eisenhower and his wife.
Eisenhower National Historical Site
Tourist information, history, a timeline of Eisenhower’s life, and quotations from Eisenhower. Maintained by the National Park Service.

Points of Interest:

  • Dwight Eisenhower held the first ever televised presidential press conference in 1955.
  • Eisenhower continued Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, while criticizing Harry Truman’s Fair Deal ones.
  • The Pearl Harbor bombings led Eisenhower to cancel a planned trip with his wife to visit his son John, who was a cadet at the time.
  • Eisenhower commanded the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe from 1943 till the end of WWII.
  • He was made the Chief of Staff of the US Army on his return to the US.
  • Eisenhower was also the president of Columbia University from 1948-1953.

Previous President: tiny U.S. flag Harry S. Truman | Next President: tiny U.S. flag John Fitzgerald Kennedy


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