What would life be like without the interstate or if we still had segregation? Dwight Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States of America and pivotal figure of the twentieth century, was known for his leadership during World War II. He was a visionary leader that was transformational with his use of intellectual stimulation as well as an ethical leader due to the fact that he didn’t let competing values get in the way, but also because he was a free thinker. He was able to create key items in American history as well as change the way society behaved by getting those around him and under his command to accept and strive to see his vision for America. I’m going to provide a brief history of Eisenhower’s background to include some …show more content…
While serving in office, such characteristics led to a strengthened social security program, an increase in minimum wage, the creation of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare as well as the creation of the interstate highway system (History.com Staff, 2009). The teams that came up with these ideas also went through the P.E.P. Cycle which team dynamics says all team members experience when focused on innovation (BCEE, 2017b). I believe as a visionary leader, you need to be able to inspire and support those serving with and under you and that’s exactly what happened in these instances. Eisenhower simply being a visionary leader was not what made him a pivotal figure of the twentieth century, it was also the ethical leadership he …show more content…
Some of the key characteristics which made Eisenhower a visionary leader included intellectual stimulation and helped lead to the creation of the interstate highway system. Eisenhower was also able to work through competing values in order to lead for the good of the country. Eisenhower was able to use critical thinking in order to train his troops when a temporary halt was placed on shipping out any units. Some personal examples I provided included attending PME, helping to redevelop the training manager position description, and helping to make changes to the maintenance training AFI. Eisenhower was able to create key items in American History as well as change the way society behaved by getting those around him and under his command to accept and strive to see his vision for America. This ultimately led to Dwight Eisenhower becoming 34th president of the United States of America and a pivotal figure of the twentieth century. Now the next time you’re driving down the interstate or sitting in a widely diverse classroom, you can say it’s because of the visionary and ethical leadership of Dwight D.