General Eisenhower Essay

George S. Patton, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur are names that every American knows and most Americans can give some insight as to who these men are. The plethora of military conflicts and wars that this country has participated in, particularly as an emerging world power, has made these individuals historic figures whose names are often remembered and synonymous with military greatness. They are great American leaders, standing firm on the battlefield and fearlessly leading their troops into the fire. They inspire their troops to follow them and to fight for their cause. These men can effectively engineer a strategy, communicate that strategy to thousands of troops, and execute that strategy to success. They were also proficient

Upon his graduation from West Point in 1916, he is commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and begins his lifelong military career. For the first few years of military life, he remains stationed in the United States. He holds posts stateside in Texas, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He assumes an assignment to oversee a tank training center at Camp Colt in Pennsylvania once the United States enters World War I in 1917. Throughout the war and afterward, Eisenhower continues his climb to the top. He rises to the rank of Major in 1920 and in 1921, Eisenhower assumes the role of executive officer to General Fox Conner in the Panama Canal Zone. His boss at the time, General Conner, persuades him to attend the Command and General Staff School at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. Proving once again to be an outstanding individual, he graduates first in his class. From there he transfers to the War Department, working for General John Pershing. His next assignment is overseas as he accepts the appointment to General Douglas MacArthur as Chief military advisor in the Philippines. The year 1942 saw Eisenhower rise higher in the ranks achieving Major General and then become commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces leading Operation Torch in North Africa. In December of 1944, following the Normandy invasion, he achieves the rank of five-star general. He retires this rank upon assuming the Presidency, but President Kennedy re-commissions him as a five-star General, a rank he holds until his passing. In 1950, he accepts the privilege of being appointed the first Supreme Allied Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty