34th U.S. President: Dwight D. Eisenhower

About the thirty-fourth President of the United States Dwight Eisenhower, his birth, death, biography, description, facts and quotes.

34th President

DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER

Born: October 14, 1890, in Denison, Tex. Before his 1st birthday the family moved to Abilene, Kans., and that is where "lke" grew up.

Died: March 28, 1969, at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, following his 7th heart attack.

Career: West Point graduate (65th in class of 165); 1st lieutenant, rising in the ranks to assistant to Chief of Staff George Marshall, and eventually supreme commander of Allied armies in Europe in W.W. II. After the war, he served briefly as president of Columbia University.

Personal Life: At 25, he married a vivacious young small-town belle, Mamie Doud. Over the next 20 years the Eisenhowers lived in 30 different homes as Ike pursued his military career. During W.W. II, it was rumored that the general had an affair with Kay Summersby, the pretty WAC officer who was his driver and personal assistant, but the evidence is sketchy. She died at age 64 in 1975 without confirming the story.

His Person: Ike was 5'10 1/2" tall, and kept his weight at around 170. He had blue eyes and a fair, ruddy complexion--as a boy he had been nicknamed "Swede" by friends.

Elections: As the major military hero of W.W. II, Ike was the most popular man in America, and both parties wanted him as their presidential candidate. After winning the Republican nomination in 1952, he swept to an easy victory over Adlai Stevenson--442 electoral votes to 89. In 1956, in a rematch with Stevenson, Ike widened his margin, winning nearly 58% of the vote, and an electoral victory of 457 to 73.

Term of Office: January 20, 1953-January 20, 1961 (8 years).

Little-Known Facts: At West Point, Ike played left halfback on the football team. In one game, he seriously wrenched his knee while tackling the famous Jim Thorpe. Ike's favorite dessert was prune whip. Eisenhower used to practice his putts on the White House lawn. When squirrels interfered with his golfing concentration, the President had them box-trapped and removed.

Quotes from Eisenhower:

"I can think of nothing more boring, for the American public, than to have to sit in their living rooms for a whole half an hour looking at my face on their television screens."

"You know, once in a while I get to the point, with everybody staring at me, where I want to go back indoors and pull down the curtains."

Quotes about Him:

"The trouble with Eisenhower is he's just a coward. He hasn't got any backbone at all."--Harry Truman

"Remember, folks, Eisenhower is a great man. A vote for Eisenhower is a vote for what's good in America."--Richard Nixon

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