Happy Presidents’ Day!
Originally, Presidents’ Day was established on February
22, for George Washington’s birthday, in honor of his presidency. In the late
1960s, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in order to create more
three-day weekends for the workforce. The official date, as the third Monday in
February, was chosen to honor both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, who
was born on February 12. In 1971, President Richard Nixon implemented the
official holiday. Today, we hold this day to honor all of our presidents past
and present. Today, I want to reflect on a fundamental leader for the D-Day
invasion and President, Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, Chief
of Staff of the Army, President of Columbia University, and President of the
United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower held many accomplishments, which reflected
his exceptional influence and character. We hold his sculpture here at the
D-Day Memorial in honor of his courageous leadership in the preparation and
invasion on June 6, 1944. In this reflection on President Eisenhower, I want to
highlight his characteristics, which made “Ike” a humble and true leader.
David and Ida Eisenhower nicknamed all seven of their
sons either “Big Ike” or “Little Ike.” Dwight D. Eisenhower was born on October
14, 1890 in Denison, Texas. When his father found a job at the Belle Springs
Creamery, the family moved to Abilene, Kansas, where Eisenhower spent his
childhood. An all-around, hardworking student, Ike enjoyed the outdoors, such
as hunting and fishing, and playing baseball and football. He was known as a
superb poker player, in which he developed skills of observation and assessed
the other player’s mannerisms. From 1909 to 1911, he worked at the Belle
Springs Creamery (produced ice, cheese, butter, and ice cream), with his father
and uncle, in order to pay for his older brother, Edgar’s college tuition at
the University of Michigan.
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| Belle Springs Creamery |
In 1911, Ike won an appointment to the U.S.
Military Academy at West Point, where he placed 2nd out of 8
candidates on the examinations. While at West Point, he continued to play
baseball and football. He almost was discharged from West Point due to a
serious leg injury playing football and by injuring his leg, riding horseback.
The chairman of the board overrode the ruling and allowed Ike to continue at
West Point. He graduated 61st out of 164, and after became a 2nd
Lieutenant at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, where he trained recruits for WWI.
Also, he worked for the first Army Transcontinental Motor Convey, the Tank
Corps, and the Battle Monuments Commission. By the Second World War, these
experiences made Eisenhower an exceptional and recognizable leader.
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| Eisenhower in uniform from West Point. |
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s most prominent position came when
he was named Supreme Commander of Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious
assault in American history. From his success in the North African and Italian
campaigns to his leadership in the Philippines and Far East Section of the War
Plans Division, Eisenhower proved an exceptional leader. This led to his
appointment as Supreme Commander, given and approved by Chief of Staff, George
C. Marshall.
During preparations for the D-Day invasion,
Eisenhower spent a considerable amount of time in the field talking to
thousands of soldiers during their training sessions in England. He spoke to
each solider as an individual, which boosted morale among the ordinary
soldiers. He stated, “Morale is the greatest single factor in successful war."
from Crusade in Europe, pg. 210.
In my opinion, Eisenhower’s “Order of the
Day” solidified the objective for the D-Day invasion by identifying the terms of
bravery and victory. Here is the video below of his “Order of the Day”:
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Here is a famous image of
Supreme Commander Eisenhower speaking with men from Company E, 502nd
Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. Specifically,
his conversation was with Lt.
Wallace C. Strobel about fly-fishing in Michigan.
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The
invasion was scheduled for June 5, 1944, but due to storms, the invasion was
delayed to June 6, 1944. Eisenhower though, wrote in a letter on June 5 (actually
dated July 5, we can understand the mistake, he had a lot to handle this day),
Eisenhower accepted the blame if the Normandy invasion failed. He wrote, “My
decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information
available. The troops, the air, and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion
to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine
alone.” The Allies were victorious on D-Day and secured close to 850,000 men by the end of June in Normandy, France.
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He returned home as Chief of Staff for the Army, and
served as President of Columbia University from 1948-1953. His experience and
heroic leadership in the eyes of fellow Americans made him a successful
Republican candidate for President in 1952. He ran against Democrat, Adlai
Stevenson, and won the electoral vote 442 to 89. Even though historians debate
the overall success of his presidency, Eisenhower led the nation for two terms,
1953-1961, and had many substantial accomplishments. Listed below just name a
few:
Campaign button used in 1952.
He stated on January 21, 1953: "My first day at the President's Desk. Plenty of worries and difficult problems. But such has been my portion for a long time - the result is that this just seems (today) like a continuation of all I've been doing since July '41 - even before that!"
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-Lindsay
Resources:
Stephen Ambrose, The Victors: Eisenhower and His Boys: The Men of World War II
Eisenhower Presidential Library, eisenhower.arhives.gov
Stephen Ambrose, Supreme Commander: The War Years of Dwight D. Eisenhower
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