A Companion to Dwight D. Eisenhower

Chester J. Pach

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781119347330, 9780470655214
• eBook ISBN: 9781119027676
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 20th Century History
• Index: History

A Companion to Dwight D. Eisenhower brings new depth to the historiography of this significant and complex figure, providing a comprehensive and up-to-date depiction of both the man and era.

• Thoughtfully incorporates new and significant literature on Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Thoroughly examines both the Eisenhower era and the man himself, broadening the historical scope by which Eisenhower is understood and interpreted
• Presents a complete picture of Eisenhower's many roles in historical context: the individual, general, president, politician, and citizen
• This Companion is the ideal starting point for anyone researching America during the Eisenhower years and an invaluable guide for graduate students and advanced undergraduates in history, political science, and policy studies
• Meticulously edited by a leading authority on the Eisenhower presidency with chapters by international experts on political, international, social, and cultural history

Part I
General of the Army

Chapter One
Years of Preparation, 1890–1941

Jonathan Reed Winkler

Introduction

For many people, Dwight David Eisenhower represents the American Dream in action: the idea that a poor boy from a hardscrabble family living in a small town in the middle of America could rise to become one of the most important military commanders in United States if not modern history, and then follow that with two terms in office as president of the United States at the height of its economic and political influence in the world. For scholars attempting to make sense of Eisenhower’s accomplishments, part of the exploration requires understanding the formative experiences that helped to shape his outlook, capabilities, and motivations. If, as Henry Kissinger has pointed out, officials in positions of great responsibility have no time once in office to develop an interpretive framework with which to understand what they are observing but must instead rely upon the ones they created earlier in life, what was Eisenhower’s and how did he construct it (Kissinger, 1979: 54)? How, as scholars, can we decide which events shaped the future leader? How do we know what made the formative years or events formative? Relying upon Eisenhower’s own recollections and reflections, historians have traced much of this story, but not entirely, particularly as more comes to light about the things that Eisenhower may not have wished to remember or did not want others to ponder much about his legacy. Moreover, scholars seeking to understand the man must contextualize what Eisenhower experienced, to be able to make sense of certain events or times even if Eisenhower himself did not fully understand at the time.

Eisenhower has been the object of lengthy biographical works since the end of World War II and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. The more prominent earlier biographies include Kenneth S. Davis, Soldier of Democracy (1945); Steve Neal, The Eisenhowers: Reluctant Dynasty (1978), and Stephen E. Ambrose’s two‐volume work (1983–1984). Ambrose’s biography, while a standard in the field, must also be qualified by the later revelations that Eisenhower had not, in fact, approached Ambrose to write the work and that Ambrose did not conduct the extensive interviews with Ike that he later claimed to have done (Rayner, 2010; Rives, 2010). The most recent full‐life treatments include Carlo D’Este, Eisenhower: A Soldier’s Life (2002); Michael Korda, Ike: An American Hero (2007); and Jean Edward Smith, Eisenhower in War and Peace (2012). Each of these recent works draws upon the earlier standard biographies, Eisenhower’s own published reminiscences, particularly (for this period) At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends (1967), and the plethora of archival material available at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and elsewhere.

Childhood, 1890–1911

Dwight D. Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890, in Denison, Texas, where his father David was working for a railroad. Shortly afterwards, the family moved back to Abilene, Kansas, where David and Ida Eisenhower had been married in 1885 and with which the Eisenhower name would be forever associated. David Eisenhower’s family had been farmers and businessmen, members of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, or River Brethren, who moved to Kansas from Pennsylvania in the 1870s in a great migration organized by his grandfather Jacob. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s mother Ida, though born in Virginia, followed her brothers on the migration in 1883 (Neal, 1978).

Once back in Abilene, Dwight and his five brothers enjoyed a modest upbringing in a lower‐class house on the south (and poorer) side of town. His father worked at the creamery, while his mother raised the boys. Historians, channeling Eisenhower’s own reminiscences and those of his brothers, note the great influence of both parents in shaping the boys’ determination, discipline, ruggedness, and responsibility. Physically and emotionally warm, Ida in particular was selfless, hardworking, and very religious. Observers in the 1940s and historians since have also presented Abilene of this era as the quintessential American small town, one where the boys could have grown up safe and happy, exposed to both the country and the street, and where success in life could be measured on a much smaller scale than it might be a century later, while opportunities abounded for any who sought to strike out for greater things (Kornitzer, 1955; Jameson, 1961). Biographical treatments detailing the boyhood adventures and formative experiences in Abilene include the most recent by D’Este (2002), Korda (2007), and Smith (2012), and all frequently draw upon Eisenhower’s own recollections in At Ease (Eisenhower, 1967).

One area of particular interest more recently for scholars plumbing Eisenhower’s wartime and presidential thinking, particularly on the dangers of nuclear warfare, has been his religious influences. Here, however, much less is known, perhaps because Eisenhower himself left little information about his religious views and was not especially active in his practice, and because of the particular circumstances of his upbringing. Through his extended family, Eisenhower was brought up within the cultural milieu of the River Brethren sect. Religious guidance appears to have come mostly from his mother Ida, who later turned toward what would later become known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, while the boys were young. By the 1950s, when Eisenhower was in the public eye, and then in the 1960s, when he was shaping his legacy, this religious denomination remained on the periphery of Christianity in America. Several scholars have suggested that Eisenhower and his brothers deliberately downplayed discussion of Ida’s influence lest there be negative consequences of association with what was seen by mainstream Christians as a fringe millennial sect (this at a time when it was still controversial that a Catholic would run for, let alone win, the office of president) (Bergman, 1998, 1999; Smith 2006).

Eisenhower did not refer to religious influence much in his writings, and the archival materials do not support any sense that he and his wife Mamie had an active religious life. (Smith 2006; Holmes, 2012) His recognized familiarity with the Bible stemmed from deep exposure in childhood, through his mother. D’Este notes that by the time Ike went to West Point, he had read the Bible twice through (D’Este, 2002: 33). Ida apparently directed Ike toward religious, ethical, and moral instruction to temper his growing fascination with the ancient wars of the Greeks and Romans. Reading The Pilgrim’s Progress was, according to Gary Smith, particularly influential (Wirt, 1965; Smith 2006). While as an adult he did not formally join a church (but maintained, through Mamie, an alignment with the Presbyterian Church), his relationship with God appears to have been deep and personal, if not expressed publicly or through his papers.

West Point, 1911–1915

Graduating from high school in 1909, Eisenhower was not admitted to West Point until 1911. He spent the two years working to pay for his brother Edgar to attend the University of Michigan, in an arrangement that was to have seen Edgar make Ike’s attendance possible. Chance led to Eisenhower applying for Annapolis and West Point, and securing the appointment to the military academy in January. His four years there were both formative and transformative. Attracted initially more by the opportunity to play sports and obtain a college degree than by the idea of a military career, Eisenhower changed under West Point’s emphasis on teamwork and the suppression of individuality in favor of the corporate. Biographers have explored how Eisenhower developed his abilities as a leader and guide here. Not an academic standout, he impressed his peers well enough that they granted him influence over them. The traits he acquired at West Point, particularly in organizational ability, competitive energy, and motivation, would be key to his continued success, a point highlighted by David Jablonsky among others (Holland, 2001; Jablonsky, 2010). The West Point that Eisenhower saw has been well described by historians (Ambrose, 1966; Fleming, 1969; Ellis and Moore, 1974).

Active participation in athletics, and particularly football, was a key motivator for Eisenhower at this point (indeed, it was part of the reason he went there) (D’Este, 2002: 67). Eisenhower was involved in football at the exact time when the modern rules, particularly involving passing and downs, were developed. The 1912 Army–Carlisle Indian School game saw Eisenhower struggle against the great Jim Thorpe, and he watched from the sidelines the famous 1913 Army–Notre Dame game (where Notre Dame’s successful repeated use of the forward pass brought this existing play to common notice). This, Ambrose and others note, tweaked his attention and his enthusiasm, and he was urged to coach the junior varsity team, which he did very well. Though he would never play again (he wrenched his knee, with permanent damage, after the 1912 Carlisle game) he would continue to coach, and acquired a strong reputation for his coaching. While Eisenhower’s involvement was significant more in retrospect, historians such as Lars Anderson have focused on the 1912 game as a key one in the sport’s history (Anderson, 2008). On the history of football, development of its rules, and its significance in this period in understanding the context of Eisenhower’s experiences, see also the works by David Nelson (1994) and John Watterson (2002). But the emphasis on athletics as part of military preparation was not unique to Eisenhower by any means, and provided part of his bonding with his fellow officers in the years to come (Holland, 2001).

World War I and Fort Meade after the War, 1915–1922

In his first years after West Point, Eisenhower established the key professional friendships that lasted through his career, grasped the measure of the responsibilities that his chosen career entailed, and met the love of his life. Without these firm connections, it might well have been the case that the subsequent disappointments with his experiences in World War I and the years immediately after would have destroyed his career. With his knee injury ruling out cavalry service, and having considered going to Argentina to seek his fortune, Eisenhower opted for the infantry and had requested service in the Philippines when he graduated in June 1915. He was instead assigned to the 19th Infantry Regiment at Fort Sam Houston near San Antonio, Texas, and arrived there in late 1915. Historians have tended to focus on his coaching football for two different institutions (Peacock Military Academy and St. Louis College), learning the rudiments of being a junior officer, gaining a lifelong friend in Leonard T. “Gee” Gerow, and meeting Mamie Doud, whom he would marry in July 1916. Mamie’s perspective on their courtship is covered in the work by her granddaughter Susan Eisenhower (Eisenhower, 1996). Eisenhower would also be caught up in the aftermath of the Pancho Villa raid on New Mexico and the mobilization of the National Guard to the frontier. He requested service with Pershing’s Punitive Expedition, which was rejected; instead he was assigned to training a newly mobilized National Guard regiment—the 7th Illinois—stationed at Fort Sam Houston. Eisenhower ran most of its training, and D’Este in particular sees this as a significant moment in Eisenhower’s career development and his acceptance of an army career (D’Este, 2002; Coffman, 2004).

When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, the o...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction: Eisenhower, Yesterday and Today
• Part I: General of the Army
• Part II: President
• Part III: Citizen
• Index
• End User License Agreement