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Dwight D. Eisenhower was born
Born in Texas in 1890 but raise in Abilene, Kansas.
Father: David Jacob Eisenhower - mechanic and manager.
Mother: Ida Elizabeth Stover - A deeply religious pacifist.
Siblings: Five brothers -
From student to worker to officer
Ike joined the Belle Springs Creamery after graduating high school. The creamery proceeds supported his brother Edgar through two years of college at the University of Michigan. The plan was for Edgar to work the next two years so that Ike can attend college. Instead Ike won an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and left the creamery and Abilene in 1911. -
West Point Cadet
His classmates included Omar N. Bradley, James Van Fleet, and other men who became famous generals. He graduated in 1915, 61st in a class of 164, and was assigned as a Second Lieutenant to Fort Sam Houston, near San Antonio, Texas. -
Dwight marries Mamie
Mamie Doud Eisenhower became Ike's long term partner and wife. She endured the rough life as a military spouse and later became a well respected "First Lady" of the nation. -
World War II
A few years prior Eisenhower was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. During WWII, BG Eisenhower was in command of the invasion of North Africa. That duty was conferred onto him by Gen. George C. Marshall, the Army's Chief of Staff. -
Supreme Allied Commander
General Eisenhower D-Day Speech< a href='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPU4p7UQOtU' >D-Day Invasion</a> During the Invasion of Nordamdy, General Eisenhower was in command of the assault. -
Five Star General
General Eisenhower received his fifth star and became one of the only Five Star Generals of the U.S. Army. Other five star generals were General George C. Marshall, General Douglas MacArthur, and General Omar N. Bradley. -
No more Army!
He resigned from the Army to serve as president of Columbia University. "The principal purpose of education," he said the year he became the University's president, "is to prepare the student for effective personal and social life in a free society. From the school at the crossroads to a university as great as Columbia, general education for citizenship must be the common and first purpose of them all." -
NATO's First
President Truman requested that Eisenhower take a leave of absence from Columbia to command the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Then The North Atlantic Council (NAC) appoints NATO's first Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), General Dwight D. Eisenhower. -
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34th President of the United States
Eisenhower takes the Oath of Office Eisenhower became the 1st soldier President since President Grant -
Interstate Highway System
The Interstate Highway System was launched when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. Its purpose was to provide high-speed, high-capacity system of highways without stoplights and with exits spaced, whenever possible, at least a mile apart. -
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Central High School
[ The Little Rock Nine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MksNGcNzKc&feature=related)Eisenhower ordered the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock to escort the nine students into the school. -
Last and most controversal speech given by Eisenhower
He gave the American people a serious warning about the situation that faced them: "Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions......" -
Death of a Great Leader
The State Funeral of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower President Eisenhower was pronounced dead a little after noon that day from conjested heart failure. He have been fighting the illness for 13 days prior. He also survived seven previous heart attackes in prior years. His death was not a surprise to friends and family. He died peacefully without suffering at the age of 78.
