Dwight Eisenhower: War Hero to President | 5-Minute Videos

the Allies defeated the Axis powers Germany and Japan in World War II in no small part because of America's brilliant generals men like George Marshall George Patton Douglas MacArthur Omar Bradley and Dwight Eisenhower of that illustrious group only one Eisenhower reached America's highest office serving as a 34th president of the United States what made him Stand Out Among his contemporaries Dwight David Eisenhower was born on October 14th 1890 young Dwight or Ike as he came to be known to everyone was the third of seven children all boys of his childhood the future president would later say we were very poor but the glory of America is that we didn't know it looking for a ticket out of his hometown of abalene Kansas Ike entered the US Military Academy at West Point in 1911 he did little to distinguish himself academically focusing more on football than his studies upon graduating as a second tenant he was posted to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio Texas there he met the petite vivacious and charming may down the daughter of a prosperous businessman M was used to Cooks and servants but gave it all up for the Spartan life of a military spouse when she married Ike in 1916 she would spend the next two decades moving from one dreary army base to the next but as long as she was with her husband she was happy Ike was my career she said years later when America entered World War I in 1917 Eisenhower to his frustration was ordered to remain Stateside to train others for combat it was a bitter blow and it set the pattern of Eisenhower's life for 20 years as others Rose to senior positions his career stalled he seemed destined to serve great men not to be one from 1935 to 1939 Eisenhower worked as Douglas MacArthur's top Aid in the Philippines where they helped train the local Army giving the young man from abene his first real taste of international politics MacArthur was an extremely difficult personality who almost drove Ike to his wits end but in retrospect dealing with hard cases like MacArthur proved to be a blessing in disguise if he could handle the egotistical General he could handle anyone including Winston Churchill Franklin Roosevelt and even Joseph Stalin but that was in the future when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941 Eisenhower was a brigadier general as impressive as that might sound he was hardly at the top of anyone's list his leadership skills however had not escaped the notice of the ever shrew George Marshall Roosevelt's top military adviser in June 1942 much to the surprise of almost everyone Marshall appointed Eisenhower the commander of all US troops in Europe elevating him over 366 more senior officers it proved to be one of the best if not the best personel decisions of the war over for the next 13 months Eisenhower oversaw the invasions of North Africa Sicily and Italy there were many setbacks many unforeseen disasters many miscalculations but Eisenhower never lost his composure never lost his confidence that his men would Prevail and in each case they did the main event the invasion of France however was still ahead and it needed a commander President Roosevelt had no shortage of accomplished generals to choose from MacArthur Patton Bradley but he went with Ike Operation Overlord or D-Day as it is famously known would be the largest amphibious invasion in history with 150,000 men from over a dozen countries 50,000 Vehicles 11,000 planes and 6,000 Naval vessels attacking the Nazis headon but how' did get them all across the English Channel before Hitler and his Nazi forces could Counterattack it was a logistical and strategic nightmare a high stakes of the dice and the outcome fell on one man's shoulders no one knew that better than Eisenhower he prepared a letter assuming full responsibility in the event of failure tucking it in his wallet he gave the goahead on June 6th 1944 that letter never saw the light of day The Invasion succeeded and the letter is now archived in Eisenhower's Presidential Library the war ended 11 months later on May 8th 1945 Eisenhower returned to the US a hero both parties saw him as a future political star however no one knew whether he was a Republican or a Democrat Ike turned everybody down instead he accepted an offer from Columbia University to be its new president by 1952 however he was of a different mind the worsening cold war with the Soviet Union convinced him that he had to get back into the fry waiting until the last possible moment he declared himself a Republican and entered the presidential race the grand old party was elated it quickly made him its standard Bearer Eisenhower's campaign slogan I like Ike fit the mood of the nation perfectly his opponent in the general election the Democrat adly Stevenson the aidite governor of Illinois had little chance Eisenhower won easily America had elected a warrior to bring them peace I'm John Yu professor of law at the University of California Berkeley for Prager University thank you 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