All he did was serve his country, trained tank crews during World War I, work under Gen. Douglas McArthur and create the Army's armored philosophies with George Patton.
And then there was that whole World War II, D-Day, saving the free world thing, too.
He was the first supreme commander of NATO and served as the president of Columbia University.
After dealing with personalities like Winston Churchill, George Patton, Bernard Montgomery and Charles de Gaulle Washington D.C. couldn't seem like much trouble. He defeated Adlai Stevenson handily, becoming the first Republican in the White House in two decades and the only general to serve in the 20th century.
Aside: have you ever seen Richard Nixon so young? Even in imagining his childhood we now think of ol' Tricky Dick.
Eisenhower, the last president born in the 19th Century, was progressive in many respects. He developed the modern interstate system, integrated Washington D.C. schools as a model for the nation and then sent in the troops to integrate Little Rock.
The first president to fall under the 22nd Amendment, Ike retired to private life in Pennsylvania in 1961, saying goodbye by cautioning against the military-industrial complex.
Initially history wasn't kind to the Eisenhower/Nixon administration, but scholars have lately come to praise Eisenhower's years in office.
He loved to paint, and was considered an amateurish artist. He died in Washington D.C. in 1969 at age 78.
He tackled Jim Thorpe in a college football game too.
An Eisenhower Memorial is in the works for placement on the National Mall. See a catchy "We'll take Ike to Washington" campaign ad.
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