 |
Dwight David Eisenhower
b. 14 Oct 1890, Denison, Grayson County, Texas
d. 28 Mar 1969, Washington, D.C. |
| Title: |
President of the United States |
| Term: |
20 Jan 1953 - 20 Jan 1957 |
| Chronology: |
6 Jan 1953,
election to the office of President of the United States is declared upon counting electoral votes (cast
15 Dec 1952),
joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [1] |
|
20 Jan 1953,
commencement of term |
|
20 Jan 1953,
took an oath of office as President of the United States, inaugural ceremony, East Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [2] |
|
20 Jan 1957,
expiration of term |
| Term: |
20 Jan 1957 - 20 Jan 1961 |
| Chronology: |
7 Jan 1957,
election to the office of President of the United States is declared upon counting electoral votes (cast
17 Dec 1956),
joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [3] |
|
20 Jan 1957,
commencement of term |
|
20 Jan 1957,
took an oath of office as President of the United States, private ceremony, East Room, White House, Washington, D.C. [4] |
|
21 Jan 1957,
took an oath of office as President of the United States, inaugural ceremony, East Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [5][6] |
|
20 Jan 1961,
expiration of term |
| Names/titles: |
Eisenhower's given name at birth was David Dwight, but his mother insisted that he be referred to as Dwight. When Eisenhower registered at West Point on 14 Jun 1911, as Dwight David Eisenhower the revised order of names had been long in use and may be regarded at that point as having become official. |
| Biography: |
| Descendant of German immigrants originating from a village in Saarland; graduated from Abilene High School, Kansas (1909); worked at the Belle Springs Creamery (1909-1911); joined US Military Academy at West Point, New York (1911-1915); was commissioned second lieutenant (1915); served with infantry (1915-1918) and tank corps (1918-1922); promoted to first lieutenant (1916), captain (1917), major (temporary, 1918), lieutenant colonel (temporary, 1918); reverted to permanent rank of captain (1920); promoted to major (1920); assigned as executive officer to General Fox Conner in Panama Canal Zone (1922-1924); enrolled in Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (1925-1926); served as battalion commander (1926-1927); assigned to American Battle Monuments Commission (1927-1928); entered Army War College, Washington, D.C. (1927-1928); served as executive officer to Assistant Secretary of War (1929-1933); served as chief military aide to General Douglas MacArthur, Army chief of staff (1933-1935); assigned to General MacArthur as assistant military advisor to the Philippine Government (1935-1939); promoted to lieutenant colonel (1936); assigned to commander of the 15th Infantry (1939-1940); served as chief of staff of the 3rd Division (1940-1941); chief of staff of the 9th Army Corps (1940-1941); chief of staff of the 3rd Army (1941); promoted to colonel (temporary, 1941) and to brigadier general (temporary, 1941); assigned to General Staff, Washington, D.C. (1941-1942); deputy chief in charge of Pacific Defences under Chief of War Plans Division (1941-1942); chief of War Plans Division (1942); appointed assistant chief of staff in charge of Operations Division for General George Marshall, Chief of Staff (1942); promoted to major general (temporary, 1942); conducted mission to increase cooperation among World War II allies (1942); designated Commanding General, European Theater (1942); named Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces, North Africa (1942); promoted to lieutenant general (temporary, 1942) and to four-star general (temporary, 1943); appointed brigadier general (permanent, 1943) and was promoted to major general (permanent, 1943); appointed Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces, (1943-1945); commanded forces of Normandy invasion (1944); promoted to five-star General of the Army (20 Dec 1944); appointed Military Governor, U.S. Occupation Zone in Germany (8 May 1945 - 10 Nov 1945); designated as Chief of Staff, U.S. Army (1945-1948); president of the Columbia University (1948-1953); named Supreme Allied Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1951-1952); retired from active service and resigned his commission in 1952; nominated at the Republican convention on the ticket with Richard Nixon; elected President of the United States (20 Jan 1953 - 20 Jan 1961); negotiated a truce for the Korean War (1953); succeeded in creating the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization; promoted adoption of the Eisenhower Doctrine, a pledge to send U.S. troops to any Middle Eastern country to battle Communists; dispatched federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to ensure safety of black students in local high school (Crisis at Central High, 1957); was concerned with civil rights issues and the interstate highway system in domestic affairs; broke diplomatic relations with Cuba (1961); was returned to active list of regular Army with rank of General of the Army (1961). |
| Biographical sources: "Soldier of Democracy, a Biography of Dwight Eisenhower", by Kenneth S. Davis (Garden City: Doubleday, 1952). |
| Elections: |
| Candidate |
Electoral vote (15 Dec 1952) |
| Dwight David Eisenhower |
442 |
| Adlai Ewing Stevenson |
89 |
| total number of electors appointed |
531 |
| number of votes for a majority |
266 |
| Candidate |
Electoral vote (17 Dec 1956) |
| Dwight David Eisenhower |
457 |
| Adlai Ewing Stevenson |
73 |
| Walter Burgwyn Jones |
1 |
| total number of electors appointed |
531 |
| number of votes for a majority |
266 |
|
| Source of electoral results: Congressional Record, 83rd Congress, 1st Session, 130; Congressional Record, 85th Congress, 1st Session, 295. |
| |
| [1] |
Congressional Record, 83rd Congress, 1st Session, 130-131. |
| [2] |
Congressional Record, 83rd Congress, 1st Session, 450-452. |
| [3] |
Congressional Record, 85th Congress, 1st Session, 294-295. |
| [4] |
The New York Times, New York, Monday, January 21, 1957, vol. CVI, No. 36,157, pp. 1, 16. |
| [5] |
Congressional Record, 85th Congress, 1st Session, 804-806. |
| [6] |
Public ceremony of inauguration was postponed as 20 Jan 1957 fell on a Sunday. |
| |
Image: photograph (1959) |
