U.S. Presidents – Dwight D. Eisenhower
September 2, 2008 Maui Curmudgeon, U.S. Presidents No CommentsBy the Maui Curmudgeon (34th in a 43-part series)
How do the U.S. Presidents stack up? I thought I’d find out by reading biographies of all 43 presidents, in the order of their administrations. Here are briefly the pros and cons of my discoveries, the interesting bits, and how I’d rank him. For comparison, I give you the 1982 Murrary-Blessing ranking, a survey of hundreds of leading historians who ranked each president by number. This survey is the gold standard of presidential rankings and is most cited when this kind of thing needs bringing up in media.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER: 1953-1961 ~ 34th U.S. President
A military man for 41 years, Dwight Eisenhower’s West Point years held nothing to suggest his very important role in history. Nonetheless, through decades of positions, he served under many men – Colonel George S. Patton in the states and, in the Philippines, General Douglas MacArthur – who, in the end, he would end up commanding. How?
Ike returned from the Philippines in 1939, more than tired of MacArthur. Quite by chance, he was working at a staff position under the army chief of staff (George C. Marshall) at the time of Pearl Harbor. Marshall recognized the administrative abilities Ike had and promoted him quickly – in three years he went from Colonel to Lieutenant General. In June of 1942, Marshall appointed Ike commander of U.S. Forces in Europe. There, Ike showed his mastery of administrative command, and was soon accepted by all Allies as their commanding general. Ike balanced Churchill, Montgomery, deGaulle, and Patton brilliantly. His decision – and it was his – to invade Europe in 1944 at the time and place of his choosing effectively made him a hero in the world.
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