Dwight Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States. His name is also often cited with the inclusion of his middle name, David, or simply with his middle initial, Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was born on 14 October 1890 in Denison, Texas. He was educated at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, and went on to serve as a soldier. Eisenhower was elevated to that status of general before he concluded his service.
During the Second World War, Eisenhower served as the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, and as such was responsible for the development and management of a scheme to invade France and Germany between 1944 and 1945. Two years before he was to be elected as president of the United States, he was named the first supreme commander of NATO. The republican served two terms as the president of the United States, from 1953 to 1961, with his vice president, Richard Nixon. He was preceded in presidency by Harry S. Truman, and followed by John F. Kennedy.
As president, Eisenhower ended the Korean War. During the Cold War, however, he maintained pressure on the Soviet Union. Furthermore, he made the development of nuclear weapons a high priority in the Department of Defense. He also launched the Space Race and began the interstate highway system. The bill that authorized the system was passed in 1956, and the work was justified by government officials’ fears that major American cities could be Cold War targets. The highways built under this bill were meant to serve as evacuation routes for civilians and entry routes for military. Of course, outside of wartime, these highways were used for regular transportation needs of both civilians and the government. He is also credited with enlarging the American Social Security program. Eisenhower was a supporter of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, in which segregated schools were ruled to be unconstitutional.
Eisenhower was married to Mamie Geneva Doud. Together, they had two sons, Doud Dwight and John Sheldon David Doud. Their elder son, Doud, died of scarlet fever in childhood. John, however, grew up to serve in the United States Army, and work as a United States Ambassador to Belgium. President Eisenhower passed away on 28 March 1969 in Washington, D.C. at the age of 78.
