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Presidential Medal of Freedom Awarded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower
John von Neumann
Baudouin Vanassche
Supreme Court Chief Justice Frederick Vinson administered the Oath of Office to President Eisenhower who, like his predecessor chose to affirm his Executive Oath on two Bibles...the same Bible previously used by George Washington and President Harding, and his personal Bible that had been a gift from his mother upon his graduation from West Point. The ceremony was again broadcast by radio and television, this time with TV coverage available from coast to coast. It was estimated that more than seven times as many Americans (75 million) watched the events than had seen or heard President Truman's Inauguration just four years earlier.
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) served as supreme commander to Allied forces during World War II, and led the armies to victory. His popularity secured him election as the 34th President of the United States, the first Republican President in 20 years.
Dwight David Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas on October 14, 1890. He was the third of seven sons of David Jacob Eisenhower and Ida Elizabeth Stover Eisenhower. Their German and Swiss ancestors had arrived in America in the 1730s seeking religious freedom. His parents belonged to the Church of Brethren in Christ, and opposed war and violence. Dwight's father worked as a mechanic in a creamery, and of necessity, his mother sold vegetables and fruit grown on their lot. As each of the boys became old enough, he took a part-time job at the creamery. Working nights there during high school did not deter Dwight from establishing a reputation for an interest and knowledge in history. Though his parents did not approve of his entering military service, they allowed him to make his own career choice. Choosing the Military Academy at West Point, for the free education, he graduated as second lieutenant in 1915. On July 1 1916, he married Mamie Geneva Doud, the daughter of a wealthy Denver Co. meatpacker. They had two sons, one of whom died early in childhood.
During World War I, Eisenhower (nicknamed "Ike" as a boy) served at several military training camps, establishing himself as a first-rate organizer and trainer of men. He spent two years as executive officer to Gen. Fox Conner, military commander at Camp Gaillard in the Panama Canal Zone. With Conner's help, Eisenhower was admitted to the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In 1926, he graduated first in his class of 275, going on to attend the Army War College in Washington, D.C. He advanced in his career, holding various posts, including aide to General Douglas MacArthur, then Chief of Staff of the United States Army. Going with MacArthur when the General was named military adviser to the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935, Eisenhower helped establish the Philippine Air Force and the Philippine Military Academy. He obtained a pilot's license at age 47.
In March 1941, Eisenhower became a full colonel, subsequently made chief of staff of the Third Army, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, then promoted to brigadier general. Considered an expert on the Philipines, he was called to the War Department following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Promoted to major general, he was named chief of the Operations Division of the General Staff. As the Army's top planner, he prepared strategies for the European theater of operations, and in June 1942, was given command of the U.S. Forces in Europe. He went on to become Allied commander in the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, and demonstrated outstanding skills in the management of large-scale operations.
By January 1944, having been appointed full general, Eisenhower was newly assigned as Supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force for the invasion of France. By December 1944, as General of the Army, he commanded the overall strategic and administrative control of an Allied force numbering in the 4 millions. Contrary to some coordinators of the war, his tactics employed a broad-front strategy, thus advancing all his armies simultaneously. In this concept he disagreed with the British Commander, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, who favored the single-thrust theory. But Eisenhower, extremely knowledgeable, experienced, and above all, charmingly tactful, was able to overcome both the difficulties of wartime maneuvers and those of dealing with recalcitrant fellow officers. After the war, Eisenhower became army chief of staff. During that term he demobilized the wartime army while maintaining a peacetime defense force. He wrote his memoirs of the conflict (Crusade in Europe , 1948) and accepted the presidency of Columbia University. In December 1950, as U.S. troops were retreating in the Korean War, and Russia was gearing up to invade Europe, Eisenhower was called on by President Harry S. Truman to return to the continent as supreme commander for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). During the next 18 months he organized the various participating armed services into a unified combat group, and enhanced his reputation as a figure of high military and political standing throughout the free world.
Urged by figures in both parties to run for presidency in 1952, Eisenhower declared for the Republicans, and was adopted by that party for nomination. Resigning from NATO and retiring from active duty with the Army, he began his campaign with running mate Senator Richard M. Nixon of California. Eisenhower was critical of how Harry S. Truman's administration handled the Korean War, and campaigned that he would go to Korea only to end the war. As a popular military hero, appealing to Democrats as well as Republicans, Eisenhower easily defeated the opposition: Governor Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois running for president, coupled with Senator John J. Sparkman of Alabama for vice-president.
When Eisenhower's post-election trip to Korea did not bring immediate results, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles warned Communist China that if she delayed peace talks, the United States would bomb Chinese supply lines. A truce was finalized on July 27, 1953, ending the war without victory.
As was natural for a man of his background, Eisenhower took particular interest in military and diplomatic affairs, but with a unique approach. He would not intervene in Eastern Europe to aid German and Hungarian revolts against Soviet domination. He dictated a coalition in the Arab-Israeli Wars. In 1954 he refused to commit U.S. forces to save the French effort in Vietnam. Following the 1954 Geneva Conference, which partitioned Vietnam, Eisenhower's administration established an anti-Communist government in South Vietnam. The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was formed that same year, by eight nations, as a defense against Communist expansion. At Geneva in 1955, Eisenhower and other military leaders met with Nikita Krushchev's delegation, paving the way to a temporary relaxation of tensions with the USSR. Even so, friction continued because the Russians rejected Eisenhower's proposal that the US and Russia allow mutual air inspections of military bases. In 1959, though Krushchev paid a friendly visit to the United States, Eisenhower remained guardedly dedicated to his cold war policy.
John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State from 1953 to 1959, was aggressively anti-communist, and condemned neutrality. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) covertly established anti-communist regimes in Iran and Guatemala, attempted to do so in Indonesia and Laos, and began to plot against pro-Communist Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
On the domestic front, the Supreme Court made news when it ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock, Ark., to enforce opening school integration. Congress voted the most comprehensive tax revision in 75 years, decreasing national revenue and raising the national debt.
While vacationing in Dever, on September 24, 1955, President Eisenhower suffered a "moderate" heart attack. He returned to his desk in December. On June 9, 1956, Eisenhower had a sudden attack of a disorder of the small intestine, and underwent emergency surgery. Though these illnesses left some doubt that he could serve a second term in office, the Republican national convention renominated him. The public responded with the campaign cry, "We like Ike." Eisenhower and Nixon won with an even greater landslide victory than in the previous election.
On October 4, 1957, Russia officially began the Space Age with the launching of Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite. With Americans worried about their lackluster role in the space race, greater emphasis was placed on space technology, and on January 31 1958, the United States sent its first satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit. In July of that year, Congress established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to coordinate space exploration efforts.
With Russian aggression continuing, the President proposed the Eisenhower Doctrine in 1957, pledging US military aid to any Middle East nation asking for help against Communist offenses. On November 25, 1957, Eisenhower suffered a mild stroke. He rapidly recovered, and was able to attend the mid-December NATO meeting in Paris. At this meeting agreement was reached to arm Western Europe with United States nuclear missiles.
In 1957 and 1958 the country faced a serious economic recession. The stock market fell, unemployment rose, industrial production declined, while consumer prices inflated. Eisenhower refused to counter this with a tax cut, but the government did furnish additional funds to the states for use in lengthening unemployment compensation coverage. By July 1958 the nation began to recover from its worst recession since the end of World War II.
In 1958, Congress approved statehood for Alaska, and Eisenhower signed the bill making her the 49th state of the Union. On August 21, 1959, Hawaii was also admitted to the Union.
Though recent high level meetings with Russia had ended in failure, in September 1959 the President hosted an official visit from Soviet Premier Khrushchev. Included was a transcontinental tour of the US, which ended at Camp David, Md., where the two came to basic agreement that diplomatic issues be settled by peaceful means. On December 3, 1959, Eisenhower embarked on a 22,000 mile good-will tour of eleven nations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. In February 1960, he also visited a number of South American countries, and in June he toured Alaska, The Philippines, Taiwan, Okinawa, South Korea, and Hawaii.
In March 1960, Eisenhower announced his support of Vice-President Nixon to succeed him as President. However, Nixon lost the election to John F. Kennedy.
On January 3, 1961, just days before Kennedy was inaugurated, Eisenhower broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba, as a result of Fidel Castro's increasingly hostile anti-American policies.
Eisenhower retired to his Gettysburg farm, and wrote several memoirs. In 1962 he dedicated the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kan., which houses his personal and state papers. Still a popular elder statesman, Eisenhower was consulted by Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He died of heart failure on March 28, 1969, in Washington, D.C. A three-day state funeral was held.
Dwight David and Mamie Eisenhower with son
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Medal History
