Future President Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower was named Commanding General of the European Theater on this day in history, June 25, 1942.
Born in Texas and raised in Kansas, Eisenhower began his military career when he received an appointment to West Point, according to the White House website.
After graduating with the West Point class of 1915, Eisenhower was stationed in Texas as a second lieutenant.
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There he met Mamie Geneva Doud. The two married in 1916.
Eisenhower was in charge of a tank training center during World War I, the Museum of the American Soldier said.
“He concluded with a prayer for peace 'in good weather'.”
After the war, Eisenhower worked in the Panama Canal Zone and attended the Army War College, where he graduated at the top of his class, the museum said.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, photographed in July 1942, shortly after being promoted to lieutenant general. (Getty Images)
Eisenhower continued to rise through the ranks of the military, where he “excelled in personnel assignments, serving under Generals John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur and Walter Krueger,” the White House website said.
After the United States entered World War II, “Eisenhower took charge of the Army's War Plans Division to develop a basic strategy for the war against the Axis,” Military.com said.
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U.S. Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall chose Eisenhower for his highest promotion yet, on June 25, 1942, when he was named commanding general of the European Theater, also known as commander supreme.
“Although he had not yet witnessed combat firsthand, his 27 years of knowledge and experience stood out to George C. Marshall,” the Museum of the American Soldier said.
Portrait of Allied military commanders posing around a table in England during the spring of 1944. Eisenhower is in the center, bottom row. (Getty Images)
Eisenhower's leadership skills and military skill were evident in Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa by British and American troops in November 1942.
His military successes continued.
“By late 1943, Eisenhower had made successful landings in Sicily and Italy and negotiated the Italian surrender,” Military.com said.
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However, his star had not finished rising.
Eisenhower was appointed supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force for the invasion of Europe.
“The attack, dubbed Operation OVERLORD, was to be the decisive act of World War II,” Military.com said.
General Dwight Eisenhower, top left, speaking with General Koenig after a parade under the Arc de Triomphe, Paris, August 28, 1944, almost three months after Eisenhower led the successful invasion of Normandy. (Getty Images)
Today, Operation OVERLORD is better known as D-Day.
“Eisenhower's job was to surprise the Germans at the time and place of the landings. Complicating matters was the fact that Allied resources were sufficient for a single invasion attempt,” Military.com said.
“After careful planning, Eisenhower launched the invasion on June 6, 1944.”
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After World War II, Eisenhower was appointed chief of staff of the United States Army, a position he held until February 1948.
After a stint as president of Columbia University, Eisenhower was convinced to run for president, the White House said.
“He urged the need to maintain an adequate military force, but warned that large, prolonged military expenditures could create potential dangers.”
Republicans “sought to interest Eisenhower in the Republican nomination, confident that his popularity would carry him to victory and certain that his internationalist policies were essential to success in the Cold War,” said the Miller Center website of the University of Virginia.
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“Finally, in January 1952, Eisenhower announced that he was a Republican and that he would accept the call of the American people to serve as president,” the site notes.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (left) listens as General Dwight D. Eisenhower shows him his trailer, November 14, 1944, in the midst of World War II. (Hulton Archives/Getty Images)
With the help of the catchy slogan “I like Ike,” Eisenhower was elected president on November 4, 1952, winning in a landslide over Democrat Adlai Stevenson II.
Eisenhower became the first Republican president in 20 years.
He then served two terms (defeating Stevenson again in November 1956).
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“Before leaving office in January 1961, to move to his farm in Gettysburg, he insisted on the need to maintain an adequate military force, but warned that large and prolonged military expenditures could create potential dangers to our way of life,” said the White House.
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“He concluded with a prayer for peace 'in good weather'.”
