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Dwight D. Eisenhower “I have always loved my country. I want to go. God take me” were the words of one of the greatest generals and presidents in United States history, Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was the commander of the allied troops during World War II and the leader of NATO during the late 1940’s. During his military campaign he devised many successful battle strategies ensuring the United States world power status in North Africa, Normandy and along the German boarder. As a president he developed America’s nuclear arsenal, began the Interstate highway system, ended the Korean War, and contained communism throughout the world, gaining strong support as a general and a president. Dwight D. Eisenhower originated from a family of Swiss descent. He was born October 14, 1890 in Denison Texas, however soon thereafter moved to Abilene Kansas, due to his fathers job at a local creamery. Coming from a low-income family, Eisenhower learned the virtue of hard work as a child. During high school he was more interested in athletics than academics, graduating sixty-first out of 165. After his high school career he attended WestPoint. He was stationed in Texas as a second lieutenant and graduated in 1915 at the bottom half of his class. Eisenhower married Mamie Doud in 1916, whom he met at WestPoint. The couple had two sons, one of which died as an infant, the other following the footsteps of his father. During WWI Eisenhower served as a tank instructor, continuing his slow march towards the top of military rankings. Between the years of 1922 and 1924, Eisenhower was awakened by a special interest for military strategy. Through connections with General Fox Connor, Eisenhower attended the well respected Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. Eisenhower graduated number one in his class of 275 and continued studying military strategy by graduating from the Army War College in 1929 and the Army Industrial College in 1932. Eyeing his military instinct, the War Department quickly recruited him for special opportunities. One of the many opportunities Eisenhower received was becoming the deputy to the assistant secretary of war in 1929. In 1933 he was promoted to principle aid to the army chief of staff, General Douglas McArthur. Under McArthur’s command, Eisenhower delegated the Philippine president and legislators on defense policy in 1935, showing that he was capable of handling difficult foreign affairs. He began to consult foreign affairs internationally after the Pearl Harbor incident, when he was appointed to the planning division of the War Department in December 1941. His military brilliance led to another promotion in 1943, advancing to supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe. Eisenhower wanted to begin the invasion of Europe in the spring of 1943 but the British felt that it was soon and instead began the North Africa campaign. In his first invasion he landed U.S. and British troops on the shores of Algeria and Morocco, which was a success. Multiple reasons were necessary for controlling North Africa, however, the goal was to capture the German General Erwin Rummel. Rummel’s counterattack in February of 1943 was Eisenhower’s first battle of his military career. Eisenhower’s strategic planning led to a victory by May, forcing the Germans out of North Africa, which set the ground for a large-scale invasion of Europe. In July 1943 Eisenhower continued his military supremacy into Italy, and after a strenuous month was able to secure the island if Sicily. After this key victory he was promoted to four-star general, and led the largest sea- to land invasion in history, known as D-Day. Due to this key victory Eisenhower was able to capture Normandy and the northern French coast, allied troops were able to begin the invasion through Europe. In 1945, after defeating the Axis Powers he stayed in Europe, and was treated as a hero. He stayed in Europe until 1948, as the Allied forces demobilized from 8 million troops too less than a million.
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