Signature of Dwight David Eisenhower
Dwight David Eisenhower
Dwight David Eisenhower

At a Glance

Term: 34th President of the United States (1953-1961)

Born: October 14, 1890, Denison, Texas

Nickname: "Ike"

Education: U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York (graduated 1915)

Religion: Presbyterian

Marriage: July 1, 1916, to Mary "Mamie" Geneva Doud (1896-1979)

Children: Doud Dwight (1917-1921); John Sheldon Doud (1922-)

Career: Soldier

Political Party Republican

Writings: Crusade in Europe (1948); The White House Years (2 vols.), vol. 1: Mandate for Change (1963), vol. 2: Waging Peace (1965); At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends (1967)

Died: March 28, 1969, Washington, D.C.

Buried: Abilene, Kansas

A Life in Brief: Born in Texas and raised in Kansas, Dwight D. Eisenhower was one of America’s greatest military commanders and the thirty-fourth President of the United States. Inspired by the example of a friend who was going to the U.S. Naval Academy, Eisenhower won an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Although his mother had religious convictions that made her a pacifist, she did not try to stop Eisenhower from becoming a military officer. More....

Multimedia Gallery

Essays on Dwight David Eisenhower and His Administration


Dwight David Eisenhower
A Life in BriefLife Before the PresidencyCampaigns and ElectionsDomestic AffairsForeign AffairsLife After the PresidencyFamily LifeThe American FranchiseImpact and LegacyKey Events
First Lady
Mamie Eisenhower
Vice President
Richard Nixon (1953 - 1961)
Secretary of State
John Foster Dulles (1953 - 1959)Christian A. Herter (1959 - 1961)
Secretary of Defense
Charles E. Wilson (1953 - 1957)Neil H. McElroy (1957 - 1959)Thomas S. Gates Jr. (1959 - 1961)
Postmaster General
Arthur E. Summerfield (1953 - 1961)
Secretary of Agriculture
Ezra Taft Benson (1953 - 1961)
Secretary of Labor
James P. Mitchell (1953 - 1961)Martin P. Durkin (1953 - 1953)
Secretary of the Treasury
George M. Humphrey (1953 - 1957)Robert B. Anderson (1957 - 1961)
Attorney General
Herbert Brownell, Jr. (1953 - 1957)William P. Rogers (1957 - 1961)
Secretary of the Interior
Douglas J. McKay (1953 - 1956)Frederick A. Seaton (1956 - 1961)
Secretary of Commerce
Sinclair Weeks (1953 - 1958)Lewis Strauss (1958 - 1959)Frederick H. Mueller (1959 - 1961)
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
Oveta Culp Hobby (1953 - 1955)Marion B. Folsom (1955 - 1958) Arthur Flemming (1958 - 1961)

Consulting Editor: Chester J. Pach, Jr.

Professor Pach is an associate professor of history at Ohio University and former director of the Contemporary History Institute. His writings include:

Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower (part of the American Presidency Series, co-authored with Elmo Richardson, University Press of Kansas, 1991)

Arming the Free World: The Origins of the United States Military Assistance Program, 1945- 1950 (University of North Carolina Press, 1991)

Presidential Speeches

Below are selections from the Miller Center's Dwight David Eisenhower speech collection. To view the Miller Center's other speeches by Dwight David Eisenhower or by another President, please click the link below.

 April 16, 1953 - Chance for Peace (Cross of Iron)

 December 8, 1953 - Atoms for Peace

 January 5, 1957 - Eisenhower Doctrine

 January 17, 1961- Farewell Address

Miller Center Scholarship and Speakers

The Miller Center of Public Affairs is a national nonpartisan center to research, reflect, and report on American government, with special attention to the central role and history of the presidency. Below is a selection of Miller Center resources on Dwight David Eisenhower.

 Listen to Bryce Harlow’s 1983 presentation at the Miller Center on the Eisenhower Presidency.

President Dwight Eisenhower led the country as Commander in Chief during the Korean War. Click here to learn more about the Miller Center's National War Powers Commission.

Click here to learn more about the Center’s National Commission on Presidential Transitions and Foreign Policy and its relationship to Eisenhower.

Scripps Library Reference Resources

Below are links to reference resources prepared by the Miller Center's Scripps Library that are designed to help students and scholars quickly conduct their research.

Information on Dwight David Eisenhower's Private and Public Papers


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