Dwight Eisenhower Essay Research Paper Myself Now

Dwight Eisenhower Essay, Research Paper

Myself: Now and Five Years Ago

What it takes to make a man great is his foundation, training, and drive for the dreams that his mind ponders. Greatness is a term not often used with a name of one human being. Dwight Eisenhower is a great man, and I use that term in the most noble way. He was a man formed by his country like an artist forms a piece of clay. He was molded and fired for strength, but his inner soul has more meaning, such as a piece of Greek Sculpture that has been around for centuries. Most know him by the name of “Ike”, but very few know the man in the comforts of the White House, as he paces back and forth, or the long nights in the tent down in Africa fighting for his country in one of the most terrifying wars of the world. He was a war hero and a defender of freedom and democracy. Not only for his own nation, for any man or woman that searched for such riches in their hearts and homes.

Nestled in the dancing wheat of the Kansas plains is a small farm town by the name of Abilene. The clear rolling waters of the Smokey Hill River were just a stone throw away. It is in this place that the molding for greatness would begin. Dwight Eisenhower was born in a small dusty town in Texas. On October 14, 1890 he lay cradled in the arms of his mother, as his father looked down at his newborn son and wondered what they would do. The business was going under. That next spring his family would move back to their roots of Kansas. As a boy Ike worked hard and played even harder. Ike’s child hood was that of a young farm boy. If he was not found in the classroom, or doing his chores, he could be found along the banks of the Smokey Hill River. This was the place that Dwight would spend his summer days with his friends. Fishing and hunting while he camped along the banks of the clear water. (Steenwyk)

Brought up by his mother, because his father worked long hours as a mechanic, she installed a strong mind, and a solid heart in all of her six boys, including Dwight. Elizabeth Van Steenwyk states in her book, “Ida Eisenhower would stamp her six boys with a philosophy of determination and the need to excel, never admitting defeat or showing disappointment,”(Steenwyk 4). Dwight and his brothers lived up to this teaching and admiration of their mother. Though she installed strong morals in her boys. All of them were known for their brawling, Dwight states “It made us scrappers, any time anybody walked on us, they heard from us. It didn’t make any difference how big or how little he was, if he did something that infringed on our rights, he got a punch then and there.” (Steenwyk 4).

The nickname Ike, was just not his own, but all of the Eisenhower boys. Dwight was known as little Ike, until his older brother Edgar graduated from high school. Through his years in high school, Dwight was a good student, very seldom absent from class. He was as well a great athlete, finding love for football and baseball. His senior year the school board could no longer fund the football team, so Ike went out and headed fund raising. The away games tended to be a problem, so the boys would jump a train to get to the town in which they played that night. In January of 1911, Dwight was admitted into the most admired military school of the nation. Showing no emotions his mother her beloved son he left for West Point. Dwight’s religion, Jehovah’s Witness, was strongly against the idea of war, and enrollment into the army. This was the upbringing that Ike experienced throughout his entire life. Going against his family wishes and beliefs, he made a choice that would build the road for his future. While at West Point, he played football. A young man with the heart of a lion and the determination his mother pounded into to his mind, he would succeed both on the field and off. After a serious injury to his knee, Dwight would never again play the game that he loved so much. It was at this time that the thoughts of returning home pondered his mind. After debating the choice, he decided to stay, and on June 12, 1915, he graduated as Second Lieutenant Dwight David Eisenhower. (Burk)

A few days after, he was sent to Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio Texas. It was here in which he would meet the very lovely Mamie Doud. A southern belle “saucy in the look of her face and her whole attitude,” (Steenwyk 20). Although Ike fell for Miss Mamie Doud, it was not the same for her. He was one of many young men whom she dated, and after many months of slowly getting rid of the enemy, he proposed to her on Valentine’s Day. In July of 1916, they married. (Steenwyk)

In 1935 Ike was named the senior assistant to General MacArthur. This would mean that Ike would have to go to the Philippines. Eishenhower’s years in the Philippine Islands were very important links in the road that led him to the Role of Supreme Commander in the Second World War. Morin states in his book. “They added another dimension to his training to organize and lead a multination”. (Morin 51) It was at this time that he found himself dealing with proud and sensitive people. He would enter the political world, rubbing elbows and taking orders. “Eisenhower was born a diplomat, a man well endowed with tact and charm. The Philippines assignment developed these natural qualities”(Morin 51).

Taking pride in what he did, he always had compassion in his life for his wife, an