America's Greatest 20th Century Presidents (19 page)

Operation Overlord
aimed to have the Allies reach the Seine River within 3 months of D-Day, and it’s a testament to the men who fought and served on D-Day that the goal was reached early. To do so, the Allies overcame firm resistance from the Germans, atrocious weather that limited resupply for the Allies, and the difficult terrain of Normandy, which included endless hedgerows providing hidden cover. And the Allies reached their objective ahead of time despite the fact the objectives of D-Day were not entirely met; the Allies had not captured Caen, St-lo or Bayeux on the first day.

Nevertheless, the landings were clearly a resounding success. Casualties were significantly smaller than those expected by commanders, and the significance of D-Day to the morale of the Western world, much of it under German domination, cannot be underestimated. For France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Holland and more, who had suffered over four years of occupation, the great democracies were finally coming to their rescue. American, British, Canadian, Polish, Commonwealth, Greek, Belgian, Dutch and Norwegian soldiers, sailors, and airmen all participated in the Battle for Normandy, which saw the Allies on the banks of the Seine River just 80 days after D-Day.

Operation Overlord after D-Day

24 hours after the landings on June 6, 1944, however, the Allies still had plenty of work to do, and when the Allied High Command assessed the situation on the ground, it was clear that on no front had all of the objectives been achieved. The British and Canadians were ashore on Gold, Juno and Sword, yet Caen lay firmly in German hands. And in most cases, the various invasion forces lay clustered in isolated bands.

Nevertheless, the breakout after D-Day went smoothly, and by the end of August, Paris had been liberated and the German Army in France was shattered, with 200,000 killed or wounded and a further 200,000 captured. Hitler reacted to the news of invasion in a fashion which illustrates why Germany lost the war. He welcomed it with glee, figuring it would give the Germans a chance to destroy the Allied armies that had water to their backs. “The news couldn’t be better” he said, “we have them where we can destroy them.” Hitler’s delusion in June 1944, as well as his misplaced faith in the strength of his Atlantic Wall, all helped contribute to the Germans’ defeat in Normandy. At no stage were adequate reinforcements released or even contemplated in time to stem the tide of the Allies’ momentum.

By the end of 1944, Eisenhower had been promoted to General of the Army, gaining his 5
^th
star and earning himself the second highest military rank his nation had. Eisenhower received the promotion 2 days after General MacArthur received it and 4 days after George Marshall received it, and his subordinate Omar Bradley would receive it in 1950, still the last American to do so. With the race toward Berlin in full throttle, Eisenhower’s biggest battles now took place among his allies, as he now had to deal diplomatically with Churchill, Montgomery, and French war hero Charles de Gaulle. His time in North Africa served him wisely, and Eisenhower maintained cordial relationships with the other leaders even while standing his ground when he felt required to do so. Eisenhower would also later become friends with the USSR’s Marshal Zhukov, his Russian counterpart.

In December Germany launched its last offensive through the Ardennes in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge, which got its name because it bent the Allies’ lines before the Germans were turned back in early 1945. In March of 1945, the Allies crossed the Rhine into Germany, with the Russians entering German territory in the east. Germany surrendered in May, having been completely obliterated materially and politically.

Eisenhower at the surrender ceremony in Rheims

What had started on the Normandy beaches in June 1944 had come to a climax less than a year later with the suicide of Hitler and the declaration of Victory in Europe Day on May 8, 1945, which would forever be commemorated as VE-Day. The fact that June 6 remains the better known anniversary is perhaps the greatest tribute of all to Eisenhower, his men, and the importance of the invasion.

Chapter 4: Post-War Years, 1945-1952

The End of the War

After Germany's unconditional surrender, Dwight Eisenhower became the military governor of the American Occupation Zone in Germany, remaining in Frankfurt. Eisenhower's time here gave the West a greater understanding of the Nazi concentration camps, which were previously something of a mystery, especially to the American public.  Eisenhower sensed the enormity of the tragedy and ordered that camera crews film the army's findings as it toured camps.  Such video was later used at the Nuremberg Trials, which punished high Nazi officials.

Eisenhower's administration of the American Occupied Zone rested on the assumption that the German people were victims of Nazism, not perpetrators.  This was the opposite strategy from what had happened after World War I, when Germany was blamed for the tragedy and devastation of the war.

In November of 1945, now under President Truman, Eisenhower returned to Washington to serve as Chief of Staff of the Army.  There, he began his first foray into Cold War politics.  While trying to demobilize and bring home millions of US soldiers, Eisenhower was also engaged in questions over the use of nuclear bombs. Eisenhower's opinion was an unpopular one within policy circles.  Most in the State Department, and President Truman, favored limiting the Soviets' ability to produce a bomb.  Furthermore, they did not want nuclear arms to come under the control of an international body, the United Nations.

Eisenhower thought otherwise.  He favored U.N. control of all international nuclear weapons.  Furthermore, he thought peaceful relations could easily be maintained with the Soviet Union, and that conflict over nuclear arms was the biggest risk to the strength and continued peace of the relationship.

President of Columbia University

In 1948, Dwight Eisenhower's life seemed to be headed in a whole new direction.  In that year, he became President – not of the United States – but of the elite Ivy League institution, Columbia University.  He was now living in downtown Manhattan, a huge change of pace from his upbringing in Abilene, Kansas.

During his time with Columbia, Eisenhower grew intellectually.  Previously unaccustomed to academia, having spent his educational career with the military, General Eisenhower's eyes were opened to a whole new world.  In particular, he spent much time with the Council on Foreign Relations, where he assessed the implications of the impending Marshall Plan.  Furthermore, he analyzed economic activity across the world, giving him a new understanding of economics and international trade.

Eisenhower's Presidency at Columbia was an unusual one, mainly because he served as a mere figurehead for the University.  He engaged little with academic affairs, preferring instead to advise national policymakers.  He helped the sitting Secretary of Defense reorganize the armed forces and also helped promote American democracy across the world. To top it off, the same year he became President of the school, he published his critically acclaimed memoirs,
 
Crusade in Europe
, 
 

While these activities boosted Eisenhower’s national profile, President Eisenhower was resented by the Columbia faculty and staff.  They considered him an absentee President who was not interested in the well-being of one of the world's most prestigious universities.

Supreme Commander (Again)

In December of 1950, Eisenhower became Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).  In this position, Eisenhower engaged in heavy diplomacy with European nations.  In the United States, NATO was not widely popular; the need to keep troops in Europe made many American skeptical.  Eisenhower played a critical role in ensuring that European nations contributed troops to NATO as a means of convincing the U.S. that it alone would not support the organization.

One huge issue weighed heavily over Eisenhower's time at Columbia.  Now President of a university, many in the United States thought he ought to be President of the country.

Chapter 5: Presidency, 1952-1960

Election of 1952

Although it seems impossible to believe now, many widely assumed that Eisenhower would never be president after he failed to enter politics in 1948. That year, President Truman tried to convince Eisenhower to be his Vice-Presidential candidate, aware that his unpopularity would be boosted by a war hero every American admired. At the same time, making Eisenhower his Vice President would clear Ike’s path to the presidency in 1952. When Eisenhower refused the offer, it was widely assumed that Truman would lose to Dewey, who would then presumably be positioned to be president until 1956, at which point Ike would be 66 years old, too old to be president.

As it turned out, Truman famously won reelection in 1948 by the slimmest of margins over Dewey, meaning the path was clear for Eisenhower to run in 1952 if he so chose. Eisenhower mulled over the decision to run for President for months, even while a Draft Eisenhower Movement had sprung up in an eager effort to encourage his run. Having failed to get Eisenhower to be his Vice President, Truman now suggested Eisenhower should replace him, as a Democrat.

There was one question that remained unresolved: was Eisenhower a Democrat or a Republican?  For many, including Truman, the answer was of little importance, and for Eisenhower himself the answer seemed insignificant.  But the General needed to decided one way or the other before he could expect to run a successful campaign.  Previously, Eisenhower was not much of a partisan or an ideologue.  Because of the dominance of the Democratic Party since the beginning of the Great Depression, many suspected he would play it safe and run with the party of Jefferson and Jackson.

Instead, however, Eisenhower chose the Party of Lincoln.  Despite Truman's insistence that he run as a Democrat, Eisenhower thought the party favored too much centralization in government, and he preferred the ideology of the Republican Party. Still, even after choosing a party, Eisenhower had still not decided to run.  Previously, there were two separate Draft Eisenhower Movements: one in each party.  With his announcement of Republican allegiance, the Democratic Draft Movement died.  The Republican one, however, gained steam.

Hoping to convince Eisenhower to run, New York Governor Thomas Dewey and Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge entered Eisenhower's name into the upcoming New Hampshire Primary without the “candidate's” knowledge.  The two were especially eager to nominate Eisenhower, fearing that the ultra conservative Senator Taft of Ohio would win the nomination and sink the party's prospects for decades. 

On the night of the primary, Eisenhower won by a landslide.  With that, he captured all of the state's delegates, and he also had enormous momentum to carry towards the nomination.  The next day, he finally relented and announced that New Hampshire voters had flattered him, and he would be honored to run for President.

With that, Eisenhower quickly won the Republican nomination, at a time when Truman’s Democratic Administration was historically unpopular as a result of the Korean War. Given Eisenhower’s reputation and the Democrats’ unpopularity, 1952 was shaping up to be a landslide. In fact, the Eisenhower ticket’s biggest problem was the Vice Presidential candidate, California Senator Richard Nixon, who it was alleged had
improperly received funds from a secret trust. on September 23, 1952, Nixon allayed fears of corruption with his infamous “Checkers Speech”, and it would be another 20 years before the American public discovered that Nixon was indeed a crook. Nevertheless, the damage Nixon caused created terse relations between Ike and his Vice President, which would come back to haunt Nixon in the Election of 1960.