The boys worked by selling vegetables and taking other jobs around the town as time permitted while they continued to go to school. Eisenhower recounts that both of his parents stressed education and from the earliest years encouraged each of their sons to go to college.10 In contrast, the majority of male students in Abilene completed their formal schooling once they finished the eighth grade. In 1904 Dwight started high school in Abilene, which was conducted in the city hall; the fire station was on the same floor and the city jail just below the small classrooms.11
Abilene built a dedicated high school in 1905, and Eisenhower’s class was composed of twenty-two girls and just eight other males.12 In most accounts of his life before his departure for West Point, Eisenhower has been noted as being interested in history as well as having a talent for geometry.13 In addition to his interest in academic pursuits, Eisenhower was athletically inclined. While in high school he played football and baseball and demonstrated a genuine athletic talent, driven by his competitiveness as well as his love of the games. In May 1909 he graduated from Abilene High School, and his classmates noted that he was “Best Historian and Mathematician” in their yearbook, The Helianthus.14 Though he was a talented student-athlete, his future was uncertain, but Eisenhower seemed to want to follow his brother Edgar’s lead and go to college.15 The major problem, however, was that Eisenhower had to pay his own way. According to his biographers, Eisenhower negotiated a deal with his brother Edgar, whereby Eisenhower would work for a year and send what money he could to Edgar as he pursued his studies. Edgar would in turn work a year to help fund Eisenhower’s education. The two brothers figured that within eight years they would both be able to complete their respective degrees.16 To keep his end of the bargain, Eisenhower took a full-time job at the Belle Creamery.
In 1910, however, Eisenhower had a chance encounter with Everett “Swede” Hazlett, a grade school friend who had secured an appointment to the United States Naval Academy. Hazlett proposed that Eisenhower join him at the Academy, and the idea of a free college education appealed to Eisenhower. Though very much interested in taking the entrance exam, Eisenhower quickly found out that by the time of his birthday in 1910, at age twenty he would be too old to gain an appointment to the Naval Academy. The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, however, accepted cadets up to age twenty-two. Thereupon Eisenhower worked to get accepted to West Point.
Having asked prominent members of the Abilene community to write him letters of introduction to Senator Joseph Bristow, Eisenhower on August 20, 1910, wrote a letter to Senator Bristow expressing his desire to secure an appointment to one of the service academies. After waiting two months without a response from Senator Bristow, Eisenhower read in the local paper that the competitive examinations for the service academies were to be administered in Topeka, Kansas, in early October. Not wanting to possibly violate protocol, Eisenhower penned a second letter to Senator Bristow asking if it would be all right if he took the examinations. Senator Bristow responded to Eisenhower’s second letter and recommended that Eisenhower indeed take the examinations. On October 4–5, 1910, Eisenhower took the examinations and scored second of the eight men who had taken them. In November Senator Bristow wrote to Eisenhower informing him that he had appointed him to West Point.17
Eisenhower began his military career when he arrived at West Point on July 1, 1911. As he traveled from Abilene to New York, he made sure that he planned his cross-country trip to include a week’s vacation, during which he visited a friend, Rudy Norman, who lived in Chicago, as well as taking time to see his brother Edgar, who was studying in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan. Having dispensed with the “vacation” part of his trip, Eisenhower recounts that upon arriving at West Point and making his way up to the administration building, “he got a sense of calculated chaos.”18 After enduring the tumultuous first day, Eisenhower was sworn in as a cadet. He later recounted, “The day had been one of confusion and a heroic brand of readjustment, but when we raised our right hands and repeated the official oath, there was no confusion. A feeling came over me that the expression of ‘The United States of America’ would now and henceforth mean something different than it ever had before. From here on it would be the nation I would be serving, not myself.”19
By all accounts, Eisenhower enjoyed his time at West Point. Enduring a curriculum that was heavily focused on math and other engineering-related studies, Eisenhower encountered academic challenges, but he overcame them with hard work and a strong motivation to succeed. In addition to his academic studies, he was steadfastly committed to sports as well, and he made the football team at West Point. In November 1912, in a football game against Tufts University, Eisenhower injured his knee and spent five days in the Academy’s dispensary.20 Not wanting to miss the upcoming game against Navy, however, Eisenhower did not get excused from riding class, and he reported to the riding hall to practice “mounted gymnastics” with his fellow cadets. During the class Eisenhower lost control of his horse and was thrown, whereupon he landed on his already injured knee. This ended his ability to play football, although West Point nonetheless awarded him a letter in football for the 1912 season.
Eisenhower as a West Point cadet. (U.S. Army, 65-173-2)
For the remainder of his time at West Point, Eisenhower had to decide which branch of the Army he would join after his graduation. Knowing that his ranking was approximately in the middle of his class, he was aware that it was not high enough to secure a commission in the Corps of Engineers, which accepted the top 3 percent of each class. His football injury barred a commission in the Cavalry, and the Artillery branch did not hold the same sense of adventure and prestige as the Infantry. Accordingly, he decided on the Infantry. When Eisenhower graduated from West Point on June 12, 1915, the Army commissioned him as a second lieutenant in the Infantry. After World War II Eisenhower’s class would come to be called “the class the stars fell on,” since it included so many later prominent officers, such as Omar Bradley, George E. Stratemeyer, and James Van Fleet.21
On September 13, 1915, Eisenhower reported to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, to serve with the 19th Infantry. While at Fort Sam Houston, where he remained until 1917, Eisenhower met Mamie Geneva Doud, whom he married in July 1916. Before his wedding, Eisenhower had applied for a transfer to the Aviation section, which was approved. When he shared this news with his future father-in-law, John Doud, however, he received a lecture about how flying was a dangerous and foolish endeavor to contemplate. In At Ease, Eisenhower recounted that after a few days of thinking and “looking at the matter seriously,” he made the decision to remain with the Infantry.22
After the wedding, in response to the escalating troubles on the border between the United States and Mexico, Eisenhower applied to join the punitive expedition under the command of Brigadier General John J. Pershing. At the same time, the Great War continued to rage in Europe, and it increasingly looked as if President Woodrow Wilson would send U.S. troops to assist the war-weary Allies. On April 1, 1917, Eisenhower and several other officers from the 19th Infantry were transferred to Camp Wilson to begin the process of forming the new 57th Regiment.23
During this time the Army promoted Eisenhower to captain, and he began to make a name for himself as a strong leader and committed teacher who could be relied on to get the job done. His time at Fort Sam Houston and Camp Wilson brought Eisenhower into association with Robert L. Eichelberger (commander of the Eighth Army in the Philippines campaigns in World War II), as well as Leonard T. Gerow (commander, V Corps, at Omaha Beach on D-Day), who became lifelong friends and future study mates at the Command and General Staff School.
Following his assignment at Fort Sam Houston, Eisenhower went to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, to be an instructor at the Officer Training Camp. In essence, Eisenhower was preparing young officers to be effective combat officers. In the midst of this short assignment, however, Eisenhower, who wanted to go to Europe to fight for the United Sates, applied for special duty with a �
�machine gun battalion, earmarked for overseas combat.”24 The Army disappointed Eisenhower by not fulfilling his request; rather, it provided him with a three-month temporary-duty assignment at Fort Leavenworth. While at Fort Leavenworth, Eisenhower once again proved himself a very capable and effective trainer of troops, as he planned and led the training program for provisional second lieutenants.
In March 1918 Eisenhower was assigned to Camp Meade, Maryland. During this assignment, Eisenhower assisted greatly in organizing and training the 301st Tank Battalion to deploy to Europe.25 Although he had expected to accompany the 301st to Europe, Eisenhower’s desire for combat was once again stymied. Instead, he was ordered to report to Camp Colt in Pennsylvania to organize and train other tank units intended for Europe. Although this assignment came as another disappointment, the Army did promote Eisenhower to the rank of temporary lieutenant colonel.
During his time at Camp Colt, Eisenhower acquired essential skills and experience with managing, coordinating, and maintaining a camp designed to train combat troops. Of his time at Camp Colt Eisenhower would later remark: “I had been singularly fortunate in the scope of my first three and a half years of duty. How to take a cross-section of Americans and convert them into first-rate fighting troops and officers had been learned by experience, not by textbooks…. My education had not been neglected.”26 Though he did not get the chance to participate in combat in Europe, Eisenhower’s service as a trainer proved invaluable to the Army as well as to Eisenhower himself.
In the years immediately following the war in Europe, Eisenhower first met George S. Patton, who had commanded tanks in combat and had returned to Fort Meade in 1919 as commanding officer of the 304th Tank Brigade. At Meade, Eisenhower served as the deputy commander of the 305th Tank Brigade. He and Patton “shared a passion for tank warfare” and spent time together as Patton prepared to attend the Command and General Staff College.27 Owing to his close association with Patton, Eisenhower received an introduction to Fox Conner, who had served as the assistant chief of staff for operations of the American Expeditionary Forces. Conner would eventually become a significant mentor and have a profound influence on Eisenhower’s career as well as on his chances to attend the Command and General Staff College.
Between February 1918 and January 1922, Eisenhower moved from Camp Meade to Camp Colt, Pennsylvania, and then on to Camp Dix, New Jersey. After a brief stint as a commander of Tank Corps troops at Dix, he went to command Tank Corps troops at Fort Benning, Georgia, before going back to Fort Meade.28 This period proved to be a critical time in continuing to shape his leadership skills. Furthermore, while at Fort Meade in 1920, Eisenhower wrote an article for Infantry Journal in which he declared that tanks, “using terrain properly, could break enemy defenses, create confusion, and exploit the advantage by envelopment.”29 Although his training, experience, and extensive study provided him with a sound argument, Eisenhower received a harsh reprimand from the chief of Infantry, who told Eisenhower that his ideas were “not only wrong, but dangerous, and that he should keep his ideas to himself or face a court martial.”30
Eisenhower may not have convinced the chief of Infantry, but Brigadier General Fox Conner saw the merits of Eisenhower’s ideas and extended an offer for Eisenhower to be his executive officer at Camp Gaillard in the Panama Canal Zone.31 In addition to reorganizing and modernizing the defenses in the Canal Zone, Conner pushed Eisenhower to begin preparing himself to attend the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth. In an intense period of mentoring, Conner opened his extensive library to Eisenhower and encouraged his subordinate to read the classic texts of military history. Moreover, Conner questioned his protégé and discussed the books with Eisenhower. This informal yet profound education led Eisenhower to comment that this period served as “a sort of graduate school in military affairs and the humanities, leavened by the comments and discourses of a man who was experienced in his knowledge of men and their conduct.”32 At the end of his assignment in Panama, Conner rated Eisenhower as “superior” and recommended that he was “exceptionally well fitted for general staff training.”33
In October 1922, at the close of his assignment in Panama, Eisenhower received the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM), which was awarded for his training efforts during World War I. Although Eisenhower is often depicted by historians as an officer who was “plodding” along during this period, his biographer Geoffrey Perret highlights the fact that Eisenhower had “achieved the highest rank of anyone in his class, and was the only one to receive the DSM for service in the Great War.”34 In short, Eisenhower was making a significant impression on the Army and especially on Conner.
In his last efficiency report as Eisenhower’s commanding officer, Conner wrote that Eisenhower was “one of the most capable, efficient, and loyal officers I have ever met…. Upon completion of his foreign service tour, he should be sent to take the course at the Army Services School at Fort Leavenworth.”35 Although he had an outstanding reputation and had impressed powerful officers such as Fox Conner, Eisenhower’s path to the prestigious Command and General Staff School would not be an easy one.36
First, Eisenhower had not attended any of the Army’s service schools, with the exception of the Infantry Tank School. This did not bode well for him as an Infantry officer. Nevertheless, Conner supported Eisenhower’s desire to attend the Command and General Staff School, stating that despite his lack of attendance at other service schools, Eisenhower was “especially fitted to profit by the course,” and that he had “marked qualities for the General Staff training.”37 Furthermore, Conner commented that Eisenhower had kept pace with the Benning Infantry course “by special study and contact with recent Benning graduates.”38
With Conner’s endorsement, Eisenhower made a formal request to attend the Command and General Staff School. The Adjutant General’s Office processed Eisenhower’s request and wrote, “The name of Capt. D. D. Eisenhower has been placed on the tentative list of those officers who will be considered to attend the 1925–26 course at C.&G.S.S. Capt. Eisenhower will be promoted to the grade of Major at the present time.”39 After making its way through the staffing process, Eisenhower’s request was tentatively approved with the note “usual action,” but Eisenhower still had hurdles to overcome before he would attend the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth. Before his selection for the Staff School, the Army moved Eisenhower from Panama to Fort Meade, as the Army wanted once again to employ Eisenhower’s skills as a football coach, a function he had performed earlier in his military career.40
Major Eisenhower. (U.S. Army, 63-340-2)
While coaching football at Fort Meade, Eisenhower commanded a battalion of tanks as well, a position he had also held earlier. Eisenhower did not think that he was progressing toward the goal of attending the Command and General Staff School. To plead his case, he met with the chief of Infantry, and, as Eisenhower explains in At Ease, “he refused to even listen to my arguments, and said that I would have to go to [Fort] Benning to command light tanks.”41 Eisenhower’s desire to attend Fort Leavenworth seemed blocked by the chief of Infantry. Eisenhower in the meantime had received a telegram from Fox Conner, however, telling him that “no matter what orders you receive from the War Department, make no protest, accept them without question.”42
When his new orders arrived, Eisenhower found that he had been assigned to a recruiting command in Denver, Colorado—a very strange and nonstandard assignment for an Infantry officer. Nevertheless, following Conner’s advice, Eisenhower did not challenge the orders and made the move to Denver. As Eisenhower began his new duties, a letter from Conner explained the odd assignment. This was a bureaucratic move to circumvent the chief of Infantry. Conner had had Eisenhower “temporarily” assigned to the Adjutant General’s Office, which had its own quota of officers allocated to send to the Command and General Staff School. In August 1925 Eisenhower arrived at Fort Leavenworth.
Commenting on his year at Leavenworth, Eisenhower wr
ote that it “was a watershed in my life.”43 Contemplating attendance at the Staff School, Eisenhower was tentative about his abilities, because he had not attended the preparatory Infantry course at Fort Benning. Fox Conner, however, assured him that he was indeed prepared for the course.44 Being selected for attendance at the Command and General Staff School was seen as a prestigious career point for officers before they went on to bigger and better positions in the Army. Eisenhower focused on becoming the top student in the class. He pored over tactical problems taught by the faculty members William Bryden, Simon Bolivar Buckner, Horace H. Fuller, James Muir, and James Ord with the assistance of the notes of George S. Patton, who had attended the school earlier.45 Eisenhower spent countless hours studying with Leonard Gerow, a friend from the 19th Infantry. Although focused and committed, Eisenhower did not do well on his first graded assignment at Fort Leavenworth. Thereupon he committed himself to improving his overall rank in the class. He rose from fourteenth in the class of 250 to graduate first in his class, which included his fellow officers James E. Chaney, Clarence L. Sturdevant, Robert L. Eichelberger, Terry de la Mesa Allen, and Joseph W. Stilwell, all of whom he would encounter again during World War II.46 These associations would prove very valuable as he rose in rank.
Eisenhower once again proving himself a very capable and outstanding officer, his efficiency report from Brigadier General Edward L. King, the commandant of the Command and General Staff College, referred to him as “alert, resourceful, dependable, and courteous.”47 Moreover, Mark Bender notes that the Command and General Staff School recognized Eisenhower as superior in “attention to duty, initiative, intelligence, energy, resolution, judgment and common sense, and leadership.”48
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