Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

American general and President of the United States (1953–61). The son of a railroad worker, he graduated at West Point and served under macarthur in Washington (1930–5) and in the Philippines (1936–8). After Pearl Harbor he worked in the Planning Division of the War Department, where he greatly impressed the Chief of Staff, George Marshall. A warm, humane and friendly man, he first became widely known as Allied Commander-in-Chief for the invasion of North Africa in November 1942. He remained Supreme Commander of Allied forces in the Mediterranean during the conquest of Sicily (May 1943) and in the invasion of Italy (September 1943), until he was recalled in January 1944 to plan the invasion of France. During this time he showed a remarkable ability in coordinating the activities and securing the cooperation of ambitious generals of disparate views and of different nationalities. ‘Ike’ was a great conciliator, tactful and sensitive, reluctant to dominate but prepared to exert his authority when it was necessary, as it sometimes was with Montgomery. He was an excellent administrator and planned the invasion of France on D-Day (6 June 1944) with meticulous care. At the end of the war he was in charge of US occupation forces in Germany until he replaced General Marshall as Army Chief of Staff in 1945. He was President of Columbia University from 1948–51 and took command of the newly ... log in or subscribe to read full text