Dwight D. Eisenhower

Lashea Williams

John Fitzgerald Kennedy wrote a book in 1956, called "Profiles in Courage". In this book, Kennedy profiled a select group of 8 people's ambitious acts of courage in their times of need. According to this book (words by Ernest Hemmingway), "courage is grace under pressure". Kennedy's 8 politicians were very deserving of their honors, but one more could also fit in that category unequivocally .

From 1953 to 1961, Dwight D. Eisenhower was the elected president of the United States of America. During this time period, the United States was experiencing great tension with the Cold War (1945-1991) and segregation was still practical in much of America.

Before his presidency, Eisenhower helped bring victory to the Allied Forces during World War II, and by the end of the war, he had risen to the Army's highest rank as a five-star general. During this Army career, Eisenhower commanded his forces landing in North Africa in November 1942. On D-Day, 1944, he was Supreme Commander of the troops invading France. After the war, he became President of Columbia University then took leave to assume supreme command over NATO forces being assembled in 1951. Eisenhower's great military success gave the public reasons to persuade him to run for president in 1952. His popularity led to the appealing and memorable public slogan, "I like Ike.".

Even though President Eisenhower was very popular with the people, that is not the reason he was a great president. Due to his military strength, he was well qualified and willing to try and reduce the great tensions of the Cold War. In 1953, a truce was signed which brought an armed peace along the border of South Korea. The president proposed that the United States and Russia exchange blueprints of one another's military establishments and "...provide within our countries facilities for aerial photography to the other country." The Russians acknowledged the idea indistinctly, but were so amiable throughout the meetings that tensions were relaxed.

One of the most well-liked problems that President Eisenhower solved was the segregation problem. Like most of the U.S. Presidents of the past, Eisenhower's "goal" was for peace, but the difference was that he did something about it. The President was a great supporter of desegregation. Before Mr. Eisenhower was president, it was a normal routine for African American children and Caucasian children to be educated in separate schools. After 1953, the unification of schools began and troops were sent to the Little Rock, Arkansas, to assure compliance with the orders of a Federal court. Eisenhower also ordered the absolute desegregation of the Armed Forces. President Eisenhower's noble reasoning for these desegregation acts was simply stated during a speech in Arkansas, "There must be no second class citizens in this country.". Eisenhower was one president who attempted to fulfill the words "Peace and Prosperity"