Military career of Dwight D. Eisenhower

The military career of Dwight D. Eisenhower began in June 1911, when Eisenhower took the oath as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated from West Point and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army in June 1915, in the same class as Omar Bradley. He rose through the ranks over the next thirty years and became one of the most important Allied generals of World War II, being promoted to General of the Army in 1944. Eisenhower retired from the military after winning the 1952 presidential election, though his rank as General of the Army was restored by an act of Congress in March 1961.

After graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1915, Eisenhower was assigned to the 19th Infantry Regiment at Fort Sam Houston. He served in the continental United States throughout World War I, ending the war as the commander of a battalion that trained tank crews. After the war, he served as part of a Transcontinental Motor Convoy that traveled across the continental United States. In 1922, he was transferred to the Panama Canal Zone, where he served under General Fox Conner. He then served on the American Battle Monuments Commission under the command of General John J. Pershing. In 1929, he became the executive officer to General George Van Horn Moseley, who served on the staff of Assistant Secretary of War Frederick Huff Payne. In 1935, Eisenhower accompanied General Douglas MacArthur to the Philippines, where they served as military advisers charged with developing the Philippine Army. Eisenhower returned to the United States in 1939 and took part in the Louisiana Maneuvers as the chief of staff to General Walter Krueger.

After the United States entered World War II, General George C. Marshall assigned Eisenhower to the War Plans Division in Washington, D.C. Eisenhower became the commander of American forces in Britain in June 1942 and was assigned to lead Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa. After the success of Operation Torch, Eisenhower led the successful Allied invasion of Tunisia, forcing the surrender of all Axis forces in May 1943. Eisenhower led the opening phases of the Italian campaign, but was subsequently assigned to lead the Allied invasion of Western Europe in December 1943. He served as the supreme commander of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy, and took command of subsequent operations in France. Following the success of Operation Overlord, the Allies quickly took control of much of Western Europe, but the Germans launched a major counter-attack in the Battle of the Bulge. German resistance quickly collapsed following the Allied victory in that battle, and Eisenhower accepted the surrender of Germany in May 1945.

After the war, Eisenhower served as the commander of the American zone of occupation in Germany. In November 1945, he succeeded Marshall as the chief of staff of the United States Army. Eisenhower left active duty in 1948 to become the president of Columbia University, but rejoined the army in 1951 to become the first supreme commander of NATO. He left the army once again in 1952 to run for President of the United States; his presidential candidacy was successful and he served as president from January 1953 to January 1961.

Early years, 1915–1918

Eisenhower graduated with the United States Military Academy's class of 1915, "the class the stars fell on", ranked 61st in a class of 164. A knee injured playing football and aggravated while horseback riding that could have caused the government to later give Eisenhower a medical discharge and disability pension, almost caused the army to not to commission him after graduation. This was acceptable to Eisenhower, who was curious about gaucho life and began planning a trip to Argentina. West Point's chief medical officer offered to recommend him for a commission in the Coast Artillery, but Eisenhower viewed it as offering "a minimum of excitement" and preferred to become a civilian. The doctor then offered to recommend Eisenhower for a commission if he agreed not to seek appointment to the Cavalry. Eisenhower intended to become an Infantry officer, so he readily agreed. Because of the injury, West Point's academic board recommended against commissioning Eisenhower, but the doctor interceded successfully with the War Department and Eisenhower was commissioned as a second lieutenant in September 1915.

Eisenhower requested to serve in the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands, but was assigned to the 19th Infantry Regiment at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. While stationed there, Eisenhower served as the football coach for St. Louis College, now St. Mary's University. He also met and married Mamie Doud, the daughter of a meat-processing facility owner from Denver, Colorado. Eisenhower performed security duties along the Mexican Border during the Pancho Villa Expedition and received his first command assignment when he was chosen to lead the 19th Infantry's Company F.

World War I had broken out in Europe in 1914, and the U.S. joined the war on the side of the Entente Powers in April 1917. Like many 19th Infantry personnel, Eisenhower was promoted and assigned to the newly created 57th Infantry Regiment, where he served as the regimental supply officer. In September 1917, he was assigned to train reserve officers, first at Fort Oglethrope and then at Fort Leavenworth.

In February 1918, he was transferred to Camp Meade, Maryland, where he was assigned command of the 301st Heavy Tank Battalion. By the beginning of 1918, the United States Army did not have a single operational tank, but the battalion planned to use British-provided Mark VI tanks after arriving in Europe. The 301st was initially scheduled to be deployed to Europe in early 1918, but in March 1918 the tank corps was established as an independent branch of the army, and Eisenhower's unit was assigned for further training at Camp Colt. After months of rudimentary training, the first tank, a Renault FT, arrived in June 1918. In September, the "Spanish flu" epidemic hit the camp, ultimately killing 175 of the roughly 10,000 men under his command. In October, Eisenhower was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and two weeks later he received orders to deploy to Europe. Shortly before the deployment, the war ended with the signing of the Armistice of 11 November 1918. Though Eisenhower and his tank crews never saw combat, he displayed excellent organizational skills, as well as an ability to accurately assess junior officers' strengths and make optimal placements of personnel. Despite his success as an organizer and trainer, during World War II rivals who had combat experience often sought to denigrate Eisenhower for his previous lack of combat experience.

Between wars

Tank warfare and transcontinental convoy, 1918–1921

With the end of World War I, the United States dramatically cut back military spending, and the number of active duty personnel in the army dropped from 2.4 million in late 1918 to about 150,000 in 1922. Eisenhower reverted to his regular rank of captain, but was almost immediately promoted to the rank of major, the rank he held for the next sixteen years. Along with the rest of the tank corps, Eisenhower was assigned to Fort George G. Meade in Maryland. In 1919, he served on the Transcontinental Motor Convoy, an army vehicle exercise that traveled from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco at a pace of 5 mph. The convoy was designed both as a training event and as a way to publicize the need for better roads, and spurred many states to increase funding for road-building. Eisenhower's experience in the convoy would later influence his decision to help create the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s.

He then returned to his duties at Camp Meade, serving as executive officer and then as commander of the 305th Tank Brigade, which fielded Mark VIII tanks. His new expertise in tank warfare was strengthened by a close collaboration with George S. Patton, Sereno E. Brett, and other senior tank leaders; while Eisenhower commanded the 305th Tank Brigade, Patton commanded the 304th, which fielded the lighter Renault FT tank and was also based at Camp Meade. Their leading-edge ideas of speed-oriented offensive tank warfare were strongly discouraged by superiors, who considered the new approach too radical and preferred to continue using tanks in a strictly supportive role for the infantry. After being threatened with a court-martial by General Charles S. Farnsworth, the chief of infantry, Eisenhower refrained from publishing theories that challenged existing tank doctrine. Although Secretary of War Newton D. Baker and Chief of Staff Peyton C. March both advocated for the continuation of the tank corps as an independent branch of the army, the National Defense Act of 1920 folded the tank corps into the infantry. In 1921 Army Inspector General Eli Helmick found that Eisenhower had improperly received $250.76 in housing allowance. Eisenhower claimed he had received the money with no intent to deceive, and he repaid it in full after Helmick made his finding. Helmick still pressed for a court-martial, and only the intervention of General Fox Conner, who told Pershing he wanted Eisenhower to serve as his executive officer in the Panama Canal Zone, saved Eisenhower from possible imprisonment and dismissal from the service. Though Conner saved Eisenhower's career, Eisenhower still received a written reprimand that became part of his military record.

Service under Conner and Pershing, 1922–1929

Between 1922 and 1939, Eisenhower served under a succession of talented generals – Fox Conner, John J. Pershing, and Douglas MacArthur. Accompanied by Mamie, he served as General Conner's executive officer in Panama from 1922 to 1924. Under Conner's tutelage, he studied military history and theory, including the campaigns of Napoleon, the American Civil War, and Carl von Clausewitz's ''On War''. Conner also shared his experiences working with the French and British during World War I, emphasizing the importance of the "art of persuasion" when dealing with allies. Eisenhower later cited Conner's enormous influence on his military thinking, saying in 1962 that "Fox Conner was the ablest man I ever knew." Conner's comment on Eisenhower was, " eis one of the most capable, efficient and loyal officers I have ever met." Conner would play a critical role in Eisenhower's career, often helping him gain choice assignments.

On Conner's recommendation, and ranked in the top 10% of active-duty majors, in 1925–26 Eisenhower attended the Command and General Staff College (CGS) at Fort Leavenworth. He was worried that he would be disadvantaged by not having attended Infantry School like most of his classmates, but Conner assured him that his study in Panama was good preparation; Eisenhower graduated first in his CGS class of 245 officers. The army considered making him the head of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at a major university (Eisenhower would also have served as its football coach, doubling his pay) or a CGS faculty member, but assigned him as executive officer of the 24th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia until 1927. Eisenhower disliked serving with the Buffalo Soldiers regiment; many white officers viewed serving in an all-black unit as punishment for poor performance.

With Conner's help, Eisenhower was assigned to work under General Pershing on the American Battle Monuments Commission, which established monuments and cemeteries in Western Europe to honor fallen American soldiers. While serving on the commission, he produced ''A Guide to the American Battlefields in Europe'', a 282-page work which consisted largely of a history of the American Expeditionary Forces' battles on the Western Front during World War I. He next attended the Army War College, where he graduated first in his class in 1928. After graduating from the Army War College, he was reassigned to the American Battle Monuments Commission, arriving in Paris in August 1928. While in Europe, he learned to read (but not speak) French, continued his study of World War I battles, and followed the contemporary politics of the French Third Republic. In 1929, while helping General Pershing compile his memoirs, Eisenhower met Colonel George C. Marshall for the first time.

Service under Moseley and MacArthur, 1929–1939

In 1929, Eisenhower became the executive officer to General George Van Horn Moseley, who served on the staff of Assistant Secretary of War Frederick Huff Payne. In this role, Eisenhower helped make national defense policy and studied wartime industrial mobilization and the relationship between government and industry. He formulated a 180-page mobilization plan, known as M-Day Plan, which was never utilized but which impressed his superiors. After Douglas MacArthur became army chief of staff, he assigned Moseley as Deputy Chief of Staff. Eisenhower officially remained on Moseley's staff, but he also worked as MacArthur's unofficial military secretary and served on the War Policies Commission, which studied the possibility of a constitutional amendment designed to clarify Congress's war-time powers. In 1932, he participated in MacArthur's violent clearing of the Bonus March encampment in Washington, D.C. Eisenhower wrote and submitted MacArthur's official report regarding the incident, but he was privately critical of MacArthur's heavy-handed methods. President Herbert Hoover was strongly criticized in the press for his administration's handling of Bonus March, even from papers that were normally sympathetic to his administration. In 1933, Eisenhower graduated from the Army Industrial College, which is now known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy.

In 1935, he accompanied MacArthur to the Philippines, where he was charged with developing the nascent Philippine Army. Congress had passed the Tydings–McDuffie Act the previous year, setting the Philippines on the path to independence in 1946, and both MacArthur and Eisenhower remained on active duty in the U.S. army while serving as military advisers to the Philippine government. Eisenhower declined the rank of brigadier general in the Philippine army, but was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the U.S. army in 1936. Eisenhower viewed the Philippine defense budget as inadequate, and he struggled to provide the army with modern weapons and sufficient training. He had strong philosophical disagreements with MacArthur regarding the role of the Philippine Army and the leadership qualities that an American army officer should exhibit and develop in his subordinates. The resulting antipathy between Eisenhower and MacArthur lasted the rest of their lives, though Eisenhower later emphasized that too much had been made of his disagreements with MacArthur. In his final official evaluation of Eisenhower, written during 1937, MacArthur wrote that Eisenhower was a "brilliant officer" who "in time of war ... should be promoted to General rank immediately." Historians have concluded that this assignment provided valuable preparation for handling the challenging personalities of Winston Churchill, George S. Patton, George C. Marshall, and Bernard Montgomery during World War II.

Eve of World War II, 1939–1941

Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. By this time, Eisenhower had impressed his fellow officers with his administrative skills, but he had never held an active command above a brigade and few considered him a potential commander of major operations. Eisenhower returned to the United States in December 1939 and was assigned as commanding officer of 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment at Fort Lewis. Eisenhower enjoyed his role as a commanding officer, writing later that his command of the 15th Infantry during maneuvers "fortified my conviction that I belonged with the troops; with them I was always happy." Eisenhower's time as commander of 1st Battalion was brief, because he was assigned as the regiment's executive officer. In June 1940, Congress promoted every officer in the army by one rank; Eisenhower officially became a colonel in March 1941. He hoped for a regimental command, but was disappointed when Charles F. Thompson, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, which was the 15th Infantry's higher headquarters, selected him to serve as the division's chief of staff. Eisenhower loyally acceded, and his success in the position was later viewed as one factor that caused the Army's senior leaders to identify Eisenhower as a candidate for positions of more rank and responsibility. General Leonard T. Gerow asked Eisenhower to serve on his staff in the War Plans Division, but Eisenhower was determined to hold a command, and his ambivalent reply convinced Gerow to withdraw the request.

The army expanded from about 200,000 men in late 1939 to 1.4 million men in mid-1941. In March 1941, Eisenhower was assigned as chief of staff of the newly activated IX Corps under Major General Kenyon Joyce. In June 1941, he was appointed chief of staff to General Walter Krueger, Commander of the Third Army at Fort Sam Houston. In mid-1941, the U.S. Army conducted the Louisiana Maneuvers, the largest military exercise that the army had ever conducted on U.S. soil. The Second Army and the Third Army, which collectively had nearly 500,000 troops, conducted two mock battles that both ended in victory for the Third Army. The Third Army's success in the maneuvers impressed Eisenhower's superiors, and he was promoted to brigadier general on October 3, 1941. Fellow officers predicted that he would become a major general in six months.

World War II

War Plans Division, 1941–1942

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States entered World War II. Almost immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, General Marshall assigned Eisenhower as Deputy Chief of the War Plans Division in Washington. Marshall assigned him to coordinate the defense of the Philippines, and Eisenhower personally dispatched General Patrick J. Hurley to Australia with $10 million to provide supplies to MacArthur. Biographer Jean Edward Smith writes that Marshall and Eisenhower developed a "father-son relationship"; it was widely assumed that Marshall would eventually lead major operations in Europe, and he initially sought to prepare Eisenhower to serve as his chief of staff during those operations. In February 1942, Eisenhower succeeded General Gerow as chief of the War Plans Division (later known as the Operations Division), and he was promoted to major general the following month, ''Time'' describing him as "one of the finest staff officers in the army".

Tasked with helping develop the army's grand strategy in the war, Eisenhower formulated a plan that centered on the build-up of U.S. forces in Britain, followed by an invasion of Nazi-occupied Western Europe in April 1943. Eisenhower and Marshall both shared the conclusion of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that the United States should pursue a Europe first against the Axis Powers. Though American and British leaders agreed to Eisenhower's proposed April 1943 invasion of Western Europe, competing priorities in other theaters of the war would repeatedly delay the invasion.

Operations in the Mediterranean, 1942–1943

Appointment in Europe

While assessing Operation Bolero, the build-up of Allied soldiers in Britain, Marshall and Eisenhower both came to the conclusion that General James E. Chaney was unsuited to the task of leading American forces in Britain. Eisenhower recommended the appointment of a single American commander in the European Theater of Operations (ETO), suggesting General Joseph T. McNarney for the role. With the blessing of Stimson, Roosevelt, and Churchill, Marshall instead selected Eisenhower for the position, and Eisenhower was officially appointed as the commander of the ETO in June 1942; he was promoted to lieutenant general shortly thereafter.

Eisenhower retained Admiral Harold Rainsford Stark as the commander of U.S. naval forces in Europe, and selected General Mark W. Clark and General Carl Spaatz as the respective commanders of U.S. ground troops and air forces in the theater. General John C. H. Lee became the commander of the theater's logistical organization, and General Walter Bedell Smith became Eisenhower's chief of staff. His command involved important military and administrative duties, but one of his chief challenges was coordinating a multinational military and political alliance among combatants with contrasting military traditions and doctrines, as well a level of distrust. He also frequently met with the press and emerged as a public symbol of the Allied war effort.

Operation Torch

Overcoming objections from Eisenhower and Marshall, Prime Minister Churchill convinced Roosevelt that the Allies should delay an invasion of Western Europe and instead launch Operation Torch, an invasion in North Africa. The U.S. and Britain had previously agreed to establish a Combined Chiefs of Staff to serve as a unified command structure, and to appoint one individual as the commander of all Allied forces in each theater of war. Eisenhower became the commander of all Allied forces operating in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, making him the direct superior of both American and British officers.

The three-pronged Allied landing in North Africa, which biographer Jean Edward Smith describes as the "greatest amphibious operation that had ever been attempted" at that point in history, would take place on the Atlantic coast of French Morocco and on the Mediterranean coast of Algeria. At the time, both Algeria and French Morocco were controlled by Vichy France, an officially neutral power that had been established in southern France following the French surrender to Germany in 1940. Vichy France had a complex relationship with the Allied Powers; it collaborated with Nazi Germany, but was recognized by the United States as the official government of France. Hoping to encourage French forces in Africa to support the Allied campaign, Eisenhower and diplomat Robert Daniel Murphy attempted to recruit General Henri Giraud, who lived in the Vichy-controlled part of France but was not part of its high command.

Eisenhower and Murphy were unable to gain Giraud's full support by the time of the landings, and French forces initially resisted the Allied landing. General Alphonse Juin, the commander of Vichy forces in North Africa, quickly agreed to an armistice in Algiers, but fighting continued at the other two landing spots. After it became clear that French forces in Africa would not accept Giraud as their commander, Murphy and General Clark negotiated an agreement with Admiral François Darlan, the commander-in-chief of Vichy armed forces, that granted the Allied Powers military access to French North Africa but confirmed French sovereignty over the region.

Though the agreement with Darlan provided for French cooperation in North Africa, Eisenhower was strongly criticized in the American and British press for his willingness to work with a Vichy official. Darlan was assassinated in December 1942 by Frenchman Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, and Eisenhower appointed Giraud as the leader of French forces in Africa. Giraud would later become co-president of the French Committee of National Liberation (FCNL) alongside Free France leader Charles de Gaulle, but de Gaulle emerged as the clear leader of the organization, and the French war effort, by the end of 1943. Eisenhower, who had not actively supported either Giraud or de Gaulle after the initial campaign in French Africa, established a strong working relationship with de Gaulle for the remainder of the war.

Tunisia Campaign

Following the success of Operation Torch, the Allies launched an invasion of Tunisia, which the Germans had taken control of during Operation Torch. Bolstered by superior tanks and air power, as well as favorable weather, the German forces established a strong defense of the city of Tunis, leading to a stalemate in the campaign. The slow progress in Tunisia displeased many leading American and British officials, and General Harold Alexander, the head of the British Near East Command, was appointed as Eisenhower's deputy commander. At the same time, Eisenhower was promoted to the rank of general, making him the twelfth four-star general in U.S. history. In February 1943, German forces launched a successful attack on General Lloyd Fredendall's II Corps at the Battle of Kasserine Pass. The II Corps collapsed and Eisenhower relieved Fredendall of command, but Allied forces prevented a German breakthrough. After the battle, the Allies continually built up their forces and slowly ground down German defenses. 250,000 Axis soldiers surrendered in May 1943, bringing an end to the North African Campaign.

Italian Campaign

As the length of the Tunisia Campaign had made a cross-channel invasion of France impracticable in 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed that the next Allied target would be Italy. The July 1943 invasion of Sicily was overseen by Eisenhower and Alexander, with General Bernard Montgomery and General George S. Patton each leading one of two simultaneous landings. Allied forces staged a successful landing, but they failed to prevent the retreat of a large portion of the German Army to mainland Italy. Shortly after the end of the campaign, Eisenhower severely reprimanded Patton after Patton slapped two subordinates. Eisenhower refused to dismiss Patton in the midst of a public furor, though the slapping incidents may have played a role in his decision to recommend General Omar Bradley as the leader of preparations for the upcoming invasion of Western Europe.

During the campaign in Sicily, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy arrested Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and replaced him with Pietro Badoglio, who secretly negotiated a surrender with the Allies. Germany responded by shifting several divisions to Italy, occupying Rome, and establishing a puppet state, the Italian Social Republic. The Allied invasion of mainland Italy began in September 1943. In the aftermath of Italy's surrender, the Allies faced unexpectedly strong resistance from German forces under Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, who nearly defeated Operation Avalanche, the Allied landing near the port of Salerno. With 24 German divisions defending the country's rugged terrain, Italy quickly became a secondary theater in the war.

Operations in Western Europe, 1944–1945

Operation Overlord

In December 1943, President Roosevelt decided that Eisenhower—not Marshall—would lead Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Western Europe. Roosevelt believed that Eisenhower's experience leading multinational and amphibious operations made him well qualified for the position, and he was unwilling to lose Marshall as chief of staff. Eisenhower retained Smith as his chief of staff, chose Air Chief Marshal Tedder as his deputy, and made Admiral Bertram Ramsay and General John C. H. Lee the respective heads of naval operations and logistics in the theater. At the insistence of Churchill and the Combined Chiefs of Staff, he selected General Montgomery as commander of ground forces and Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory as the commander of air forces in the theater. Prioritizing individuals with recent battle experience, he selected Bradley as the senior American field commander and General Spaatz as the head of the American strategic air force. Despite the earlier slapping incidents, Patton was chosen to command the Third Army.

Eisenhower, as well as the officers and troops under him, had learned valuable lessons in their previous operations, preparing them for the most difficult campaign against the Germans—a beach landing assault in northern France. The starting point for the operation had been developed by a planning group led by General Frederick E. Morgan; the plan called for a landing in Normandy rather than at Pas-de-Calais, which was closer to Britain but was more heavily defended. Eisenhower and Montgomery jointly agreed to alter the plan in several ways, placing a greater emphasis on air superiority, increasing the number of soldiers committed to the operation, and establishing separate American and British landing zones across a wider area than had been originally envisioned. Eisenhower also helped secure de Gaulle's participation in the landing, partly by avoiding a diplomatic incident stemming from the arrest of several former Vichy officials who had assisted the Allies. Eisenhower believed that de Gaulle's cooperation was critical, not only for military operations but also for providing a government in France.

Drawing on the experience of Operation Avalanche, Eisenhower noted that it was "vital that the entire sum of our assault power, including the two Strategic Air Forces, be available for use during the critical stages of the attack." The final landing plan, largely devised by Montgomery, called for nine divisions to land at five zones. Three divisions of airborne infantry would land behind the enemy lines in order to seize vital roads and bridges. Originally scheduled for May 1944, Operation Overlord was pushed back a month, largely due to landing craft shortages. For the same reason, Operation Dragoon, the Allied landing in Southern France, would take place in August 1944 rather than contemporaneously with Overlord, as had originally been planned. Eisenhower insisted that the British give him exclusive command over all strategic air forces to facilitate the landing, to the point of threatening to resign unless Churchill relented, which he did.

High winds delayed Operation Overlord by a day, but Eisenhower chose to take advantage of a break in the weather and ordered the Normandy landings to take place on June 6, 1944. The timing and location of the landings surprised the Germans, and they failed to reinforce the beachheads in a timely manner. Allied forces quickly secured four of the five landing zones, though the Germans put up a strong defense of Omaha Beach. The Allies consolidated control of the landing zones and launched the next phase of the operation, capturing the port of Cherbourg by the end of June. By the end of July, over 1.5 million Allied soldiers and over 300,000 vehicles had landed in Normandy. The Allies repulsed a German counter-attack at the Battle of the Falaise Pocket, bringing a close to the fighting in Normandy. Meanwhile, the Operation Dragoon landings were successful, as the Allies captured Marseille and began moving north. On the Eastern Front, the Soviet Union launched a major offensive known as Operation Bagration, preventing Germany from sending reinforcements west.

Liberation of France and invasion of Germany

Once the coastal assault had succeeded, Eisenhower insisted on retaining personal control over the land battle strategy, and was immersed in the command and supply of multiple assaults. Encouraged by de Gaulle and the German commander Dietrich von Choltitz, Eisenhower ordered the liberation of Paris in late August. Von Cholitz surrendered the city on August 25, and de Gaulle triumphantly entered the city the following day. With German resistance collapsing sooner than had been expected, the Allies rapidly liberated most of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. General Montgomery proposed an assault through Germany's Ruhr region, while General Bradley called for an attack further south into the Saar region; Eisenhower approved both operations. Eisenhower's decision to split up Allied forces and advance on a broad front strained logistics and gave the Germans time to retreat to more defensible positions closer to Germany.

In recognition of his senior position in the Allied command, on December 20, 1944, he was promoted to General of the Army, equivalent to the rank of field marshal in most European armies. That same month, the Germans launched a surprise counter offensive, the Battle of the Bulge, which the Allies turned back in early 1945 after Eisenhower repositioned his armies and after improved weather allowed the Air Force to engage. Though many Allied soldiers lost their lives in the fighting, Germany suffered a decisive defeat in the battle.

After the Battle of the Bulge and the success of a massive Soviet offensive in early 1945, Eisenhower sent Air Chief Marshal Tedder to the Soviet Union to help establish a joint strategy for the invasion of Germany. Eisenhower declined to engage the Soviets in a race for the German capital of Berlin, and instead prioritized linking up with Soviet forces as soon as possible. Allied soldiers reached the Rhine in early March, capturing a key bridge near the town of Remagen before the Germans could destroy it. German resistance quickly collapsed, and on May 7, Eisenhower accepted the surrender of Germany.

Postwar military service

Occupation zone commander, 1945

Eisenhower, Montgomery, Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov, and French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny met on June 5, 1945, agreeing to establish the Allied Control Council, which provided for the joint governance of Germany by the four powers. Eisenhower became the military governor of the American occupation zone, located primarily in Southern Germany and headquartered at the IG Farben Building in Frankfurt am Main. In September 1945, Eisenhower removed General Patton from his command in Bavaria after the latter publicly expressed opposition to denazification. The removal of Patton sent a strong signal to that official policies regarding denazification would be strictly observed. Though Eisenhower aggressively purged ex-Nazis, his actions largely reflected the American attitude that the broad German populace were victims of the Nazis.

In response to the devastation in Germany, including food shortages and an influx of refugees, he arranged distribution of American food and medical equipment. Upon discovery of the Nazi concentration camps, he ordered camera crews to document evidence of the atrocities in them for use in the Nuremberg Trials. He reclassified German prisoners of war (POWs) in U.S. custody as Disarmed Enemy Forces (DEFs), who were no longer subject to the Geneva Convention. He also developed a strong working relationship with Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov, the commander of the Soviet occupation zone in Germany. At Zhukov's request, he visited Moscow, where he observed Russian culture and met with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Eisenhower learned of the secret development of the atomic bomb weeks before the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; he expressed opposition to the bombings on the grounds that the use of atomic weaponry would increase post-war tensions.

Army Chief of Staff, 1945–1948

Following the end of the World War II, Marshall retired in November 1945. On Marshall's recommendation, President Truman selected Eisenhower as the new Chief of Staff of the Army. His main task in that role was the demobilization of millions of soldiers, but he also advised the president on military policy and made numerous public appearances in order to maintain public support for the army. Concerned that rapid demobilization would deprive the army of necessary manpower in its duties and fully return the military to its small, pre-war state, Eisenhower joined Truman in calling for some form of universal military service. Congress rejected the idea of universal service, though it did extend the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940.

Eisenhower was convinced in 1946 that the Soviet Union did not want war and that friendly relations could be maintained; he strongly supported the new United Nations and favored its involvement in the control of atomic bombs. However, in formulating policies regarding the atomic bomb and relations with the Soviets, the administration of President Harry S. Truman largely ignored senior military leaders in favor of the State Department. By mid-1947, as East–West tensions over economic recovery in Germany and the Greek Civil War escalated, Eisenhower had come to agree with the containment policy of stopping Soviet expansion. Increasingly frustrated with his position of chief of staff, in 1948, he became the president of Columbia University, an Ivy League university in New York City. Nonetheless, he continued to advise the military on various matters. During his time at Columbia, he published his memoirs, which were titled ''Crusade in Europe''.

NATO Supreme Commander, 1951–1952

In June 1950, Communist-backed North Korea invaded U.S.-aligned South Korea, marking the start of the Korean War. The U.S. intervened on behalf of South Korea and inflicted several defeats on North Korean forces, but the war settled into a stalemate after the People's Republic of China committed forces to aid North Korea. Distressed by U.S. unpreparedness in the war, President Truman shook up his national security team and proposed dramatic increases in military spending. He asked Eisenhower to make the public case for the importance of U.S. commitments to NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance of Western states that had been formed in 1949. Though Eisenhower was unable to sway Robert A. Taft, a powerful Republican senator from Ohio, most other members of Congress agreed to support the alliance. In April 1951, after taking a leave of absence from Columbia, Eisenhower was confirmed by the Senate as the first Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Supreme Commander of NATO. In this role, he was charged with forging a cohesive military force capable of standing up to a potential Soviet invasion.

As Supreme Allied Commander, Eisenhower organized NATOs command structure and served as the alliance's public persona. Due to his notoriety and popular appeal, Eisenhower was the obvious choice to be the Republican candidate for president in 1952. Eisenhower was frequently approached by party leaders and asked to run for president. While he had his misgivings, he ultimately decided it was his duty to serve as president. When he decided to leave the Army and run for president in late May 1952, he was succeeded as Supreme Allied Commander by General Matthew Ridgway, Matthew B. Ridgway, who had most recently served as United Nations commander in Korea.

Retirement

Eisenhower emerged as a popular political figure in the post-war years, and was widely considered to be a presidential contender. Along with Senator Robert A. Taft, Eisenhower emerged as one of the two major candidates in the 1952 Republican Party presidential primaries, 1952 Republican presidential primaries. After winning the 1952 New Hampshire presidential primary, New Hampshire primary, Eisenhower resigned from his NATO command and returned to the United States. He went on to win the 1952 presidential election, and served as the 34th President of the United States from 1953 to 1961. Upon becoming a candidate for president, on July 18, 1952, he resigned his commission in the Army. After leaving office, by an act of Congress, he was restored to the rank of General of the Army on March 30, 1961.

Reputation

Eisenhower's contemporaries in the British and American militaries regarded him as an excellent administrator; General Montgomery called him a "military statesman." Historian Russell Weigley ranked Eisenhower as the third-greatest U.S. Army leader after George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant. In developing this assessment, Weigley cited Eisenhower's World War II success at focusing on the strategic goal of a cross-Channel invasion to destroy the German Army, maturity of judgment with respect to operations and tactics, and military diplomacy that solidified the U.S.‑U.K. alliance and made possible America's wartime cooperation with the Soviet Union.

While many contemporaries and historians rate Eisenhower's military leadership highly, he received his share of criticism, often regarding his lack of combat experience or supposed failure to understand military strategy. Historian Adrian R. Lewis wrote that because Eisenhower lacked combat experience, he did not have the respect of his colleagues given to those who served in battle. Field Marshal Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, Lord Alanbrooke wrote in his diary on 28 December 1942 that Eisenhower as a general was "hopeless. He submerges himself in politics and neglects his military duties, partly...because he knows little if anything about military matters." General of the Army Omar Bradley wrote that Eisenhower "had little grasp of sound battlefield tactics." Admiral John L. Hall Jr., the commander of Amphibious Force 'O', which landed the 1st Division at Omaha Beach, wrote that Eisenhower "was one of the most overrated men in military history."

List of assignments

*Cadet, United States Military Academy, June 1911 - June 1915
*Furlough, June 1915 - September 1915
*19th Infantry Regiment (United States), 19th Infantry, Fort Sam Houston, September 1915 - February 1918, including command of Company F
*Tank Company Commander, Fort Meade, Camp Meade, Maryland, February 1918 - March 1918
*Commander, Camp Colt, Pennsylvania, 30 March 1918 - 19 November 1918
*Infantry School, Fort Benning, Camp Benning, Georgia, December 1918 - March 1919
*Executive Officer (later commander), 305th Tank Brigade, Camp Meade, Maryland, March 1919 - January 1922
*Staff officer, 20th Infantry Brigade, Panama Canal Zone, January 1922 - September 1924
*Staff officer, intramural football team assistant coach and coach, Third Corps area, Corps Area Headquarters, Baltimore, Maryland, September 1924 - August 1925
*Student, Command and General Staff College, August 1925 - June 1926
*Executive Officer, 24th Infantry Regiment, August 1926 - January 1927
*Staff officer, American Battle Monuments Commission, January 1927 - August 1927
*Student, Army War College, Washington, D.C., August 1927 - June 1928
*Staff officer, American Battle Monuments Commission, July 1928 - November 1929
*Aide to the Assistant Secretary of War, November 1929 - September 1932
*Student, Army Industrial College, September 1932 - June 1933
*Aide to the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff, United States Army, June 1933 - 1 October 1935
*Assistant to the U.S. Army Military Advisor to the Philippines, 1 October 1935 - December 1939
*Commander, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, Fort Lewis, January 1940 - April 1940
*Executive Officer, 15th Infantry Regiment, Fort Lewis, April 1940 - November 1940
*Chief of Staff, 3rd Infantry Division, November 1940 - March 1941
*Chief of Staff, IX Corps, March 1941 - June 1941
*Chief of Staff, United States Army Central, 3rd Army, June 1941 - December 1941
*Deputy Chief, War Plans Division, 14 December 1941 - 16 February 1942
*Chief, War Plans Division, 16 February 1942 - 8 June 1942
*Commander, European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA), 24 June 1942 - 4 February 1943
*Commander, Allied Force Headquarters, Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ), 16 August 1942 - 14 January 1944
*Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theater, 8 November 1942 - 24 December 1943
*Supreme Allied Commander, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF), 24 December 1943 - 14 July 1945
*Commander, European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA), 16 January 1944 - 1 July 1945
*Commander, United States Army Europe and Africa, United States Army Europe (USAREUR), 8 May 1945 - 10 November 1945
*Military Governor, Allied-occupied Germany, American Zone of Occupation, 8 May 1945 - 10 November 1945
*Commander, US Forces European Theater (USFET), 1 July 1945 - 10 November 1945
*Chief of Staff, United States Army, 19 November 1945 - 6 February 1948
*President, Columbia University, New York City, 7 June 1948 - 19 December 1950
*Commander, United States European Command, U.S. Army European Command (EUCOM), 22 February 1951 - 30 May 1952
*Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (NATO), 2 April 1951 - 30 May 1952

From December 1943 to November 1945, Eisenhower was "dual hatted" as commander of United States forces in Europe as well as commander of Allied armed forces.

Note - Sources vary as to titles and dates of assignment. The dates given above should be considered approximate.

Orders, decorations and medals

SOURCE:

Ribbons displayed as they would have been worn. Foreign decorations ordered by date awarded with national orders preceding military decorations and service medals. In cases when multiple decorations were conferred on the same date, the ribbons are ordered by relative precedence.

Dates of rank

Source - Official Register of Commissioned Officers of the United States Army, 1946. pg. 205.

Note - Eisenhower retired from the Army on May 31, 1952, and resigned his commission on July 18, 1952, to run for president. He left office as president on January 20, 1961, and was restored to active duty on March 30, 1961.Official Register of Commissioned Officers of the United States Army, 1964. pg. 155.

Notes

References

Works cited

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Military Career Of Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
United States Army generals, Eisenhower, Dwight D.
Military careers by individual, Eisenhower, Dwight D.
Early lives of the presidents of the United States