Conflict	Operation Overlord
Partof	Operation Overlord, Battle of Normandy
Caption	U.S. Army troops wade ashore on Omaha Beach during the landings, 6 June 1944
Date	June 6, 1944
Place	Normandy, France
Territory	Allied beachhead in Normandy, France
Result	Decisive Allied victory
Combatant1
Combatant2
Commander1	Dwight D. Eisenhower Bernard Montgomery Omar Bradley Trafford Leigh-Mallory Arthur Tedder Miles Dempsey Bertram Ramsay
Commander2	Gerd von Rundstedt Erwin Rommel Friedrich Dollmann Hans von Salmuth Wilhelm Falley
Strength1	175,000
Strength2	10,000
Casualties1	Total allied casualties (killed, wounded, missing, or captured) are estimated at approximately 10,000.These comprised:United States–6,603, of which 2,499 fatal.United Kingdom–2,700.Canada–1,074, of which 359 fatal.
Casualties2	Estimated between 4,000 and 9,000 casualties

The Normandy landings were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, also known as Operation Overlord and Operation Neptune, during World War II. The landings commenced on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 (D-Day), beginning at 6:30 AM British Double Summer Time (GMT+2). In planning, D-Day was the term used for the day of actual landing, which was dependent on final approval.

The assault was conducted in two phases: an airborne assault landing of 24,000 British, American, Canadian and Free French airborne troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France commencing at 6:30 AM. There were also decoy operations mounted under the codenames Operation Glimmer and Operation Taxable to distract the German forces from the real landing areas.'''

The operation was the largest amphibious invasion of all time, with over 160,000 troops landing on 6 June 1944. 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 In his pocket was a statement, never used, to be read in case the invasion failed.

Weather

Only a few days in each month were suitable for launching the operation: a day near the full moon was needed both for illumination during the hours of darkness and for the spring tide, the former to illuminate navigational landmarks for the crews of aircraft, gliders and landing craft, and the latter to provide the deepest possible water to help safe navigation over defensive obstacles placed by the Germans in the surf on the seaward approaches to the beaches. A full moon occurred on June 6. Allied Expeditionary Force Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had tentatively selected 5 June as the date for the assault. The weather was fine during most of May, but this deteriorated in early June. On 4 June, conditions were clearly unsuitable for a landing; wind and high seas would make it impossible to launch landing craft from larger ships at sea, and low clouds would prevent aircraft finding their targets. The Allied troop convoys already at sea were forced to take shelter in bays and inlets on the south coast of Britain for the night.

It seemed possible that everything would have to be cancelled and the troops returned to their embarkation camps (which would be almost impossible, as the enormous movement of follow-up formations into them was already proceeding). The next full moon period would be nearly a month away. At a vital meeting on 5 June, Eisenhower's chief meteorologist (Group Captain J.M. Stagg) forecast a brief improvement for 6 June. General Bernard Montgomery and Eisenhower's Chief of Staff General Walter Bedell Smith wished to proceed with the invasion. Air Chief Marshal Leigh Mallory was doubtful, but Admiral Bertram Ramsay believed that conditions would be marginally favourable. On the strength of Stagg's forecast, Eisenhower ordered the invasion to proceed. In the event, prevailing overcast skies limited Allied air support, and no serious damage was done to the beach defences on Omaha and Juno.

The Germans meanwhile took comfort from the existing poor conditions, which were worse over Northern France than over the Channel itself, and believed no invasion would be possible for several days. Some troops stood down, and many senior officers were away for the weekend. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, for example, took a few days' leave to celebrate his wife's birthday. While dozens of division, regimental, and battalion commanders were away from their posts at war games, the Allied forces were attacking.

Allied order of battle

The order of battle for the landings was approximately as follows, east to west:

British Second Army

6th Airborne Division Commanded by Major-General R.N. Gale was delivered by parachute and glider to the east of the River Orne to protect the left flank. The division contained 7,900 men, including one Canadian battalion.

;Sword Beach

1st Special Service Brigade comprising No. 3, No. 4, No. 6 and No. 45 (RM) Commandos landed at Ouistreham in Queen Red sector (leftmost). No.4 Commando were augmented by 1 and 8 Troop (both French) of No. 10 (Inter Allied) Commando.

I Corps, 3rd Infantry Division and the 27th Armoured Brigade from Ouistreham to Lion-sur-Mer.

No. 41 (RM) Commando (part of 4th Special Service Brigade) landed on the far West of Sword Beach.

;Juno Beach 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade and No.48 (RM) Commando from Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer to Courseulles-sur-Mer. from Courseulles to Arromanches.

No. 47 (RM) Commando (part of 4th Special Service Brigade) on the West flank of Gold beach.

79th Armoured Division operated specialist armour ("Hobart's Funnies") for mine-clearing, recovery and assault tasks. These were distributed around the Anglo-Canadian beaches.

Overall, the 2nd Army contingent consisted of 83,115 troops (61,715 of them British). In addition to the British and Canadian combat units, eight Australian officers were attached to the British forces as observers. The nominally British air and naval support units included a large number of crew from Allied nations, including several RAF squadrons manned almost exclusively by foreign air-crew.

U.S. First Army

;Omaha Beach V Corps, 1st Infantry Division and 29th Infantry Division making up 34,250 troops from Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to Vierville-sur-Mer. 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions at Pointe du Hoc (The 5th BN and A, B, C Co 2nd BN diverted to Omaha).

In total, the First Army contingent totalled approximately 73,000 men, including 15,600 from the airborne divisions. However, these statistics are somewhat misleading since a significant number of the divisions in the east were depleted due to intensity of fighting; German records indicate that the average personnel complement was at about 50% in the spring of 1944.

German defenses

The German defenses used an interlocking firing style, so they could protect areas that were receiving heavy fire. They had large bunkers, sometimes intricate concrete ones containing machine guns and high caliber weapons. Their defense also integrated the cliffs and hills overlooking the beaches. The defenses were all built and refined over a four year period.

Atlantic Wall

, shown in green. ]] The Germans' first line of defence was the English Channel, a crossing which had confounded the Spanish Armada and Napoleon Bonaparte's Navy. Compounding the invasion efforts was the extensive Atlantic Wall, ordered by Hitler in his Directive 51. Believing that any forthcoming landings would be timed for high tide, Rommel had the entire wall fortified with tank top turrets and extensive barbed wire, and laid hundreds of thousands of mines to deter landing craft. The Allies chose to attack close to the sector boundary between the 7th and 15th German armies, on the extreme eastern flank of the former, to maximize the possible confusion of command responsibility during German reaction. The landings sector which was attacked was occupied by four German divisions.

Divisional areas

716th Infantry Division (Static) defended the Eastern end of the landing zones, including most of the British and Canadian beaches. This division, as well as the 709th, included Germans who were not considered fit for active duty on the Eastern Front, usually for medical reasons, and soldiers of various other nationalities (from conquered countries, often drafted by force) and former Soviet prisoners-of-war who had agreed to fight for the Germans rather than endure the harsh conditions of German POW camps (among them so called hiwis). These "volunteers" were concentrated in "Ost-Bataillone" (East Battalions) that were of dubious loyalty.

352nd Infantry Division was a well-trained and equipped formation defending the area between approximately Bayeux and Carentan, including Omaha beach. The division had been formed in November 1943 with the help of cadres from the disbanded 321st Division, which had been destroyed in the Soviet Union that same year. The 352nd had a number of troops who had seen action on the eastern front.

91st Air Landing Division (Luftlande–air transported) (Generalmajor Wilhelm Falley), comprising the 1057th Infantry Regiment and 1058th Infantry Regiment. This was a regular infantry division, trained, and equipped to be transported by air (i.e. transportable artillery, few heavy support weapons) located in the interior of the Cotentin Peninsula, including the drop zones of the American parachute landings. The attached 6th Parachute Regiment (Oberstleutnant Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte) had been rebuilt as a part of the 2nd Parachute Division stationed in Brittany.

709th Infantry Division (Static) (Generalleutnant Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben), comprising the 729th Infantry Regiment, 739th Infantry Regiment (both with four battalions, but the 729th 4th and the 739th 1st and 4th being Ost, these two regiments had no regimental support companies either), and 919th Infantry Regiment. This coastal defense division protected the eastern, and northern (including Cherbourg) coast of the Cotentin Peninsula, including the Utah beach landing zone. Like the 716th, this division comprised a number of "Ost" units who were provided with German leadership to manage them.

Adjacent divisional areas

Other divisions occupied the areas around the landing zones, including:

243rd Infantry Division (Static) (Generalleutnant Heinz Hellmich), comprising the 920th Infantry Regiment (two battalions), 921st Infantry Regiment, and 922nd Infantry Regiment. This coastal defense division protected the western coast of the Cotentin Peninsula.

711th Infantry Division (Static), comprising the 731th Infantry Regiment, and 744th Infantry Regiment. This division defended the western part of the Pays de Caux.

30th Mobile Brigade (Oberstleutnant Freiherr von und zu Aufsess), comprising three bicycle battalions.

Armoured reserves

Rommel's defensive measures were also frustrated by a dispute over armoured doctrine. In addition to his two army groups, von Rundstedt also commanded the headquarters of Panzer Group West under General Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg (usually referred to as von Geyr). This formation was nominally an administrative HQ for von Rundstedt's armoured and mobile formations, but it was later to be renamed Fifth Panzer Army and brought into the line in Normandy. Von Geyr and Rommel disagreed over the deployment and use of the vital Panzer divisions.

Rommel recognised that the Allies would possess air superiority and would be able to harass his movements from the air. He therefore proposed that the armoured formations be deployed close to the invasion beaches. In his words, it was better to have one Panzer division facing the invaders on the first day, than three Panzer divisions three days later when the Allies would already have established a firm beachhead. Von Geyr argued for the standard doctrine that the Panzer formations should be concentrated in a central position around Paris and Rouen, and deployed en masse against the main Allied beachhead when this had been identified.

The argument was eventually brought before Hitler for arbitration. He characteristically imposed an unworkable compromise solution. Only three Panzer divisions were given to Rommel, too few to cover all the threatened sectors. The remainder, nominally under Von Geyr's control, were actually designated as being in "OKW Reserve". Only three of these were deployed close enough to intervene immediately against any invasion of Northern France, the other four were dispersed in southern France and the Netherlands. Hitler reserved to himself the authority to move the divisions in OKW Reserve, or commit them to action. On 6 June, many Panzer division commanders were unable to move because Hitler had not given the necessary authorization, and his staff refused to wake him upon news of the invasion.

The 21st Panzer Division (Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger) was deployed near Caen as a mobile striking force as part of the Army Group B reserve. However, Rommel placed it so close to the coastal defenses that, under standing orders in case of invasion, several of its infantry and anti-aircraft units would come under the orders of the fortress divisions on the coast, reducing the effective strength of the division.

The other mechanized divisions capable of intervening in Normandy were retained under the direct control of the German Armed Forces HQ (OKW) and were initially denied to Rommel.

Coordination with the French Resistance

The various factions and circuits of the French Resistance were included in the plan for Overlord. Through a London-based headquarters which supposedly embraced all resistance groups, État-major des Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur (EMFFI), the British Special Operations Executive orchestrated a massive campaign of sabotage tasking the various Groups with attacking railway lines, ambushing roads, or destroying telephone exchanges or electrical substations. The resistance was alerted to carry out these tasks by means of the messages personnels, transmitted by the BBC in its French service from London. Several hundred of these were regularly transmitted, masking the few of them that were really significant.

Among the stream of apparently meaningless messages broadcast by the BBC at 21:00 CET on 5 June, were coded instructions such as Les carottes sont cuites ("The carrots are cooked") and Les dés sont jetés ("The dice have been thrown").

One famous pair of these messages is often mistakenly stated to be a general call to arms by the Resistance. A few days before D-Day, the (slightly misquoted) first line of Verlaine's poem, Chanson d'Automne, was transmitted. "Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne" (Long sobs of autumn violins) alerted the resistance fighters of the Ventriloquist network in the Orléans region to attack rail targets within the next few days. The second line, "Bercent mon coeur d'une langueur monotone" ("soothe my heart with a monotonous languor"), transmitted late on 5 June, meant that the attack was to be mounted immediately.

Josef Götz, the head of the signals section of the German intelligence service (the SD) in Paris, had discovered the meaning of the second line of Verlaine's poem, and no fewer than fourteen other executive orders they heard late on 5 June. His section rightly interpreted them to mean that an invasion was imminent or underway, and they alerted their superiors and all Army commanders in France. However, they had issued a similar warning a month before, when the Allies had begun invasion preparations and alerted the Resistance, but then stood down because of a forecast of bad weather. The SD having given this false alarm, their genuine alarm was ignored or treated as merely routine. Fifteenth Army HQ passed the information on to its units; Seventh Army ignored it. as a precaution.

The second perceived major threat was that of U-boats transferred from the Atlantic. Air surveillance from three escort carriers and RAF Coastal Command maintained a cordon well west of Land's End. Few U-boats were spotted, and most of the escort groups were moved nearer to the landings.

Further efforts were made to seal the Western Approaches against German naval forces from Brittany and the Bay of Biscay. Minefields were laid (Operation Maple) to force enemy ships away from air protection where they could be attacked by Allied destroyer flotillas. Again, enemy activity was minor, but on 4 July four German destroyers were either sunk or forced back to Brest.

The Straits of Dover were closed by minefields, naval and air patrols, radar, and effective bombing raids on enemy ports. Local German naval forces were small but could be reinforced from the Baltic. Their efforts, however, were concentrated on protecting the Pas de Calais against expected landings there, and no attempt was made to force the blockade.

The screening operation destroyed few German ships, but the objective was achieved. There were no U-boat attacks against Allied shipping and few attempts by surface ships.

Bombardment

showing the wide variety of vessels deployed.]] Warships provided supporting fire for the land forces. During Neptune, it was given a high importance, using ships from battleships to destroyers and landing craft. For example, the Canadians at Juno beach had fire support many times greater than they had had for the Dieppe Raid in 1942. The old battleships HMS Ramillies and Warspite and the monitor HMS Roberts were used to suppress shore batteries east of the Orne; cruisers targeted shore batteries at Ver-sur-Mer and Moulineaux; eleven destroyers for local fire support. In addition, there were modified landing-craft: eight "Landing Craft Gun", each with two 4.7-inch guns; four "Landing Craft Support" with automatic cannon; eight Landing Craft Tank (Rocket), each with a single salvo of 1,100 5-inch rockets; eight Landing Craft Assault (Hedgerow), each with twenty-four bombs intended to detonate beach mines prematurely. Twenty-four Landing Craft Tank carried Priest self-propelled howitzers which also fired while they were on the run-in to the beach. Similar arrangements existed at other beaches.

Fire support went beyond the suppression of shore defenses overlooking landing beaches and was also used to break up enemy concentrations as the troops moved inland. This was particularly noted in German reports: Field-Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt reported that:

Naval Losses

The only naval contact during D-Day occurred when four German torpedo boats reached the Eastern Task Force late in the afternoon and launched eighteen torpedos, sinking the Norwegian destroyer Svenner off Sword beach, fortunately missing the battleships HMS Warspite and HMS Ramillies. After firing, the German vessels turned away and fled east into a smoke screen. Thanks to ULTRA, the Allies knew where the German channels through their own minefields were and the only Allied losses to mines were the USS Corry off of Utah; USS PC-1261, a 173-foot patrol craft; three LCTs; and two LCIs.

The landings

situation map for 2400 hours, 6 June 1944.]]

Airborne operations

The success of the amphibious landings depended on the establishment of a secure lodgment from which to expand the beachhead to allow the build up of a well-supplied force capable of breaking out. The amphibious forces were especially vulnerable to strong enemy counterattacks before the build up of sufficient forces in the beachhead could be accomplished. To slow or eliminate the enemy's ability to organize and launch counterattacks during this critical period, airborne operations were used to seize key objectives, such as bridges, road crossings, and terrain features, particularly on the eastern and western flanks of the landing areas. The airborne landings some distance behind the beaches were also intended to ease the egress of the amphibious forces off the beaches, and in some cases to neutralize German coastal defence batteries and more quickly expand the area of the beachhead. The U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were assigned to objectives west of Utah Beach. The British 6th Airborne Division was assigned to similar objectives on the eastern flank. 530 Free French paratroopers from the British Special Air Service Brigade, were assigned to objectives in Brittany from 5 June to August. (Operation Dingson, Operation Samwest).

British airborne landings

East of the landing area, the open, flat, floodplain between the Orne and Dives Rivers was ideal for counterattacks by German armour. However, the landing area and floodplain were separated by the Orne River, which flowed northeast from Caen into the bay of the Seine. The only crossing of the Orne River north of Caen was 7 kilometres (4.5 mi) from the coast, near Bénouville and Ranville. For the Germans, the crossing provided the only route for a flanking attack on the beaches from the east. For the Allies, the crossing also was vital for any attack on Caen from the east.

The tactical objectives of the British 6th Airborne Division were (a) to capture intact the bridges of the Bénouville-Ranville crossing, (b) to defend the crossing against the inevitable armoured counter-attacks, (c) to destroy German artillery at the Merville battery, which threatened Sword Beach, and (d) to destroy five bridges over the Dives River to further restrict movement of ground forces from the east.

Airborne troops, mostly paratroopers of the 3rd and 5th Parachute Brigades, including the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, began landing after midnight, 6 June and immediately encountered elements of the German 716th Infantry Division. At dawn, the Battle Group von Luck of the 21st Panzer Division counterattacked from the south on both sides of the Orne River. By this time the paratroopers had established a defensive perimeter surrounding the bridgehead. Casualties were heavy on both sides, but the airborne troops held. Shortly after noon, they were reinforced by commandos of the 1st Special Service Brigade. By the end of D-Day, 6th Airborne had accomplished each of its objectives. For several days, both British and German forces took heavy casualties as they struggled for positions around the Orne bridgehead. For example, the German 346th Infantry Division broke through the eastern edge of the defensive line on 10 June. Finally, British paratroopers overwhelmed entrenched panzergrenadiers in the Battle of Bréville on 12 June. The Germans did not seriously threaten the bridgehead again. 6th Airborne remained on the line until it was evacuated in early September

American airborne landings

examine a knocked out German StuG III with a dead German crewman slumped over gun barrel.]]

The U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, numbering 13,000 paratroopers delivered by 12 troop carrier groups of the IX Troop Carrier Command, were less fortunate in completing their main objectives. To achieve surprise, the drops were routed to approach Normandy from the west. Numerous factors affected their performance, the primary of which was the decision to make a massive parachute drop at night (a tactic not used again for the rest of the war). As a result, 45% of units were widely scattered and unable to rally. Efforts of the early wave of pathfinder teams to mark the landing zones were largely ineffective, and the Rebecca/Eureka transponding radar beacons used to guide in the waves of C-47 Skytrains to the drop zones were the main component of a flawed system.

Three regiments of 101st Airborne paratroopers were dropped first, between 00:48 and 01:40, followed by the 82nd Airborne's drops between 01:51 and 02:42. Each operation involved approximately 400 C-47 aircraft. Two pre-dawn glider landings brought in anti-tank guns and support troops for each division. On the evening of D-Day two additional glider landings brought in two battalions of artillery and 24 howitzers to the 82nd Airborne. Additional glider operations on 7 June delivered the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment to the 82nd Airborne, and two large supply parachute drops that date were ineffective.

After 24 hours, only 2,500 troops of the 101st and 2,000 of the 82nd were under the control of their divisions, approximating a third of the force dropped. The dispersal of the American airborne troops, however, had the effect of confusing the Germans and fragmenting their response. In addition, the Germans' defensive flooding, in the early stages, also helped to protect the Americans' southern flank.

Paratroopers continued to roam and fight behind enemy lines for days. Many consolidated into small groups, rallied with NCOs or junior officers, and usually were a hodgepodge of men from different companies, battalions, regiments, or even divisions. The 82nd occupied the town of Sainte-Mère-Église early in the morning of 6 June, giving it the claim of the first town liberated in the invasion.

Sword Beach

.]]

The assault on Sword Beach began at about 03:00 with an aerial bombardment of the German coastal defences and artillery sites. The naval bombardment began a few hours later. At 07:30, the first units reached the beach. These were the DD tanks of 13th/18th Hussars followed closely by the infantry of 8th Brigade.

On Sword Beach, the regular British infantry came ashore with light casualties. They had advanced about 8 kilometres (5 mi) by the end of the day but failed to make some of the deliberately ambitious targets set by Montgomery. In particular, Caen, a major objective, was still in German hands by the end of D-Day, and would remain so until mid July (central urban area cleared 8–9 July, suburbs fully cleared by 20 July in Operation Atlantic) Battle for Caen.

1st Special Service Brigade, under the command of Brigadier The Lord Lovat DSO, MC, went ashore in the second wave led by No.4 Commando with the two French Troops first, as agreed amongst themselves. The 1st Special Service Brigade's landing is famous for having been led by Piper Bill Millin. The British and French of No.4 Commando had separate targets in Ouistreham: the French, a blockhouse and the Casino, the British, two German batteries which overlooked the beach. The blockhouse proved too strong for the Commandos' PIAT (Projector Infantry Anti Tank) weapons, but the Casino was taken with the aid of a Centaur tank. The British Commandos achieved both battery objectives only to find the gun mounts empty and the guns removed. Leaving the mopping-up procedure to the infantry, the Commandos withdrew from Ouistreham to join the other units of their brigade (Nos.3, 6 and 45), moving inland to join-up with the 6th Airborne Division.

Juno Beach

The Canadian forces that landed on Juno Beach faced 2 heavy batteries of 155 mm guns and 9 medium batteries of 75 mm guns, as well as machine-gun nests, pillboxes, other concrete fortifications, and a seawall twice the height of the one at Omaha Beach. The first wave suffered 50% casualties, the second highest of the five D-Day beachheads. The use of armour was successful at Juno, in some instances actually landing ahead of the infantry as intended and helping clear a path inland.

of the Normandy beachhead. 6 June 1944.]] Despite the obstacles, the Canadians were off the beach within hours and beginning their advance inland. A single troop of four tanks managed to reach the final objective phase line, but hastily retreated, having outrun its infantry support. In particular, two fortified positions at the Douvres Radar Station remained in German hands (and would for several days until captured by British commandos), and no link had been established with Sword Beach.

By the end of D-Day, 30,000 Canadians had been successfully landed, and the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division had penetrated further into France than any other Allied force, despite having faced strong resistance at the water's edge and later counterattacks on the beachhead by elements of the German 21st and 12th SS Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) Panzer divisions on 7 June and 8 June.

Gold Beach

At Gold Beach, the casualties were also quite heavy, partly because the swimming Sherman DD tanks were delayed, and the Germans had strongly fortified a village on the beach. However, the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division overcame these difficulties and advanced almost to the outskirts of Bayeux by the end of the day. With the exception of the Canadians at Juno Beach, no division came closer to its objectives than the 50th.

No.47 (RM) Commando was the last British Commando unit to land and came ashore on Gold east of La Hamel. Their task was to proceed inland then turn right (west) and make a 16-kilometre (10 mi) march through enemy territory to attack the coastal harbour of Port en Bessin from the rear. This small port, on the British extreme right, was well sheltered in the chalk cliffs and significant in that it was to be a prime early harbour for supplies to be brought in including fuel by underwater pipe from tankers moored offshore.

Omaha Beach

Elements of the 1st Infantry Division and 29th Infantry Division (US) faced the recently formed German 352nd Infantry Division, a mixed group of Russian "volunteers" and teenagers stiffened with a cadre of east front veterans, unusual in the fact that it was one of the few German divisions remaining with a full complement of three regiments albeit at reduced strength; fifty percent of its officers had no combat experience. However, Allied intelligence was unaware until two weeks before the planned invasion that the 100 km stretch of beach originally allocated to be defended by the 716th Infantry Division (static) had been cut into two parts in March, with the 716th moving to the "Caen Zone", and the 352nd taking over the "Bayeux Zone", thus doubling the complement of defenders. Omaha was also the most heavily fortified beach, with high bluffs defended by funneled mortars, machine guns, and artillery, and the pre-landing aerial and naval bombardment of the bunkers proved to be ineffective. Difficulties in navigation caused the majority of landings to drift eastwards, missing their assigned sectors and the initial assault waves of tanks, infantry and engineers took heavy casualties. Of the 16 tanks that landed upon the shores of Omaha Beach only 2 survived the landing. The official record stated that "within 10 minutes of the ramps being lowered, [the leading] company had become inert, leaderless and almost incapable of action. Every officer and sergeant had been killed or wounded [...] It had become a struggle for survival and rescue".

Only a few gaps were blown in the beach obstacles, resulting in problems for subsequent landings. The heavily defended draws, the only vehicular routes off the beach, could not be taken and two hours after the first assault the beach was closed for all but infantry landings. Commanders (including General Omar Bradley) considered abandoning the beachhead, but small units of infantry, often forming ad hoc groups, supported by naval artillery and the surviving tanks, eventually infiltrated the coastal defenses by scaling the bluffs between strongpoints. Further infantry landings were able to exploit the initial penetrations and by the end of the day two isolated footholds had been established. American casualties at Omaha on D-Day numbered around 5,000 out of 50,000 men, most in the first few hours, while the Germans suffered 1,200 killed, wounded or missing. The tenuous beachhead was expanded over the following days, and the original D-Day objectives were accomplished by D+3.

Pointe du Hoc

The massive concrete cliff-top gun emplacement at Pointe du Hoc was the target of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, commanded by James Earl Rudder. The task was to scale the 30 meter (100 ft) cliffs under the cover of night, approximately at 5:30, one hour prior to the landings with ropes and ladders, and then attack and destroy the German coastal defense guns, which were thought to command the Omaha and Utah landing areas. The infantry commanders did not know that the guns had been moved prior to the attack, and they had to press farther inland to find them and eventually destroyed them. However, fortifications themselves were still vital targets since a single artillery forward observer based there could have called down accurate fire on the U.S. beaches. The Rangers were eventually successful, and captured the fortifications. They then had to fight for two days to hold the location, losing more than 60% of their men. Afterwards they regrouped and continued Northeast to the rally point one mile from the gun emplacements on Pointe Du Hoc.

Utah Beach

Casualties on Utah Beach, the westernmost landing zone, were the lightest of any beach, with 197 out of the roughly 23,000 troops that landed. The 4th Infantry Division troops landing at Utah Beach found themselves in the wrong positions because of a current that pushed their landing craft to the southeast. Instead of landing at Tare Green and Uncle Red sectors, they came ashore at Victor sector, which was lightly defended, and as a result, relatively little German opposition was encountered. The 4th Infantry Division was able to press inland relatively easily over beach exits that had been seized from the inland side by the 502nd and 506th Parachute Infantry Regiments of the 101st Airborne Division. This was partially by accident, because their planned landing was further down the beach (Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr, the Asst. Commander of 4th Division, upon discovering the landings were off course, was famous for stating "We will start the war from right here.") . By early afternoon, the 4th Infantry Division had succeeded in linking up with elements of the 101st. American casualties were light, and the troops were able to press inward much faster than expected, making it a near-complete success.

War memorials and tourism

.]]

The beaches at Normandy are still referred to on maps and signposts by their invasion codenames. There are several vast cemeteries in the area. The American cemetery, in Colleville-sur-Mer, contains row upon row of identical white crosses and Stars of David, immaculately kept, commemorating the American dead. Commonwealth graves, in many locations, use white headstones engraved with the person's religious symbol and their unit insignia. The largest cemetery in Normandy is the La Cambe German war cemetery, which features granite stones almost flush with the ground and groups of low-set crosses. There is also a Polish cemetery.

, Bedford, Virginia]]

Streets near the beaches are still named after the units that fought there, and occasional markers commemorate notable incidents. At significant points, such as Pointe du Hoc and Pegasus Bridge, there are plaques, memorials or small museums. The Mulberry harbour still sits in the sea at Arromanches. In Sainte-Mère-Église, a dummy paratrooper hangs from the church spire. On Juno Beach, the Canadian government has built the Juno Beach Information Centre, commemorating one of the most significant events in Canadian military history. In Caen is a large Museum for Peace, which is dedicated to peace generally, rather than only to the battle.

See also

List of Allied warships in the Normandy landings

The Longest Day (film), the 1962 Oscar-winning film dramatization of the event

Saving Private Ryan, a 1998 Oscar-winning film dramatization featuring Omaha Beach starring Tom Hanks

References

Bibliography

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Badsey, Stephen. Normandy 1944: Allied Landings and Breakout. Osprey Campaign Series #1. Botley, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1990. ISBN 978-0850459210.

D'Este, Carlo. Decision in Normandy: The Unwritten Story of Montgomery and the Allied Campaign. London: William Collins Sons, 1983. ISBN 0002170566.

Foot, M. R. D. SOE: An Outline History of the Special Operations Executive 1940–46.. BBC Publications, 1984. ISBN 0563201932.

Ford, Ken. D-Day 1944 (3): Sword Beach & the British Airborne Landings. Osprey Campaign Series #105. Botley, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2002. ISBN 978-1841763668.

Ford, Ken. D-Day 1944 (4): Gold & Juno Beaches. Osprey Campaign Series #112. Botley, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2002. ISBN 978-1841763682.

Hamilton, Nigel. "Montgomery, Bernard Law" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 019861411X, ISBN 0198613512.

Herington, John. Air Power Over Europe, 1944–1945, 1st edition (Official History of Australia in the Second World War Volume IV). Canberra: Australian War Memorial 1963.

Holderfield, Randal J., and Michael J. Varhola. D-Day: The Invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944. Mason City, Iowa: Savas Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1882810457, ISBN 1882810465.

Keegan, John. The Second World War. London: Hutchinson, 1989. ISBN 0091740118.

Keegan, John. Six Armies in Normandy: From D-Day to the Liberation of Paris. New York: Penguin Books, 1994. ISBN 0140235426.

Kershaw, Alex. The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2003. ISBN 0306813556.

"Morning: Normandy Invasion (June–August 1944)". The World at War episode 17. B Btish Broadcasting Corporation. 1974.

Neillands, Robin. The Battle of Normandy, 1944. London: Cassell, 2002. ISBN 0304358371.

Rozhnov, Konstantin. Who won World War II?. BBC News, 5 May 2005.

Ryan, Cornelius. The Longest Day, 2nd ed. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1959. ISBN 0-671-20814-4.

Stacey, C.P. Canada's Battle in Normandy: The Canadian Army's Share in the Operations, 6 June–1 September 1944. Ottawa: King's Printer, 1946.

Tute, Warren, John Costello, Terry Hughes. D-Day. London: Pan Books Ltd, 1975. ISBN 0330244183.

Warner, Phillip. The D-Day Landings. Pen and Sword Books Ltd, 2004. ISBN 1844151093.

Whitlock, Flint. The Fighting First: The Untold Story of The Big Red One on D-Day. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 2004. ISBN 081334218X.

Wilmot, Chester. (Written in part by Christopher Daniel McDevitt.) The Struggle For Europe. Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1997. ISBN 1853266779.

Zaloga, Steven J. D-Day 1944 (1): Omaha Beach. Osprey Campaign Series #100. Botley, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2003. ISBN 978-1841763675.

Zaloga, Steven J. D-Day 1944 (2): Utah Beach & the US Airborne Landings. Osprey Campaign Series #104. Botley, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2004. ISBN 978-1841763651.

Zetterling, Niklas. Normandy 1944: German Military Organisation, Combat Power and Organizational Effectiveness. Winnipeg: J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing Inc., 2000. ISBN 0921991568.

External links

DDay-Overlord History, pictures, maps... Everything about D-Day and the Normandy campaign

U.S. Center of Military History The Normandy Invasion

D-Day The whole battle of Normandy : history, pictures, testimonies.

D-Day Original reports and pictures from The Times

Omaha Beach Memorial

29th Infantry Division Historical Society

American D-Day: Omaha Beach, Utah Beach & Pointe du Hoc

Neptune Operations Plan

Debriefing Conference Operation Neptune

US report on Neptune

D-Day : Etat des Lieux - 6 June 1944 and Battle of Normandy

Naval details for Overlord

HMS Tanatside

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Australians and D-Day

Documents on D-Day, the Invasion of Normandy at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library

D-Day with historical video footage from British, Canadian, American and German national archives

D-Day Pictures courtesy of WW2-Pictures.com

How successful was D-Day? exclusive video and insight of the D-Day landings on WW2History.com

Category:Operation Overlord Category:World War II operations and battles of Europe Category:Battle for Caen Category:Battles of World War II involving Canada Category:Battles of World War II involving France Category:Battles of World War II involving Germany Category:Battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom Category:Battles of World War II involving the United States

Name	Richard Hammond
Caption	Richard Hammond in 2006.
Birth name	Richard Mark Hammond
Birth date	December 19, 1969
Birth place	Solihull, Warwickshire, England
Nationality	British
Other names	Hamster
Known for	Presenting: Top Gear
Height
Education	Solihull SchoolRipon Grammar School
Alma mater	Harrogate College of Art and Technology
Employer	BBC, The Daily Mirror, (previously ITV and Sky)
Occupation	Author, writer, voiceover artist, journalist, talk and game show host, radio DJ/television presenter, media personality
Years active	1998, 2002–present
Home town	Solihull, West Midlands, England
Spouse

Richard Mark Hammond, nicknamed "Hamster", (born 19 December 1969) is an English broadcaster, writer and journalist most noted for co-hosting car programme Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as presenting on Sky 1 and Sky 3, Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections on BBC Two, Should I Worry About...? on BBC One, Total Wipeout with Amanda Byram, also on BBC One and Richard Hammond's Blast Lab on CBBC. He has also presented several one-off specials such as ITV's and the annual Crufts awards also he has presented his own show called Richard Hammond's five o'clock show.

Life and career

Hammond was born in Solihull (then Warwickshire, now West Midlands) and is the grandson of workers in the Birmingham automobile industry. In the mid-1980s Hammond moved with his family (mother Eileen, father Alan, and younger brothers Andrew and Nicholas) to the North Yorkshire cathedral city of Ripon where his father ran a probate business in the market square. Originally a pupil of Solihull School, a fee-paying boys' independent school in the West Midlands town, he moved to Ripon Grammar School, and from 1987 to 1989 attended Harrogate College of Art and Technology. After his graduation he worked for several radio stations, including Radio Cleveland, Radio York, Radio Cumbria, Radio Leeds, Radio Newcastle and Radio Lancashire, before auditioning for Top Gear.

Top Gear

Hammond became a presenter on Top Gear in 2002, when the show began its present format. He is sometimes referred to as "Hamster" by fans and his co-presenters (Jeremy Clarkson and James May) on Top Gear due to his comparatively small stature. His nickname was further reinforced when on three separate occasions in Series 7, Hammond ate cardboard, mimicking hamster-like behaviour. Another running gag by co-host Jeremy Clarkson is Hammond's supposed use of teeth whitener, and it was staged to appear that he was caught looking at a website on teeth whiteners on Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show. Clarkson had found a pack of teeth whiteners in the Marcos TSO GT2 Hammond had tested. Hammond had objected, saying it was a set-up. During an episode in June 2009 which featured the presenters in their office searching for car insurance prices while pretending to be 17 year olds, a teeth whitening kit was pictured on his desk. When the Peel P50 was being tested in the Top Gear office, Jeremy Clarkson was supposedly talking to Hammond on the phone about him whitening his teeth for £4000.

In the first episode of series 9 on 28 January 2007, after his high speed crash, Hammond returned to a hero's welcome, complete with dancing girls, aeroplane style stairs and fireworks. The show also contained images of his high speed crash, for which he made international headlines, with Hammond talking through the events of the day, after which the audience broke into spontaneous applause. Hammond then requested that the crash never be mentioned on Top Gear again, though all three Top Gear presenters have since referred to it in jokes during the news segment of the programmes. He told his colleagues, "The only difference between me now, and before the crash, is that I like celery now and I didn't before".

Brainiac: Science Abuse

In 2003, Hammond became the first presenter of ; he was joined by Jon Tickle with Charlotte Hudson joining in series 2. After the fourth series it was announced that Richard Hammond was no longer going to present the show after he signed an exclusive deal with the BBC. Vic Reeves took his place as main presenter.

Other radio and television work

Early in his career, Hammond worked at many radio stations, including Radio Cleveland, Radio York, Radio Cumbria, Radio Leeds, and Radio Lancashire, before going on to present a number of daytime lifestyle shows and motoring programmes such as Motor Week on Men & Motors.

He presented the Crufts dog show in 2005, the 2004 and 2005 British Parking Awards, and has appeared on School's Out, a quiz show on BBC One where celebrities answer questions about things they learned at school. He has also presented . Along with his work on Top Gear, he presented Should I Worry About...? on BBC One, Time Commanders on BBC Two and the first four series of on Sky One. He was also a team captain on the BBC Two quiz show, Petrolheads, in which a memorable part was one where Hammond was tricked into smashing his classic Ferrari while trying to parallel park blindfolded in another car.

From 3 January 2006 until 10 February 2006, Hammond was the eponymous star of Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show with his co-star Mel Giedroyc of Light Lunch fame. The programme, which discussed a wide range of topics, was shown every weekday on ITV between 17:00 and 18:00.

In one episode of Top Gear, fellow presenter James May was mocked by both Hammond and Clarkson for being named the celebrity with the worst hairstyle, while Hammond was named the celebrity with the best.

As part of Red Nose Day 2007, Hammond stood for nomination via a public telephone vote, along with Andy Hamilton and Kelvin MacKenzie, to be a one-off co-presenter of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour on 16 March 2007. However, he was defeated by Andy Hamilton.

In April 2007, Hammond presented a one off special on BBC Radio 2 for Good Friday followed by another in August 2007 for the Bank Holiday. He is scheduled to present more Bank Holiday specials for the station.

Hammond recorded an interview with the famed American stuntman Evel Knievel, which aired on 23 December 2007 on BBC One - which was Knievel's last interview before his death on 30 November 2007.

In September 2008, Hammond presented the first episode of a new series; Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections on the National Geographic Channel. In this show, Hammond discovers how the inventions of the past, along with assistance from nature, help designers today. Episodes include the building of the Airbus A380, Taipei 101 and the Keck Observatory. and joined forces with the cast of TV show Ashes To Ashes for a special insert on the 2008 Children in Need special.

While in New Zealand for Top Gear Live 2009, Hammond filmed several television commercials for Telecom New Zealand's new XT UTMS mobile network. Telecom claimed that the new network was "faster in more places", compared to its competitors and its existing CDMA network. After the network repeatedly failed in late 2009 and early 2010, Hammond became the butt of a joke when he didn't return to New Zealand for Top Gear Live 2010. His fellow Top Gear co-hosts said he was too embarrassed to come back to New Zealand, and in a supposed live feed back to Hammond, the feed suddenly drops out as the "XT Network had crashed". Hammond was later given the right of reply to his colleagues during an interview with Marcus Lush on RadioLIVE's breakfast show in New Zealand.

Hammond is currently hosting the UK version of the US series Wipeout, called Total Wipeout. It takes place in Argentina, and is co-presented by Richard Hammond and Amanda Byram. Hammond presents and does the voiceover for the clips in a London studio, as opposed to Amanda, who is filmed at the obstacle course in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Hammond also presented a science-themed game show for children, Richard Hammond's Blast Lab which aired on BBC Two and CBBC.

In March 2010, Hammond presented a 3 episode series called Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds, which looked at things too fast for the naked eye to see, things that are beyond the visible spectrum (e.g. ultraviolet and infra-red light), as well as microscopic things.

Personal life

Hammond has been married to Amanda Etheridge (mostly known as Mindy) since May 2002; the couple have two daughters, Isabella (also known as Izzy, born September 2000) and Willow (born July 2003). Hammond further claims that there is no reason to drive a Range Rover in town.

Hammond is a fan of Porsche 911s (unlike Clarkson) and considers the Pagani Zonda to be the ultimate supercar. He is also a fan of monster trucks - a fact which can be backed up by his appearance at Truckfest '07. Much unlike Clarkson and May, he also has an interest in American Muscle cars. He has a Dodge Charger, a Ford Mustang, and also a Dodge Challenger which he bought on his last trip to the United States, because Chrysler wouldn't lend Top Gear one, because apparently they are 'too harsh' about their cars.

Hammond had also owned a Morgan AeroMax, in which he was involved in a car accident on 9 August 2009. He also owns a Jaguar E-Type

On 20 July 2007, during severe flooding, Hammond left his Porsche 911 - in which he had been stuck in traffic for 13 hours - to run home for his daughter's birthday. He ran 16 miles (26 km) in two and a half hours (from 3am to 5:30 am), arriving home before his daughter woke up.

An interview with The Sunday Times in February 2008 reported Hammond as having moved briefly from Gloucestershire to Buckinghamshire, then back again because he missed the country life.

Hammond is a keen motorcyclist and Land Rover Defender fan. He spent over £70,000 rebuilding his 110 "Buster" in 2008.

In October it was reported he had spent over £2 million buying Bollitree Castle which is situated near Weston under Penyard, Ross-on-Wye. It has been rumoured he has also bought a large house in the small town of Wantage, Oxfordshire.

Charity work

Richard Hammond is a Vice-President of UK children's brain injury charity The Children's Trust, Tadworth.

Vampire dragster crash

During filming of a Top Gear segment at the former RAF Elvington airbase near York on 20 September 2006, Hammond was injured in the crash of the jet-powered car he was piloting. Hammond was travelling at at the time of the crash.

His vehicle, a dragster called Vampire, was theoretically capable of travelling at speeds of up to . The Vampire was powered by a single Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus afterburning turbojet engine outputting hp}} .

Some accounts suggested that the accident occurred during an attempt to break the British land speed record, however the Health and Safety Executive report on the crash found that a proposal to try to officially break the record was vetoed in advance by Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman, due to the risks and complexities of such a venture and, according to witness and first responder Dave Ogden, "one of the parachutes had deployed but it went on to the grass and spun over and over before coming to a rest about 100 yards from us." The emergency crew quickly arrived at the car, finding it inverted and partially embedded in the grass. Hammond's family visited him at the hospital along with Top Gear co-presenters James May and Jeremy Clarkson. He reported suffering loss of memory, depression, and difficulties with emotional experiences, for which he was consulting a psychiatrist.|| Presenter |- | Sport Relief 2010 || Co-presenter with Claudia Winkleman |- | Hammond Meets Moss || Presenter |}

Books

Car Books

Children's Books

Biographies

DVDs

# Richard Hammond's Top Gear Interactive Challenge Quiz (2007, 2|Entertain). # Richard Hammond's Top Gear Interactive Stunt Challenge Quiz (2008, 2|Entertain). # Richard Hammond's Top Gear Uncovered: The DVD Special (2009, 2|Entertain). # Top Gear Apocalypse (2010)

Television Advertisements

# Morrisons (2008) # Morrisons (Christmas 2008) # Morrisons (2009) # Morrisons (Christmas 2009) # Top Gear Turbo Challenge Trading Cards Test Set (2009) # Top Gear Turbo Challenge Trading Cards (2010) # Top Gear Interactive Challenge DVD (2007) # Top Gear Interactive Stunt Challenge DVD (2009) # Top Gear Uncovered DVD (2009) # Top Gear [Re-Runs On Dave] (2009) # Telecom XT network NZ (2009)

References

External links

Richard Hammond Interview 2006

Donations to Yorkshire Air Ambulance double as a result of their life-saving rescue of Richard Hammond

Richard Hammond on Top Gear

Q&A; - The Guardian - 2009-1-3. Hammond answers a number of revealing questions about himself. Retrieved 2009-6-29.

The Children's Trust, Tadworth">Video report of Richard Hammond opening a new rehabilitation centre for children and young people with acquired brain injuries at The Children's Trust, Tadworth

Category:1969 births Category:Motoring journalists Category:British radio DJs Category:British broadcasters Category:British writers Category:British radio personalities Category:British television presenters Category:Living people Category:Old Silhillians Category:People from Solihull Category:English writers Category:Top Gear Category:Old Riponians

Honorific-prefix	General of the Army
Nationality	American
Order	34th President of the United States
Term start	January 20, 1953
Term end	January 20, 1961
Predecessor	Harry S. Truman
Successor	John F. Kennedy
Office2	1st Supreme Allied Commander Europe
Term start2	April 2, 1951
Term end2	May 30, 1952
Predecessor2	Post Created
Succeeded2	Gen. Matthew Ridgway
Order3	1st Military Governor of the American Occupation Zone in Germany
Term start3	May 8
Term end3	November 10, 1945
Predecessor3	Post Created
Succeeded3	Gen. George Patton (acting)
Office4	13th President of Columbia University
Term start4	1948
Term end4	1953
Preceded4	Frank D. Fackenthal
Succeeded4	Grayson L. Kirk
Birth date	October 14, 1890
Birth place	Denison, Texas, United States of America
Birthname	David Dwight Eisenhower
Death date	March 28, 1969
Death place	Washington, D.C., United States
Spouse	Mamie Doud Eisenhower
Children	Doud Dwight Eisenhower,John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower
Alma mater	U.S. Military AcademyWest Point, New York, United States
Occupation	Soldier
Party	Republican
Vicepresident	Richard Nixon
Religion	Presbyterian (originally Jehovah's Witness)
Signature	Dwight Eisenhower Signature.svg
Signature alt	Cursive signature in ink
Rank	General of the Army
Branch	United States Army
Serviceyears	1915–1953, 1961–1969
Commands	Europe
Battles	World War II
Awards	Army Distinguished Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters,Legion of Merit,Order of the Southern Cross,Order of the Bath,Order of Merit,Legion of Honor(partial list)

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower ( ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961, and the last to be born in the 19th century. During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45, from the Western Front. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.

A Republican, Eisenhower entered the 1952 presidential race to counter the non-interventionism of Sen. Robert A. Taft, and to crusade against "Communism, Korea and corruption". He won by a landslide, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson and ending two decades of the New Deal Coalition holding the White House. As President, Eisenhower concluded negotiations with China to end the Korean War. He maintained pressure on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, gave priority to inexpensive nuclear weapons and reduced the other forces to save money. He had to play catch-up in the Space Race after the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957. On the domestic front, he helped remove Joseph McCarthy from power but otherwise left most political actions to his Vice President, Richard Nixon. Eisenhower did not end New Deal policies, and in fact enlarged the scope of Social Security, and signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. He was the first term-limited president in accordance with the 22nd Amendment. His two terms were peaceful, and generally prosperous except for a sharp economic recession in 1958–59. Historians typically rank Eisenhower among the ten greatest U.S. presidents.

Early life and family

Eisenhower's father, David Jacob Eisenhower (1863–1942), was a college-educated engineer but had trouble making a living and the family was poor. The family lived in Texas from 1889 until 1892, then returned to Kansas. Eisenhower's mother, Ida Elizabeth Stover, was born on May 1, 1862 in Augusta County, Virginia near Staunton, where she was christened Elizabeth Ida in the Salem Lutheran Church, Mount Sidney, Virginia (currently the Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church). She was orphaned on the deaths of her mother, Elizabeth Link Stover (1822–1867), originally Elizabeth Juda according to Salem Church baptismal records but later changed to Elizabeth Ida, and father, Simon Stover (1822–1873). She lived with her maternal grandparents, William Link and Esther Schindler Link, on their farm until William's death in 1879, and then with her maternal uncle and aunt, William J. Link and Susan Cook Link, on their farm until age twenty-one whereupon she joined two of her brothers Stover who had moved to Kansas. She married David Jacob Eisenhower on September 23, 1885 in Lecompton, Kansas on the campus of their alma mater, Lane University.

Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890, in Denison, Texas, the third of seven boys born to David Jacob Eisenhower and Ida Elizabeth Stover, of German and Swiss ancestry. In 1892 the family moved to Abilene, Kansas, where he graduated from Abilene High School in 1909. Though born David, he was called Dwight, so he reversed the order of his given names when he enrolled at West Point Military Academy in 1911, graduating as second lieutenant in 1915.

of San Antonio, Texas, in 1916, where Eisenhower was at the time a football coach.]] Eisenhower met Mamie Geneva Doud of Boone, Iowa while he was stationed in Texas. They married on July 1, 1916, in Denver, and had two sons. Doud Dwight Eisenhower was born September 24, 1917, and died of scarlet fever on January 2, 1921, at the age of three. Their second son, John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower, was born on August 3, 1922; John served in the United States Army, retiring as a brigadier general, became an author, and served as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium from 1969 to 1971. John, coincidentally, graduated from West Point on D-Day, June 6, 1944. He married Barbara Jean Thompson on June 10, 1947. John and Barbara had four children: Dwight David II "David", Barbara Ann, Susan Elaine and Mary Jean. David, after whom Camp David is named, married Richard Nixon's daughter Julie in 1968.

Religion

When Eisenhower was a child, his mother Ida Elizabeth Stover Eisenhower, previously a member of the River Brethren sect of the Mennonites, joined the International Bible Students, which would evolve into what is now known as Jehovah's Witnesses. The Eisenhower home served as the local meeting hall from 1896 to 1915. The decision for West Point saddened his mother, who felt that warfare was "rather wicked," but she did not veto Eisenhower's entry to West Point. None of the brothers were Witnesses in adulthood.

Eisenhower was baptized in the Presbyterian Church in 1953. In 1948, he had called himself "one of the most deeply religious men I know" though unattached to any "sect or organization". Eisenhower was instrumental in the addition of the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, and the 1956 adoption of "In God We Trust" as the motto of the United States, and its 1957 introduction on paper currency. In his retirement years, he was a member of the Gettysburg Presbyterian Church in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Education

Dwight D. Eisenhower attended Abilene High School in Abilene, Kansas and graduated with the class of 1909.

After Eisenhower worked for two years to support his brother Edgar's college education, a friend urged him to apply to the Naval Academy. Though Eisenhower passed the entrance exam, he was beyond the age of eligibility for admission to the Naval Academy.

Kansas Senator Joseph L. Bristow recommended Eisenhower for an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1911, which he received. The 1915 class was known as "the class the stars fell on", because 59 members eventually became general officers.

Athletic career

Eisenhower later said that "not making the baseball team at West Point was one of the greatest disappointments of my life, maybe my greatest." However he did make the high visibility football team, and was a varsity starter as running back and linebacker in 1912. In a bit of a fabled match-up, he even tackled the legendary Jim Thorpe in a 1912 game. But Ike injured his knee; it became permanently damaged on horseback and in the boxing ring. He would later serve as junior varsity football coach and yell leader.

In 1916, while stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Eisenhower was football coach for St. Louis College, now St. Mary's University.

Eisenhower played golf very enthusiastically later in life, and joined the Augusta National Golf Club in 1948. He played golf frequently during his two terms as president, and after his retirement as well, never shying away from the media interest about his passion for golf. He had a small, basic golf facility installed at Camp David, and became close friends with Augusta National Chairman Clifford Roberts, inviting Roberts to stay at the White House on several occasions; Roberts, an investment broker, also handled the Eisenhower family's investments. Roberts also advised Eisenhower on tax aspects of publishing his memoirs, which proved to be financially lucrative.

Eisenhower became executive officer to General Fox Conner in the Panama Canal Zone, where he served until 1924. Under Conner's tutelage, he studied military history and theory (including Karl von Clausewitz's On War), and later cited Conner's enormous influence on his military thinking. In 1925–26, he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. There he graduated first in a class of 245 officers. He then served as a battalion commander at Fort Benning, Georgia until 1927.

During the late 1920s and early 1930s Eisenhower's career in the peacetime Army stagnated; many of his friends resigned for high-paying business jobs. He was assigned to the American Battle Monuments Commission, directed by General John J. Pershing, then to the Army War College, and then served as executive officer to General George V. Mosely, Assistant Secretary of War, from 1929 to 1933. He then served as chief military aide to General Douglas MacArthur, Army Chief of Staff, until 1935, when he accompanied MacArthur to the Philippines, where he served as assistant military adviser to the Philippine government. Eisenhower had strong philosophical disagreements with his patron regarding the role of the Philippine army and the leadership qualities that an American army officer should exhibit and develop in his subordinates. The dispute and resulting antipathy lasted the rest of their lives. It is sometimes said that this assignment provided valuable preparation for handling the challenging personalities of Winston Churchill, George S. Patton and Bernard Law Montgomery during World War II. Eisenhower was promoted to the rank of permanent lieutenant colonel in 1936 after sixteen years as a major. He also learned to fly, although he was never rated as a military pilot. He made a solo flight over the Philippines in 1937.

Eisenhower returned to the U.S. in 1939 and held a series of staff positions in Washington, D.C., California and Texas. In June 1941, he was appointed Chief of Staff to General Walter Krueger, Commander of the 3rd Army, at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. He was promoted to brigadier general on October 3, 1941. Although his administrative abilities had been noticed, on the eve of the U.S. entry into World War II he had never held an active command above a battalion and was far from being considered as a potential commander of major operations.

World War II

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower was assigned to the General Staff in Washington, where he served until June 1942 with responsibility for creating the major war plans to defeat Japan and Germany. He was appointed Deputy Chief in charge of Pacific Defenses under the Chief of War Plans Division, General Leonard T. Gerow, and then succeeded Gerow as Chief of the War Plans Division. Then he was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff in charge of Operations Division under Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, who spotted talent and promoted accordingly.

In 1942, Eisenhower was appointed Commanding General, European Theater of Operations (ETOUSA) and was based in London. In November, he was also appointed Supreme Commander Allied (Expeditionary) Force of the North African Theater of Operations (NATOUSA) through the new operational Headquarters A(E)FHQ. The word "expeditionary" was dropped soon after his appointment for security reasons. In February 1943, his authority was extended as commander of AFHQ across the Mediterranean basin to include the British 8th Army, commanded by General Bernard Law Montgomery. The 8th Army had advanced across the Western Desert from the east and was ready for the start of the Tunisia Campaign. Eisenhower gained his fourth star and gave up command of ETOUSA to be commander of NATOUSA. After the capitulation of Axis forces in North Africa, Eisenhower oversaw the invasion of Sicily and the invasion of the Italian mainland.

, 101st Airborne Division on the evening of June 5, 1944.]]

In December 1943, Roosevelt decided that Eisenhower—not Marshall—would be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. In January 1944, he resumed command of ETOUSA and the following month was officially designated as the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), serving in a dual role until the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945. In these positions he was charged with planning and carrying out the Allied assault on the coast of Normandy in June 1944 under the code name Operation Overlord, the liberation of western Europe and the invasion of Germany. A month after the Normandy D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, the invasion of southern France took place, and control of the forces which took part in the southern invasion passed from the AFHQ to the SHAEF. From then until the end of the War in Europe on May 8, 1945, Eisenhower through SHAEF had supreme command of all operational Allied forces², and through his command of ETOUSA, administrative command of all U.S. forces, on the Western Front north of the Alps. at West Point]] As 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. In this and the previous high commands he held, Eisenhower showed his great talents for leadership and diplomacy. Although he had never seen action himself, he won the respect of front-line commanders. He dealt skillfully with difficult subordinates such as Patton, and allies such as Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and General Charles de Gaulle. He had fundamental disagreements with Churchill and Montgomery over questions of strategy, but these rarely upset his relationships with them. He negotiated with Soviet Marshal Zhukov, and such was the confidence that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had in him, he sometimes worked directly with Stalin, much to the chagrin of the British High Command who disliked being bypassed.

It was never certain that Operation Overlord would succeed. The seriousness surrounding the entire decision, including the timing and the location of the Normandy invasion, might be summarized by a second shorter speech that Eisenhower wrote in advance, in case he needed it. Long after the successful landings on D-Day and the BBC broadcast of Eisenhower's brief speech concerning them, the never-used second speech was found in a shirt pocket by an aide. It read:

:Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.

Aftermath of World War II

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-14059-0018, Berlin, Oberbefehlshaber der vier Verbündeten.jpg|thumb|The Supreme Commanders on June 5, 1945 in Berlin: Bernard Montgomery, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Georgy Zhukov and Jean de Lattre de Tassigny.]]

Occupation of Germany

Following the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945, Eisenhower was appointed Military Governor of the U.S. Occupation Zone, based in Frankfurt am Main. He had no responsibility for the other three zones, controlled by Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. Upon discovery of the Nazi concentration camps, he ordered camera crews to comprehensively document evidence of the atrocities in them for use in the Nuremberg Trials. He made the decision to reclassify German prisoners of war (POWs) in U.S. custody as Disarmed Enemy Forces (DEFs). For the treatment of German economy and German civilians Eisenhower followed the orders laid down by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in directive JCS 1067, but softened them by bringing in 400,000 tons of food for civilians and allowing more fraternization. In dealing with the devastation of postwar Germany he dealt with severe food shortages and a huge influx of refugees by distributing American food and medical supplies. His actions reflected the shifting American attitudes from seeing the German people as villains to seeing them as victims of the Nazis, while aggressively purging ex-Nazis.

Chief of Staff

In November, 1945, Eisenhower returned to Washington to replace Marshall as Chief of Staff of the Army. His main role was rapid demobilization of millions of soldiers, a slow job that was delayed by lack of shipping. As East-West tensions over Germany and Greece escalated, Eisenhower was strongly convinced in 1946 that Russia did not want war and that friendly relations could be maintained; he strongly supported the new United Nations. However, in formulating policies regarding the atomic bomb as well as toward the Soviets Truman listened to the State Department and ignored Eisenhower and the entire Pentagon. By mid-1947 Eisenhower was moving toward a containment policy to stop Soviet expansion.

Columbia University and NATO

In 1948, Eisenhower became President of Columbia University, a premier private university in New York; it was not a good fit in either direction. In December 1950, he took leave from the university when he became the Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and was given operational command of NATO forces in Europe. Eisenhower retired from active service on May 31, 1952, and resumed the university presidency, which he held until January 1953.

1948 also was the year that Eisenhower's memoir, Crusade in Europe, was published. Critics regarded it as one of the finest U.S. military memoirs, and it was a major financial success as well.

Entry into politics

Not long after his return in 1952, a "Draft Eisenhower" movement in the Republican party persuaded him to declare his candidacy in the 1952 presidential election to counter the candidacy of non-interventionist Senator Robert Taft. (Eisenhower had been courted by both parties in 1948 and had declined to run then.) Eisenhower defeated Taft for the nomination, having won critical delegate votes from Texas, but came to an agreement that Taft would stay out of foreign affairs as Eisenhower followed a conservative domestic policy. Eisenhower's campaign was noted for the simple but effective slogan, "I Like Ike", and was a crusade against the Truman administration's policies regarding "Korea, Communism and Corruption."

Eisenhower promised during his campaign to go to Korea himself and end the war there. He also promised to maintain both a strong NATO commitment against Communism and a corruption-free frugal administration at home. He and his running mate Richard Nixon, whose daughter later married Eisenhower's grandson David, defeated Democrats Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman in a landslide, marking the first Republican return to the White House in 20 years, Eisenhower was the only general to serve as President in the 20th century, and the most recent President to have never held elected office prior to the Presidency. The other Presidents not to have sought prior elected office were Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, William Howard Taft, and Herbert Hoover.

Presidency 1953–1961

, Mamie Eisenhower, Nikita Khrushchev and Dwight Eisenhower at a state dinner in 1959]] and President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Madrid in 1959]] briefs President Eisenhower in front of a Saturn 1 vehicle at the Marshall Space Flight Center dedication on September 8, 1960.]]

Throughout his presidency, Eisenhower preached a doctrine of dynamic conservatism. He continued all the major New Deal programs still in operation, especially Social Security. He expanded its programs and rolled them into a new cabinet-level agency, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, while extending benefits to an additional ten million workers. His cabinet, consisting of several corporate executives and one labor leader, was dubbed by one journalist, "Eight millionaires and a plumber."

In 1956, Eisenhower faced Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver on the Democratic ticket. Eisenhower won his second term with 457 of 531 votes in the Electoral College, and 57.6% of the popular vote.

Interstate Highway System

{{ listen |filename=Cadillacsquareexcerpt.ogg |title= Remarks in Cadillac Square, Detroit |description=President Eisenhower delivered remarks about the need for a new highway program at Cadillac Square in Detroit on October 29, 1954 Text of speech excerpt }} One of Eisenhower's enduring achievements was championing and signing the bill that authorized the Interstate Highway System in 1956. He justified the project through the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 as essential to American security during the Cold War. It was believed that large cities would be targets in a possible future war, and the highways were designed to evacuate them and allow the military to move in.

Eisenhower's goal to create improved highways was influenced by his involvement in the U.S. Army's 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy. He was assigned as an observer for the mission, which involved sending a convoy of U.S. Army vehicles coast to coast. His subsequent experience with German autobahns during World War II convinced him of the benefits of an Interstate Highway System. Noticing the improved ability to move logistics throughout the country, he thought an Interstate Highway System in the U.S. would not only be beneficial for military operations, but be the building block for continued economic growth.

Foreign policy

Mideast

Soon after taking office, the Eisenhower administration authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to help the Iranian army overthrow Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, and restore the Shah to power.

Eisenhower Doctrine

Eisenhower strongly opposed the combined British, French and Israeli response to the Suez Crisis in November 1956, although he later privately acknowledged this was his biggest foreign policy regret. After the Suez Crisis the United States became the protector of unstable friendly governments in the Middle East via the "Eisenhower Doctrine". Drafted by, and the brainchild of, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, it held the U.S. would be "prepared to use armed force...[to counter] aggression from any country controlled by international communism." Further, the United States would provide economic and military aid and, if necessary, use military force to stop the spread of communism in the Middle East.

Eisenhower applied the doctrine in 1957–58 by dispensing economic aid to shore up the Kingdom of Jordan, and by encouraging Syria's neighbors not to consider military operations against it. More dramatically, in July, 1958, he sent 15,000 Marines and soldiers to Lebanon as part of Operation Blue Bat, a non-combat peace keeping mission to stabilize the pro-Western government and to prevent a radical revolution from sweeping over that country. The mission proved a success and the Marines departed three months later. The deployment came in response to the urgent request of Lebanese president Camille Chamoun after sectarian violence had erupted in the country. Washington considered the military intervention successful since it brought about regional stability, weakened Soviet influence, and intimidated the Egyptian and Syrian governments, whose anti-West political position had hardened after the Suez Crisis.

Most Arab countries were skeptical about the "Eisenhower doctrine" because they considered "Zionist imperialism" the real danger. They did, however, take the opportunity to take free money and weapons. Egypt and Syria openly opposed the initiative and were supported by the Soviet Union. However, Egypt received American aid until 1967.

As the Cold War deepened, Eisenhower's Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, sought to isolate the Soviet Union by building regional alliances of nations against it. His efforts were sometimes called "pacto-mania".

Vietnam

The French asked Eisenhower for help in French Indochina against the Communists, supplied from China, who were fighting the First Indochina War. In 1953, Eisenhower sent Lt. General John W. "Iron Mike" O'Daniel to Vietnam to study and "assess" the French forces therein. Chief of Staff Matthew Ridgway dissuaded the President from intervening by presenting a comprehensive estimate of the massive military deployment that would be necessary. However, later in 1954, Eisenhower did offer military and economic aid to the new nation of South Vietnam. In the years that followed, Eisenhower increased the number of US military advisors in South Vietnam to 900 men. This due to North Vietnam's support of "uprisings" in the south and concern the nation would fall.

Racial issues

The Eisenhower administration declared racial discrimination a national security issue, meaning that the Communists around the world were using racial discrimination in the U.S. as a point of propaganda attack. The day after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Brown v. Board of Education in which segregated ("separate but equal") schools were ruled to be unconstitutional, Eisenhower told District of Columbia officials to make Washington a model for the rest of the country in integrating black and white public school children. He proposed to Congress the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960 and signed those acts into law. The 1957 Act for the first time established a permanent civil rights office inside the Justice Department. Although both Acts were weaker than subsequent civil rights legislation, they constituted the first significant civil rights acts since the Civil Rights Act of 1875, signed by President Ulysses S. Grant.

The "Little Rock Nine" incident of 1957 involved the refusal by Arkansas to honor a Federal court order to integrate the schools. Under , Eisenhower placed the Arkansas National Guard under Federal control and sent Army troops to escort nine black students into Little Rock Central High School, an all-white public school. The integration did not occur without violence. Eisenhower and Arkansas governor Orval Faubus engaged in tense arguments.

Judicial appointments

Supreme Court

Eisenhower appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:

Earl Warren, 1953 (Chief Justice)

John Marshall Harlan II, 1954

William J. Brennan, 1956

Charles Evans Whittaker, 1957

Potter Stewart, 1958

Other courts

In addition to his five Supreme Court appointments, Eisenhower appointed 45 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals, and 129 judges to the United States district courts.

States admitted to the Union

Alaska – January 3, 1959 49th state

Hawaii – August 21, 1959 50th state

Health issues

Eisenhower was probably the first president to allow his personal health problems to become public while in office. In September 1955, while vacationing in Colorado, he had a serious myocardial infarction (heart attack) that required several weeks' hospitalization. He was treated by Dr. Paul Dudley White, a cardiologist with a national reputation, who regularly informed the press of the president's progress. As a consequence of his heart attack, Eisenhower developed a left ventricular aneurysm, which was in turn the source of a thromboembolic cerebrovascular accident (stroke) in November 1957. The president also suffered from regional enteritis (Crohn's disease), a chronic inflammatory condition of the intestine, which necessitated surgery for a bowel obstruction in June 1956. Fortunately, the last 3 years of Eisenhower's term in office were ones of relatively good health. Eventually, however, after leaving the White House, he suffered several additional myocardial infarctions and was ultimately impaired physically because of them.

End of presidency 1960-1961

In 1961, Eisenhower became the first U.S. president to be constitutionally prevented from standing for re-election to the office, having served the maximum two terms allowed by the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment was ratified in 1951, during Harry S. Truman's term, but it stipulated that Truman would not be affected by the amendment.

Eisenhower was also the first outgoing President to come under the protection of the Former Presidents Act; two then-living former Presidents, Herbert Hoover and Harry S. Truman, left office before the Act was passed. Under the act, Eisenhower was entitled to receive a lifetime pension, state-provided staff and a Secret Service detail.

In the 1960 election to choose his successor, Eisenhower endorsed his own Vice-President, Republican Richard Nixon against Democrat John F. Kennedy. He thoroughly supported Nixon over Kennedy, telling friends: "I will do almost anything to avoid turning my chair and country over to Kennedy." In his farewell speech to the nation, Eisenhower raised the issue of the Cold War and role of the U.S. armed forces. He described the Cold War saying: "We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose and insidious in method..." and warned about what he saw as unjustified government spending proposals and continued with a warning that "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex." Though he said that "we recognize the imperative need for this development," he cautioned that "the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist... Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

Because of legal issues related to holding a military rank while in a civilian office, Eisenhower had resigned his permanent commission as General of the Army before entering the office of President of the United States. Upon completion of his Presidential term, his commission on the retired list was reactivated and Eisenhower again was commissioned a five-star general in the United States Army.

Post-presidency

in 1967.]] Eisenhower retired to the place where he and Mamie had spent much of their post-war time, a working farm adjacent to the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In 1967, the Eisenhowers donated the farm to the National Park Service and since 1980 it has been open to the public as the Eisenhower National Historic Site. In retirement, he did not completely retreat from political life; he spoke at the 1964 Republican National Convention and appeared with Barry Goldwater in a Republican campaign commercial from Gettysburg.

Death and funeral

Eisenhower died of congestive heart failure on March 28, 1969, at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. The following day his body was moved to the Washington National Cathedral's Bethlehem Chapel where he lay in repose for twenty-eight hours. On March 30, his body was brought by caisson to the United States Capitol where he lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda. On March 31, Eisenhower's body was returned to the National Cathedral where he was given an Episcopal Church funeral service. That evening, Eisenhower's body was placed onto a train en route to Abilene, Kansas. His body arrived on April 2, and was interred later that day in a small chapel on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Library. Eisenhower is buried alongside his son Doud who died at age 3 in 1921, and his wife, Mamie, who died in 1979.

Richard Nixon, by this time himself President, spoke of Eisenhower's death, "Some men are considered great because they lead great armies or they lead powerful nations. For eight years now, Dwight Eisenhower has neither commanded an army nor led a nation; and yet he remained through his final days the world's most admired and respected man, truly the first citizen of the world."

Legacy

After Eisenhower left office, his reputation declined and he was seen as having been a "do-nothing" President. This was partly because of the contrast between Eisenhower and his young activist successor, John F. Kennedy. Despite his unprecedented use of Army troops to enforce a federal desegregation order at Central High School in Little Rock, Eisenhower was criticized for his reluctance to support the civil rights movement to the degree which other activists wanted. Eisenhower was also criticized for his handling of the 1960 U-2 incident and the international embarrassment, the Soviet Union's perceived leadership in the Arms race and the Space race, and his failure to publicly oppose McCarthyism. In particular, Eisenhower was criticized for failing to defend George Marshall from attacks by Joseph McCarthy, though he privately deplored McCarthy's tactics and claims. Such omissions were held against him during the liberal climate of the 1960s and 1970s. Since that time, however, Eisenhower's reputation has risen. In recent surveys of historians, Eisenhower often is ranked in the top 10 among all US Presidents.

Although conservatism was riding on the crest of the wave in the 1950s, and Eisenhower shared the sentiment, his administration played a very modest role in shaping the political landscape. Instead of adhering to the party's right-wing orthodoxy, Eisenhower instead looked to moderation and cooperation as a means of governance. This was evidenced in his goal of slowing the growth of New Deal/Fair Deal-era government programs, but not weakening them or rolling them back entirely.

Eisenhower was the first President to hire a White House Chief of Staff or "gatekeeper" – an idea that he borrowed from the United States Army, and that has been copied by every president after Lyndon Johnson. (Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter initially tried to operate without a Chief of Staff but both eventually gave up the effort and hired one.)

Eisenhower founded People to People International in 1956, based on his belief that citizen interaction would promote cultural interaction and world peace. The program includes a student ambassador component which sends American youth on educational trips to other countries.

Eisenhower described his position on space and the need for peace during his General Assembly of the United Nations, New York City, 22 September 1960.

"The emergence of this new world poses a vital issue: will outer space be preserved for peaceful use and developed for the benefit of all mankind? Or will it become another focus for the arms race – and thus an area of dangerous and sterile competition? The choice is urgent. And it is ours to make. The nations of the world have recently united in declaring the continent of Antarctica 'off limits' to military preparations. We could extend this principle to an even more important sphere. National vested interests have not yet been developed in space or in celestial bodies. Barriers to agreement are now lower than they will ever be again."

Eisenhower also warned about the emerging military-industrial complex in his Chance for Peace Speech:

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."

Eisenhower was the first president to appear on color television. He was videotaped when he spoke at the dedication of WRC-TV's new studios in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 1958. The tape has been preserved and is believed to be the oldest surviving color videotape.

Tributes and memorials

from 1971 to 1978 commemorating Eisenhower]] Eisenhower's picture was on the dollar coin from 1971 to 1978. Nearly 700 million of the copper-nickel clad coins were minted for general circulation, and nearly 50 million uncirculated and proof issues (in both copper-nickel and 40% silver varieties) were produced for collectors. He reappeared on a commemorative silver dollar issued in 1990, celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth, which with a double image of him showed his two roles, as both a soldier and a statesman.

He is remembered for his role in World War II, the creation of the Interstate Highway System and ending the Korean War. USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, the second Nimitz-class supercarrier, was named in his honor.

, Texas]] as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. He is depicted wearing an "Ike Jacket".]] The Interstate Highway System is officially known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways in his honor. Several highways are also named for him, including the Eisenhower Expressway (Interstate 290) near Chicago and the Eisenhower Tunnel on Interstate 70 west of Denver.

The British A4 class steam locomotive No. 4496 (renumbered 60008) Golden Shuttle was renamed Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1946. It is preserved at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Eisenhower College was a small, liberal arts college chartered in Seneca Falls, New York in 1965, with classes beginning in 1968. Financial problems forced the school to fall under the management of the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1979. Its last class graduated in 1983.

Eisenhower Hall, the cadet activities building at West Point, was completed in 1974. In 1983, the Eisenhower Monument was unveiled at West Point.

The Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California was named after the President in 1971.

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, located at Fort Gordon near Augusta, Georgia, was named in his honor.

In February 1971, Dwight D. Eisenhower School of Freehold Township, New Jersey was officially opened.

In 1983, The Eisenhower Institute was founded in Washington, D.C., as a policy institute to advance Eisenhower's intellectual and leadership legacies.

In 1989, U.S. Ambassador Charles Price and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dedicated a bronze statue of Eisenhower in Grosvenor Square, London. The statue is located in front of the current US Embassy, London and across from the former command center for the Allied Expeditionary Force during World War II, offices Eisenhower occupied during the war.

In 1999, the United States Congress created the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, to create an enduring national memorial in Washington, D.C. In 2009, the commission chose the architect Frank Gehry to design the memorial. The memorial will stand near the National Mall on Maryland Avenue, SW across the street from the National Air and Space Museum.

On May 7, 2002, the Old Executive Office Building was officially renamed the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. This building is part of the White House Complex, west of the West Wing. It currently houses a number of executive offices, including ones for the Vice President and his or her spouse.

A county park in East Meadow, New York (Long Island) is named in his honor. In addition, Eisenhower State Park on Lake Texoma near his birthplace of Denison is named in his honor; his actual birthplace is currently operated by the State of Texas as Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site.

Many public high schools and middle schools in the U.S. are named after Eisenhower.

There is a Mount Eisenhower in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

A tree overhanging the 17th hole that always gave him trouble at Augusta National Golf Club, where he was a member, is named the Eisenhower Tree in his honor.

The Eisenhower Golf Club at the United States Air Force Academy, a 36-hole facility featuring the Blue and Silver courses and which is ranked #1 among DoD courses, is named in Eisenhower's honor.

The 18th hole at Cherry Hills Country Club, near Denver, is named in his honor. Eisenhower was a longtime member of the club, one of his favorite courses.

In front of City Hall in Chula Vista, California a tree was dedicated to Eisenhower for the anniversary of his visit to Chula Vista.

Awards and decorations

. However, Eisenhower's award was not made of precious stones as usual but out of rhinestones ]]

{| width="100%" |valign="top" | World Citizenship Award in 1966]]

Other honors

in 1969 commemorating Dwight D. Eisenhower]] In 1966, Eisenhower was the second person to be awarded Civitan International's World Citizenship Award. The aircraft carrier, commissioned in 1977, was named after the former president.

Eisenhower's name was given to a variety of streets, avenues, etc., in cities around the world, including Paris, France.

In December 1999, Eisenhower was listed on Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century.

In 2009, Eisenhower was named to the World Golf Hall of Fame in the Lifetime Achievement category for his contributions to the sport.

The United States Postal Service has honored Eisenhower with 6¢ and 8¢ postage stamps. These stamps are often considered as part of the Prominent Americans series (1965–1978).

See also

Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower

Atoms for Peace, a speech to the U.N. General Assembly in December 1953

Eisenhower National Historic Site

Eisenhower Presidential Center

Historical rankings of United States Presidents

History of the United States (1945–1964)

Military-industrial complex, a term made popular by Eisenhower

Mount Eisenhower

People to People Student Ambassador Program

A 2004 American television film about Eisenhower's difficult decisions he had to make as Supreme Commander that led to the successful D-Day invasion of World War II.

List of Presidents of the United States

Eisenhower on U.S. Postage stamps

References

Specific references: General references:

Further reading

Military career

Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890–1952 (1983);'

Ambrose, Stephen E. The Victors: Eisenhower and his Boys: The Men of World War II, New York : Simon & Schuster, 1998. ISBN 0-684-85628-X

Eisenhower, David. Eisenhower at War 1943–1945 (1986), New York : Random House. ISBN 978-0394412375. A detailed study by his grandson.

Irish, Kerry E. "Apt Pupil: Dwight Eisenhower and the 1930 Industrial Mobilization Plan", The Journal of Military History 70.1 (2006) 31–61 online in Project Muse.

Jordan, Jonathan W., "Brothers Rivals Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe" NAL: 2011, ISBN 0451232127

Nadich, Judah. Eisenhower and the Jews. Twayne Publishers, Inc., New York, 1953. Deals mainly with the story of the Jewish displaced persons in Germany and Austria early in their liberation and the part played by then General Eisenhower and his Advisor for Jewish Affairs, Lt. Col Judah Nadich.

Pogue, Forrest C. The Supreme Command, Washington, D.C. : Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. of the Army, 1954. The official Army history of SHAEF.

Weigley, Russell. Eisenhower's Lieutenants. Indiana University Press, 1981. Ike's dealings with his key generals in WW2

Civilian career

Albertson, Dean, ed. Eisenhower as President (1963).

Alexander, Charles C. Holding the Line: The Eisenhower Era, 1952–1961 (1975).

Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890–1952 (1983); Eisenhower. The President (1984); one volume edition titled Eisenhower: Soldier and President (2003). Standard biography.

Bowie, Robert R. and Richard H. Immerman; Waging Peace: How Eisenhower Shaped an Enduring Cold War Strategy, Oxford University Press, 1998.

Burk, Robert. "Eisenhower Revisionism Revisited: Reflections on Eisenhower Scholarship," Historian, Spring 1988, Vol. 50 Issue 2, pp 196–209

Chernus, Ira. Apocalypse Management: Eisenhower and the Discourse of National Insecurity, Stanford University Press, 2008.

Damms, Richard V. The Eisenhower Presidency, 1953–1961 (2002).

David Paul T. (ed.), Presidential Nominating Politics in 1952. 5 vols., Johns Hopkins Press, 1954.

Divine, Robert A. Eisenhower and the Cold War (1981).

Greenstein, Fred I. The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader (1991).

Harris, Douglas B. "Dwight Eisenhower and the New Deal: The Politics of Preemption" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997.

Harris, Seymour E. The Economics of the Political Parties, with Special Attention to Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy (1962).

Krieg, Joann P. ed. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Soldier, President, Statesman (1987). 24 essays by scholars.

McAuliffe, Mary S. "Eisenhower, the President", Journal of American History 68 (1981), pp. 625–632.

Medhurst, Martin J. Dwight D. Eisenhower: Strategic Communicator Greenwood Press, 1993.

Pach, Chester J. and Elmo Richardson. Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower (1991). Standard scholarly survey.

Primary sources

Boyle, Peter G., ed. The Churchill-Eisenhower Correspondence, 1953–1955 University of North Carolina Press, 1990.

Eisenhower, Dwight D. Crusade in Europe (1948), his war memoirs.

Eisenhower, Dwight D. The White House Years: Waging Peace 1956–1961, Doubleday and Co., 1965.

Eisenhower Papers 21 volume scholarly edition; complete for 1940–1961.

Summersby, Kay. Eisenhower was my boss (1948) New York: Prentice Hall; (1949) Dell paperback.

External links

Audio and video

1952 Ike for President TV Ad

Full audio of Eisenhower speeches via the Miller Center of Public Affairs (University of Virginia)

Eisenhower's Secret White House Recordings via the Miller Center of Public Affairs (University of Virginia)

Audio clips of Eisenhower's speeches

For additional research

Annotated Bibliography for Dwight D. Eisenhower from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

Dwight D. Eisenhower: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress

First Inaugural Address

Second Inaugural Address

(Wikisource)

The Presidential Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower (searchable online)

TIME Magazine Cover: Dwight D. Eisenhower, April 4, 1969

Thaw in the Cold War: Eisenhower and Khrushchev at Gettysburg, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan

Essay on Dwight D. Eisenhower with shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs

Organizations

Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum, including Home and Tomb

The Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans

The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, Abilene, Kansas

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