Event Exhibits and Tours Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Essence of Leadership

This small, curated display features Dwight David Eisenhower, the  heralded WWII military commander who strove for peace as a two-term U.S. president. His strong leadership ethos guided him throughout his career and was the critical factor in helping him surmount challenges when his career took dramatic turns.

He was a 51-year-old West Point graduate and career army officer with no combat experience when the U.S. entered World War II in 1941. Less than a year later, Eisenhower was commander-in-chief of allied forces in North Africa. He went on to lead coalition forces to victory in Europe as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces from 1943 to 1945. In 1952, Eisenhower successfully ran for U.S. president, despite never having waged a political campaign before.  Reelected in 1956, he led the nation through nearly a decade of peace and prosperity. “Dwight Eisenhower’s greatness derived not from his office,” Richard Nixon reminded the nation at his former boss’s passing in 1969, “but from his character.”