Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower 34th President of the United States (1953-1961)

Eisenhower sites that I have visited:

Eisenhower retirement farm Gettysburg, PA

Other Eisenhower sites in Gettysburg, PA

Eisenhower boyhood home and gravesite Abilene, KS

To see the Eisenhower farm in Gettysburg you have to hop on this bus at the Gettysburg national Park headquarters, And it will take you there

                      Ike's barn

               The Eisenhower house

         Mamie's "museum" room, named that by the grandchildren who where afraid to touch anything in there.

   

     The back living area. They would've entertained Winston Churchill here

    When touring historic houses you don't often see a TV. My kids wanted to turn it on and watch it

     Small box with Ike's initials DDE

      Mamie Eisenhower had a strict "sign in" policy to all visitors to the home. Even the grandkids had to sign in every time they entered the house. It looks like Ronald Reagan visited around the time he was running for Governor of California

     Mamie's portrait in her museum room

                    Ike's man cave

      The kids and I after our house tour

My boy Nicky admiring Ike's putting green

    The church Ike attended when he lived here.

     Lincoln also attended services here when he was in town to give the Gettysburg address

    Another Gettysburg home for the Eisenhowers

    As the sign above mentions the Eisenhowers lived in this house early in their marriage, with their first son Icky. Mamie remembered it as their first home. Sadly Icky died in 1921 at the age of 3.

     I snuck a peek inside the house, they looked at me funny so I snapped this picture and left.

 

     Eisenhower used this house as his office in his post-presidential years

  A statue of Ike commemorates the site

    The house is now part of admissions for Gettysburg College. This picture frame is a small memorial to Eisenhowers significance to this house.

    Eisenhower library Abilene, Kansas

Me at Eisenhower boyhood home Abilene, KS

The Eisenhower historic site in Abilene has Eisenhower's boyhood home, his Library and Museum, and his gravesite which is in a small chapel. My wife and I visited the Eisenhower historic site in Abilene, KS in March 2011. We drove through the night, hit some Truman sites in Independence, MO in the morning, then drove another 2 and a half hours to Abilene. We were exhausted of course, and we would still have a 4 hour drive from Abilene to our hotel that night. So we made a bit of a compromise to tour the boyhood home, see the chapel and skip the Museum. It seemed ok at the time, but now I can't really claim that I have seen the Eisenhower Library and Museum. Oh well, it gives me an excuse to return someday.

The Eisenhower Museum, from the outside.

A statue of Ike looking at 'The Place of Meditation' in the distance, the site of his burial.

Place of Meditation, gravesite of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Eisenhower gravesite

Me at the Eisenhower gravesite

'I Like Ike' was the campaign slogan for Eisenhower's Presidential campaign. Both Democrates and Republicans alike wanted Eisenhower as their candidate. Eisenhower chose the Republicans because he didn't like how the Democrates in charge were handling the Korean War. Much like Washington and Grant before him, Ike won the White House because of his WW2 hero status.

During the war he his career on the line. To protect FDR and Churchill, Ike talked them into making him the Supreme Allied Commander. When D- Day came and our troops stormed the beaches at Normandy. Ike had his resignation letter ready, in case the invation went badly. But it was a sucess and Eisenhower would become a hero.

Eisenhower was a life long military man, who oddly enough never saw combat himself. He remembered as a young officer he was part of a convoy that went from Wahington DC to the west coast. It was a very rough trip and he did something about it as President. He helped start the Interstate Highway system. Making cross country travel by car much easier.

After 2 terms as President he retired to his Gettysburg farm. He died in 1969.