John Eisenhower

Early life and education

John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower was born on August 3, 1922, at Denver General Hospital in Denver, Colorado, to future U.S. President and United States Army General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie; he was their second child. Their elder son, Doud, known affectionately as "Icky", died in 1921, at age three, after contracting scarlet fever. Eisenhower, like his father, attended the United States Military Academy, graduating on June 6, 1944, the day of the Normandy landings, which his father was commanding. He later earned an M.A. degree in English and comparative literature from Columbia University in 1950, and taught in the English Department at West Point from 1948 to 1951. Eisenhower graduated from the Army Command and General Staff College in 1955.

Military career

Eisenhower served in the U.S. Army during World War II and the Korean War, remaining on active duty until 1963; then serving in the U.S. Army Reserve until retirement in 1975 – attaining the rank of brigadier general.{{cite web

Government career

During his father's presidency, Eisenhower served as assistant staff secretary in the White House, on the Army's general staff, and in the White House as assistant to General Andrew Goodpaster.

In the administration of President Richard Nixon, who had been his father's vice president, he served as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium from 1969 to 1971. In 1972, President Nixon appointed Eisenhower chairman of the Interagency Classification Review Committee. In 1975, he served President Gerald Ford as chairman of the President's Advisory Committee on Refugees.

Later life and writing

As a military historian, Eisenhower wrote several books, including The Bitter Woods, a study of the Battle of the Bulge, and So Far from God, a history of the Mexican–American War. In a New York Times review of the latter, historian Stephen W. Sears remarked that Eisenhower "writes briskly and authoritatively, and his judgments are worth reading." Eisenhower wrote Zachary Taylor: The American Presidents Series: The 12th President, 1849–1850 (2008). He also wrote the forewords to Borrowed Soldiers, by Mitchell Yockelson of the U.S. National Archives, and to Kenneth W. Rendell's Politics, War and Personality: 50 Iconic Documents of World War II.

In later years, he had been an opponent of Frank Gehry's proposed design for the National Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, which he said was "too extravagant" and "attempts to do too much."

Presidential elections

A lifelong Republican, Eisenhower voted for Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election, citing dissatisfaction with Republican incumbent George W. Bush's management of U.S. foreign policy.

During the 2008 presidential election, in which presidential candidate John McCain and vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden all had children serving in the armed forces, Eisenhower wrote about his wartime experience as the son of a sitting president in a cautionary opinion piece in The New York Times titled "Presidential Children Don't Belong in Battle".

Death

Eisenhower died in Trappe, Maryland, on December 21, 2013. From the death of Elizabeth Ann Blaesing in 2005 until his own death, Eisenhower was the oldest living presidential child; on his death that distinction passed to Lynda Bird Johnson, who still holds it as of 2025. His burial was at West Point Cemetery on the grounds of the United States Military Academy.

Marriage and children

Eisenhower married Barbara Jean Thompson on June 10, 1947, only a few days before her twenty-first birthday. Barbara was born on June 15, 1926, in Fort Knox, Kentucky, into an Army family. She was the daughter of Col. Percy Walter Thompson (1898–1974) and his wife Beatrice (née Birchfield). Col. Thompson was commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces. The Eisenhowers had four children:

• Dwight David Eisenhower II (b. 1948, West Point, New York), who married Julie Nixon, herself a presidential daughter;
• Barbara Anne Eisenhower (1949–2022, born in West Point, New York);
• Susan Elaine Eisenhower (b. 1951, Fort Knox, Kentucky);
• Mary Jean Eisenhower (b. 1955, Washington, D.C.).

All of his daughters were presented as debutantes to high society at the prestigious International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.

John and Barbara divorced in 1986 after thirty-nine years of marriage. In 1988, Barbara married widower Edwin J. Foltz, a former vice president at the Campbell Soup Company. She died on September 19, 2014, in Gladwyne, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

In 1988, Eisenhower married Joanne Thompson. He lived in Trappe, Maryland, after moving there from Kimberton, Pennsylvania.

Military awards and decorations

Other honors

The city of Marshfield, Missouri, chose Eisenhower as a 2008 honoree of the Edwin P. Hubble Medal of Initiative. His grandson, Merrill Eisenhower Atwater, spoke on his behalf at Marshfield's annual Cherry Blossom Festival. The medal recognizes individuals who demonstrate great initiative in their chosen field.

Dates of rank

Family tree

Bibliography

References

References

References

1. Perret, Geoffrey. (2000-03-02). "Eisenhower". Random House Publishing Group.
2. 'John Eisenhower, Military Historian and Son of the President, Dies at 91,' ''The New York Times,'' Richard Goldstein, December 22. 2013
3. (1971). "Register of Graduates and Former Cadets 1802–1971 of the United States Military Academy". The West Point Alumni Foundation Inc..
4. (January 1, 1957). "U. S. Army Register: United States Army Active and Retired Lists". U.S. Government Printing Office.
5. (December 22, 2013). "Obituary: Eisenhower's son John, at 91". New York Times.
6. "History of the Information Security Oversight Office". [[National Archives and Records Administration.
7. Woolley, John T.. "Remarks Upon Establishing the President's Advisory Committee on Refugees". [[University of California]].
8. Stephen W. Sears. (April 2, 1989). "Land Grab on the Rio Grande". [[New York Times]].
9. Eisenhower, John S. D.. (2008). "Zachary Taylor: The American Presidents Series: The 12th President, 1849–1850". Times Books.
10. Eisenhower, John S. D.. (2008-09-27). "Opinion {{!}} The children of presidents and vice presidents shouldn't be in combat.". The New York Times.
11. Zongker, Brett. (November 16, 2013). "Eisenhower Memorial Approval Delayed Into 2013". Associated Press.
12. Eisenhower, John. (September 28, 2004). "Why I Will Vote for John Kerry for President". The Manchester Union Leader.
13. Eisenhower, John. (September 27, 2008). "Presidential Children Don't Belong in Battle". The New York Times.
14. Goldstein, Richard. (December 22, 2013). "John Eisenhower, Military Historian and Son of the President, Dies at 91". The New York Times.
15. (January 25, 2012). "Former President John Tyler's (1790–1862) grandchildren still alive".
16. Pasley, James. (July 3, 2019). "Where Are They Now: First kids of the United States". Business Insider.
17. (December 29, 1973). "Eisenhower Gathering Marks Debutante Ball". New York Times.
18. "John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower". Internet Accuracy Project.
19. [http://www.cherryblossomfest.com/pages/PeopleHonored.html#HubbleMedalOfInitiative "Hubble Medal of Initiative."] Marshfield Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
20. Official Register of Commissioned Officers of the United States Army, 1948. Vol. I. p. 528.