ABSTRACT
Dwight David (“Ike”) Eisenhower (1890–1969) was elected president of the United States in 1952 and reelected in 1956. He initially earned the confidence of his fellow citizens the same way George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Ulysses S. Grant did: by being a victorious general. Eisenhower commanded all U.S. and Allied forces in Western Europe and the Mediterranean region during World War II. This case tells the story of how a now-obscure mentor taught Eisenhower what he needed to know to advance as a career military officer and eventually to the presidency. Both historians and Eisenhower himself agree that without this mentor’s efforts at a critical point in Eisenhower’s early career, D Day would have had a different commander and Eisenhower would not now be admired as one of the better presidents of the United States.
