ABSTRACT
Nearly twenty thousand persons had assembled in front of Low Memorial Library and Alma Mater to witness Dwight D. Eisenhower's Installation and the beginning of his second crusade, this one for youth and democratic citizenship. As Frederick Coykendall presented Eisenhower "the chair of the presiding officer"–a black haircloth armchair which had been Benjamin Franklin's–the sun burst through the clouds and the new President began his Installation Address under blue skies. Eisenhower expressed what would be one of his major themes at Columbia, "democratic citizenship." Prime Minister Winston Churchill invited Eisenhower to London for the Guildhall Ceremony on June 12, and the occasion required him to deliver the principal speech in the historic hall. The story of the search leading to Eisenhower's appointment has never been told in detail; as the story unfolds, it explains much about Columbia, the University's problems, and the difficulties Eisenhower would face.
