ABSTRACT
General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived at Columbia University in the spring of 1948, and the large, complex urban institution represented the polar opposite from his preference, as he later wrote, for "a small school in a rural setting." He had been, however, a career army officer and did not have the normal qualifications for the presidency of a major university when he arrived in the greatest city in the world. To Columbia, a University which had been static for at least the last ten to fifteen years under the ailing Presidency of Nicholas Murray Butler, Eisenhower brought his charisma, confidence, and proven leadership ability. Grayson Kirk reinforced that belief when he recalled that in the afternoon he would find Eisenhower "reading a Western novel at his clean desk." Eisenhower quickly acknowledged the University's pressing problems. Eisenhower elaborated on his ideas and plans for Columbia in a number of prominent speeches throughout the academic year.
