(b. October 14, 1890; d. March 28, 1969) A career army officer who led the Allied Forces during World War II; thirty-fourth president of the United States (1953–1961).

Eisenhower commanded the Allied armies in World War II that landed in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and liberated Nazi-occupied western Europe. After the war, he served as chief of staff of the U.S. Army and then as president of Columbia University. Following the out-break of the Korean War, Eisenhower returned to uniform, becoming the first Supreme Commander of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces in 1951. From his NATO headquarters near Paris, Eisenhower quietly encouraged leading Republicans who mobilized support for his presidential candidacy. He returned to the United States to campaign in June 1952 and won the Republican presidential nomination the next month.

Eisenhower easily defeated Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson of Illinois. He pledged that he would clean up the scandals...