D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II Characters & Character Analysis

D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II Important People

Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces (SCAEF), Eisenhower was born in 1890, in Abilene, KS, to an authoritarian German-American family. He is a mediocre student at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, and is frustrated spending World War I stateside as a training commander. Promotions come slowly, but two decades as a staff officer prepare him for the mountain of "logistics and administration" required in World War II. In 1942, Eisenhower oversees successful, if disappointing, invasions in Sicily and Italy. He cultivates the image of a "simple Kansas boy" and cooperates smoothly with the British, who he likes. Eisenhower is a consummate "team player," careful to get everyone behind plans before committing. In battle, he is a "cautious calculator," overwhelming foes. He hates how war makes him destroy rather than build.

Eisenhower receives "the most coveted command in the war by default," when Chief of Staff...
(read more)