DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
During the course of a long and illustrious military career, General Dwight D.
Eisenhower came to intimately understand the deep responsibility – the heavy burden – of command. On the eve of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II, he carried the proverbial weight of the world on his shoulders.
Outwardly, Eisenhower was an optimist, but he knew that the D-day landings could end in abject failure. Should the outcome be a reversal, he was prepared to shoulder the responsibility for a defeat that carried with it catastrophic consequences. Just in case, he scribbled a succinct statement for release to the media.
“Our landings in the Cherbourg-havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops,” he wrote on the eve of the greatest military endeavour in modern history. “My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that Bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”
The decision to commit 150,000 men, 5,000 ships and countless aircraft to the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi oppression was indeed his alone. In the face of a determined enemy and horrific weather, Eisenhower gathered his lieutenants at Southwick House in the early hours of 5 June 1944, and asked each officer in turn whether the invasion should be postponed, or if they should forge ahead the following day in the face of tremendous risk.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Eisenhower announced, “Okay, we’ll go!”
The supreme commander placed the note that would convey the unthinkable in his wallet, and later gave it to a young officer as a memento, relieved that even though much blood and toil lay ahead, that it was never necessary to publish the damnable words.
Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, on 14 October 1890, and spent most of his youth in the town of Abilene, Kansas. From a humble beginning in the heartland of the U.S, he secured an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, initially more interested in an education at the expense of the taxpayer and the opportunity to play American football than pursue a career in the U.S. Army.
However, he rose to the highest echelon of military command, and proved himself the master of coalition warfare during World War
II. As the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, Eisenhower constantly walked a diplomatic tightrope while British and American commanders, particularly General George S. Patton, Jr and Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, vied for the fleeting glory offered in newspaper headlines of the day. He made tough decisions, placing the necessity for cooperation and ultimate victory over Hitler and the Nazis above national pride and self-aggrandisement.
Eisenhower later inspired the confidence of the American people in his ability to lead them through the earliest days of the Cold War, and was twice elected President of the United States. He never shrank from a challenge, but discharged his duty with an earnest will and an unforgettably broad grin. He was easy to like.
In every instance, Dwight Eisenhower placed the success of the mission ahead of any personal reward or gain. In doing so, he defined leadership by example, and shouldered the tremendous responsibility that came with it like no other individual in the 20th century.