Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in 1890 and was also known as "Little Ike" by his parents and five brothers. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY in 1915. He became and excellent military leader and advanced rank rather quickly. He became the United States' 34th President in 1952 and was well liked by millions.

After graduating from West Point in 1915, Eisenhower was promoted to captain in 1917 when America entered World War I. Right from the beginning Eisenhower was identified by his superiors as a young officer with excellent organizational skills. For this reason, Eisenhower was not posted abroad but sent to Camp Colt, Gettysburg to train men for battle against America's first tanks. His leadership skills became evident, and even though Eisenhower had not seen combat in Western Europe, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.

After Eisenhower's troops fought Germany's General Rommel in Tunisia in 1943 and won, the Allied Powers cleared North Africa of the German army. It was the beginning of Germany's defeat in World War II. A few months later, Sicily was liberated from the Germans,

In December, 1943, Eisenhower was chosen to lead Operation Overload, which was a plan to invade Germany by crossing the English Channel and then going through France but Eisenhower thought it would be better to go through Normandy instead of Calais where the Germans were stronger. He even bombed the railways so the Germans couldn't bring more troops and it was successful. On June 6th, 1944, also known as D-Day, the allies landed on the Normandy Coast and by the end of August, Paris was freed and the Germans were driven from France. Operation Overload was successful.

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