John Eisenhower

Infobox US Cabinet official
name=John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower
| image_size=
caption=
order=45th
title=United States Ambassador to Belgium
term_start=1969
term_end=1971
predecessor=Ridgway B. Knight
successor=Robert Strausz-Hupe
president=Richard Nixon
birth_date=birth date and age|1922|8|3
birth_place= Denver, Colorado
death_date=
death_place=
party=None/Independent
profession= Diplomat, Brigadier General, Author
spouse= Barbara Jean Thompson (1947–1986; divorced) Joanne Thompson (1988–present)
parents =Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mamie Eisenhower
children= 4 (all by Barbara Thompson)
religion=
alma_mater= U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NYInfobox Military Person


name=John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower
born= birth date and age|1922|08|03
died=
placeofbirth=Denver, Colorado
placeofdeath=
spouse=Barbara Eisenhower, div.
|caption=
nickname=
allegiance= United States of America
branch= United States Army
serviceyears=
rank=Brigadier General
commands=
unit=
battles=World War II Korean War
awards=
laterwork=Army General Staff U.S. Ambassador to Belgium author

John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower (born August 3, 1922 in Denver, Colorado) is a retired United States military officer and the author of several books of military history. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium from 1969–1971.

Background and military career

Eisenhower was born to future U.S. President and World War II-era general Dwight D. Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie. The younger Eisenhower, like his father, attended the United States Military Academy, graduating on June 6, 1944, the very day of the epic Normandy landings his father was commanding.

John Eisenhower served in the Army during World War II and the Korean War, later attaining the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army Reserve. A decorated soldier, Eisenhower found his World War II military career thwarted by fears for his safety and concern from the top brass that his death or capture would be a distraction to his father, the Supreme Allied Commander. This issue arose again in 1952 when Major Eisenhower was assigned to fight in a combat unit in Korea while his father ran for President. After a short stint in combat with an infantry battalion, he was reassigned to the safety of division headquarters. In 2008 he wrote about this experience in an opinion piece in the New York Times entitled "Presidential Children Don’t Belong in Battle". [cite web |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/opinion/28eisenhower.html |title=Presidential Children Don’t Belong in Battle |last=Eisenhower |first=John |publisher=The New York Times|date=2008-09-27 |accessdate=2008-09-28]

During his father's presidency, he served as Assistant Staff Secretary in the White House, on the Army's General Staff, and in the White House as assistant to General Andrew Goodpaster.

U.S.Ambassador to Belgium

In the administration of President Richard Nixon, who had been his father's Vice President, he served as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium. In 1972, President Nixon appointed Eisenhower Chairman of the Interagency Classification Review Committee.

Military / historical expertise

Eisenhower's greatest achievements have come as a military historian. Several of his books have proven popular with readers and reviewers alike. His best-known history, "The Bitter Woods", is perhaps the definitive study of the Battle of the Bulge. "So Far from God" is a highly regarded history of the U.S.-Mexican War.

Personal life

Eisenhower lives in Trappe, Maryland, after moving there from Kimberton, Pennsylvania. He married Barbara Jean Thompson on June 10, 1947. They divorced in 1986. The Eisenhowers had four children, a son, Dwight David, II (b. March 31, 1948, West Point, NY), who married Julie Nixon, herself a presidential daughter, and three daughters Barbara Anne Eisenhower (b. May 30, 1949, West Point, NY), Susan Elaine Eisenhower (b. December 31, 1951, Fort Knox, KY) and Mary Jean Eisenhower (b. December 21, 1955, Washington, DC). In 1988, Eisenhower married Joanne Thompson.

Recent events

A life-long Republican, Eisenhower became independent and voted for Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election, citing Republican incumbent George W. Bush's mismanagement of U.S. foreign policy. [cite web |url=http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/093004U.shtml |title=Why I Will Vote for John Kerry for President |last=Eisenhower |first=John |publisher=truthout (editorial reprinted from The Manchester Union Leader) |date=2004-09-28 |accessdate=2007-05-19]

As of 2008, the age|1922|08|03-year-old Eisenhower is the oldest living and earliest surviving Presidential child.

The city of Marshfield, Missouri chose him as a 2008 honoree of the Edwin P. Hubble Medal of Initiative. His grandson, Merrill Eisenhower Atwater spoke on his behalf.

John Eisenhower wrote the foreword to "Borrowed Soldiers" written by Mitchell Yockelson of the National Archives.

Books

* "The Bitter Woods" (1969)
* "Strictly Personal" (1974)
* "Allies, Pearl Harbor to D-Day" (1982)
* "So Far from God: The U.S. War with Mexico, 1846-1848" (1989)
* "Intervention! : The United States Involvement in the Mexican Revolution, 1913-1917" (1993)
* "Agent of Destiny : The Life and Times of General Winfield Scott" (1997)
* "Yanks : The Epic Story of the American Army in World War I" (2001)
* "General Ike : A Personal Reminiscence" (2003)

ee also

References

External links

* [http://www.accuracyproject.org/cbe-Eisenhower,JohnSheldonDoud.html John Eisenhower - Internet Accuracy Project]