National Football Foundation

President Dwight D. Eisenhower claimed that not making the Army baseball team was one of the greatest disappointments of his life. He did find athletic success as a starting running back and linebacker in 1912. A torn knee put an end to his football career. After graduating from West Point in 1915, Eisenhower was stationed all over the country during World War I, but was denied overseas assignment on multiple occasions, which disappointed him greatly. He was promoted to major after the war and held that rank for 16 years. As an assistant military adviser to Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Eisenhower accompanied him to the Philippines. He returned to the states just before World War II and was promoted to brigadier general for his work in the states.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower was assigned to the General Staff in Washington, where he served until June 1942 with responsibility for creating the major war plans to defeat Japan and Germany. President Franklin Roosevelt named Eisenhower the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe and he was in charge of carrying out the Allied assault on the coast of Normandy in June 1944 under the code name Operation Overlord, the liberation of Western Europe and the invasion of Germany.

His efforts in Europe earned him a promotion to General of the Army in December of 1944. Following the war, Eisenhower was highly encouraged to run in the 1948 Presidential race, but insisted that a general should not participate in politics. He did, however, take a presidential role at Columbia University to expand his ability to promote the American form of democracy through education.

After finally agreeing to run for president in 1952, Eisenhower retired from active military duty and from his post as Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to campaign full time. He defeated Robert Taft for the Republican nomination and won the 1952 election in landslide fashion against Adlai Stevenson. Eisenhower was the last president born in the 19th century and the oldest in nearly a century.

The 34th president made more use out of press conferences than any before him, holding about 200 in his two terms. Another highlight of his presidency was the interstate highway system, which he inked in 1956 in light of nuclear war threats. His purpose was to give larger cities a faster evacuation route. When the space race began, it was Eisenhower that launched a national campaign that funded not just space exploration but a major strengthening of science and higher education. He was the first president to be constitutionally limited to two terms by the 22nd amendment, ratified in 1951. Eisenhower passed away in March of 1969 at the age of 78.