The Allies defeated the Axis powers, Germany and Japan, in World War II in no small part because of America's brilliant generals.

Men like George Marshall, George Patton, Douglas MacArthur, Omar Bradley, and Dwight Eisenhower.

Of that illustrious group, only one, Eisenhower, reached America's highest office,

serving as a 34th President of the United States.

What made him stand out among his contemporaries?

Dwight David Eisenhower was born on October 14th, 1890.

Young Dwight, or Ike, as he came to be known to everyone,

was the third of seven children, all boys.

Of his childhood, the future president would later say,

we were very poor, but the glory of America is that we

didn't know it. Looking for a ticket out of his hometown of Abilene, Kansas,

Ike entered the US Military Academy at West Point in 1911. He did little to distinguish himself academically,

focusing more on football than his studies. Upon graduating as a second lieutenant,

he was posted to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.

There he met the Petit, Vivacious, and charming Mamie Down.

The daughter of a prosperous businessman,

Mamie was used to cooks and servants,

but gave it all up for the Spartan life of a military spouse when she married Ike in

1916. She would spend the next two decades moving from one dreary army base to the next, but as long as she was with her husband, she was happy.

Ike was my career, she said years later.

When America entered World War I in 1917, Eisenhower, to his frustration, was ordered to remain state-side to train others for combat.

It was a bitter blow, and it set the pattern of Eisenhower's life for 20 years.

...