U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower

The last time we elected a president who had previously never held elected office at any level, our country liked Ike. Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower was the 34th president of the United States, serving two terms from 1953 until 1961. He rose to international prominence as a five-star general in the U.S. Army during World War II, serving as supreme commander of the Allied Forces in Europe.

Section:Gallery

Tue., Nov. 8, 2016

Louise Shadduck with Dwight Eisenhower at the 1956 Republican National Convention in San Francisco, at which Shadduck gave a speech touting Eisenhower's re-election bid.

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FILE--Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower visits paratroopers, including Bill Hayes, at center behind Ike's right hand, in England on June 5, 1944, moments before the troops boarded transport planes bound for Normandy and the June 6 D-Day invasion. Hayes, who now lives in Fargo, N.D., recalls how he told Eisenhower that he was "damned scared" before the mission, his first combat jump of the war. This photo became a pre-invasion classic and continues to bring Hayes a measure of celebrity.

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FILE--Helen Keller uses her fingers to "see" President Eisenhower in a visit to the White House on Nov. 3, 1953. After her death in 1968, Helen Keller International, an organization set up in her name to combat blindness in the developing world, was founded.

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FILE--President John F. Kennedy, left, discusses the failed Bay of Pigs invasion with former President Dwight D. Eisenhower as they walk along a path at Camp David, near Thurmond, Md., on April 22, 1961.

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** FILE ** Alone together for the first time since Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived from Europe, the General and his wife, Mamie, enjoy a laugh as they leave their hotel for the White House to meet President Truman, i n this June 18, 1945 file photo. A new book of letters between presidents and wives, based on the papers of 23 presidents held by the Library of Congress, fleshes out momentous periods of history with the full range of human emotion. . Eisenhower, as allied commander for Europe in World War II, tried in several letters to his stateside wife, Mamie, to shoot down rumors he was involved with his driver, Kay Summersby, with whom he formed an intense friendship. "I've no emotional involvements and will have none," he told his wife.

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FILE--Richard Nixon grabs the arm of Dwight D. Eisenhower as the crowd at the GOP's National Convention in Chicago cheers their nominations in this July 1952 photo. At far left is Pat Nixon and at far right is Mamie Eisenhower.

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File-This Sept. 9, 1960, file photo shows President Dwight Eisenhower, right, enjoying a laugh with Arnold Palmer, just before they played a round of golf together in a foursome at the Gettysburg Country Club, Gettysburg, Penn.

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FILE - This May 29, 1959, file photo shows Harmon Killebrew, of the Washington Senators, , shaking hands with President Dwight D. Eisenhower before the start of a baseball game against Boston, in Washington. At center is Calvin Griffith, president of the Senators. Hall of Famer Killebrew, known for his tape-measure home runs, died Tuesday, May 16, 2011, at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 74.

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FILE--Winston Churchill, left, rides in a golf cart with President Dwight D. Eisenhower during a visit to Ike's Gettysburg farm on May 8, 1959. Eisenhower spent many weekends and vacations at the farm and lived there for most of the time from his 1961 retirement until his death in 1969.

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