Dwight David Eisenhower was a very important American president because he was an integral part of the success in World War II and the 1940s, and he also accomplished many things as president. Eisenhower had a lot of experience in politics before becoming president. Eisenhower planned and oversaw the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942-1943 and the invasion of France and Germany in 1944-1945. Eisenhower was a general and was the general who planned the attack known as D-day. When Eisenhower was president, he ended the Korean War in 1953. He also sponsored and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Eisenhower's greatest achievement was keeping America at peace. Eisenhower returned after Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland caused the outbreak of World War II in Europe. In September 1941, Eisenhower received his first star as a general with his promotion to brigadier general. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December, U.S. Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall called Eisenhower to Washington, D.C. to work as a planning officer. Starting in November 1942, Eisenhower headed Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. He then directed the invasion of Sicily and mainland Italy in 1943 that caused the fall of Rome in June 1944. Eisenhower became a full general in 1943. That same year, Eisenhower was named supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in December and he was assigned the task of invading Europe which was in the hands of the Nazis. That attack was known as D-day and occurred on June 6, 1944. During the D-day invasion, more than 150,000 Allied troops crossed the Channel and stormed the beaches of Normandy. The D-Day invasion led to the liberation of Paris on August 25, turned the tide of the war in Europe, and gave the Allies the upper hand. After the war, Dwight Eisenhower replaced Marshall as Army Chief of Staff and served as president of Columbia University from 1948 to 1950. Eisenhower came a long way to get to where he is now and achieve all of his success. Dwight D. Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890 in Denison, Texas, with parents David Jacob Eisenhower and Ida Elizabeth Stover Eisenhower. Dwight was the third child of seven children. His parents moved from Abilene, Kansas, to Denison, Texas, before he was born. In Denison, the family lived in a small house near the railroad tracks while David cleaned train engines to help his family. When Dwight was one year old, his family moved back to Abilene so David Eisenhower could have a better job at his brother-in-law's dairy farm. In Abilene, Dwight Eisenhower's 10-month-old brother Paul died of diphtheria when Eisenhower was 4 years old. old. Despite the tragedy, Dwight had happy childhood memories in Abilene that he would cherish for a lifetime. One of those were his days playing baseball and football at Abilene High School. After Eisenhower graduated from high school in 1909, he joined his father and uncle at the Belle Springs Creamery while also taking on extra work as a fireman. Eisenhower used the money he earned to pay his younger brother Edgar's tuition at the University of Michigan. The brothers had an agreement, that agreement was that after two years they would switch places with Edgar working to support Eisenhower's college education. Edgar Eisenhower never had to hold up his end of the bargain. In 1911, Dwight Eisenhowerhe made an appointment at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where attendance was free. He was once again a star on the football field, until a series of serious knee injuries forced him to stop playing. In 1915, Eisenhower graduated from West Point and was commissioned a second lieutenant. After graduation, Eisenhower was sent to Texas, where he met and began dating 18-year-old Mamie Geneva Doud from Denver, Colorado. They married nine months later, on July 1, 1916. Dwight D. Eisenhower was promoted to first lieutenant on the day of his wedding. For the first few years of Eisenhower's military career, he and Mamie moved from place to place throughout Texas, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. In 1917, Mamie gave birth to the couple's first child, Doud Dwight. In the same year, the United States entered World War I. Although Eisenhower hoped to be commissioned overseas, he was instead assigned to run a tank training center at Camp Colt in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. During the war and afterward, Eisenhower continued to rise through the ranks. In 1920 he was promoted to major, having volunteered for the Tank Corps in the War Department's first transcontinental automobile convoy the previous year. In 1921, tragedy struck the home when the Eisenhowers' eldest son, Doud Dwight, died of scarlet fever at age 3. Mamie gave birth to a second son, John Sheldon Doud, in 1922. That year, Eisenhower took over as General Fox Conner's executive officer in the Panama Canal Zone. In 1924, at Conner's urging, Eisenhower applied to the Army's prestigious graduate school, the Command and General Staff School in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, and was accepted. He graduated first in his class of 245 in 1926, with a solid reputation for his military prowess. From 1927 to 1929 Eisenhower toured and reported for the War Department, under General John Pershing. After finishing his tour in 1929, Eisenhower was appointed chief military aide to General Douglas MacArthur. From 1935 to 1939 Eisenhower served under MacArthur as assistant military advisor in the Philippines. Eisenhower returned to the United States in early 1940. Over the next two years he was stationed in California and Washington state. In 1941, after a transfer to Fort Sam Houston, Eisenhower became chief of staff of the Third Army. Eisenhower was soon promoted to brigadier general for his leadership in the Louisiana maneuvers. Later that year he was transferred to the War Plans Division in Washington, DC. In 1942 he was promoted to Major General. A few months later, he became commander-in-chief of the Allied forces and led Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. After Germany's surrender in 1945, Eisenhower was appointed military governor of the US-occupied zone. Afterward, Eisenhower returned home to Abilene and received a warm welcome. A few months later, Eisenhower was appointed Chief of Staff of the US Army. In 1948, Dwight Eisenhower was elected president of Columbia University and served as president of Columbia University until December 1950, when he decided to leave Columbia to accept appointment as the first Supreme Allied Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. While in Paris with NATO, Eisenhower was encouraged by Republican emissaries to run for president of the United States in the 1952 election. In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an act creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) . He called the signing a historic [sic] step, further equipping the United States for leadership in the space age. Please note: this is just an example. Get.