Dwight D. Eisenhower

When World War II began, few people outside the army had ever heard of a 50-year-old career officer named Dwight D. Eisenhower.  But soon everyone knew “Ike,” who became one of the greatest generals of the century and much-loved two-term President.

Born in Texas, Eisenhower graduated from West Point in 1915.  He was a starting halfback on the West Point football team until he hurt his knee.

He rose rapidly through the ranks, and in 1942 was put in command of U.S. troops in Europe.  Then he directed the successful Allied invasions of North Africa and Italy.   And in 1944, he planned the largest invasion in history.

On June 6, more than 150,000 Allied troops under his command landed on the beaches of Normandy, France.  Eisenhower’s ability to win the cooperation of soldiers of many nationalities was a key factor in the Allied victory over Germany.

World War II made Eisenhower a national hero.   Although he resisted invitations to become a political leader at first, he finally agreed to run for President.  “I like Ike,” campaign buttons said.   The nation agreed, electing him in 1952 and again in 1956.  

As President, he helped bring an end to the Korean War, and he took a strong position against Communism….although some people criticized him for remaining aloof from controversial issues. 

Eisenhower’s down-to-earth manner and kindness won him the nation’s affection.

Adlai Stevenson

“I’m too old to cry, and it hurts too much to laugh,” Adlai Stevenson said when he lost the 1952 presidential election to Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was quoting Abraham Lincoln, but the comment was classic Stevenson – witty and painfully honest. Stevenson’s loyal supporters admired the liberal, intellectual approach to issues, but most voters preferred Eisenhower’s hero status, conservative politics, and folksy style.

Stevenson began his career as special counsel to the U.S. Navy Secretary during World War II. Later, he helped plan the first United Nations conference. And in 1948, he was elected governor of Illinois, soon getting national attention for reforms and modernizing highways, reorganized the state police, and doubled aid for education. Stevenson’s grandfather, also named Adlai, was Grover Cleveland’s Vice President. He was first to head the Democratic ticket in the 1952 election even though he had refused to campaign for the nomination.

Stevenson said that he would rather lose an election than “mislead the people by representing as simple what is infinitely complex.” That statement of principle turned out to be prophetic. He lost to Eisenhower in 1952 and again in 1956. From 1961 until his death in 1965, he served as U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

Bermuda Shorts

“Not many revolutions can be traced to America in the Fifties,” the men’s magazine GQ noted recently,”and even fewer to the suburbs during those uptight years, but this is exactly the time and place that provided acceptability for shorts”----Bermuda shorts, that is.

Before World War II, only children and athletes wore shorts. Men wore long pants and women wore dresses for all occaisions. But that changed in the 1950s, a time of newfound leisure for the American middle class. In the suburbs, backyard barbecues became the summertime rage---and “Bermuda shorts” became the stylishly casual uniform of choice for both men and women. Cut just above the knees, they were decidedly comfortable, yet, not too shocking for that still-modest era.

The first American to adopt the style were vacationers on the island of Bermuda, a British colony in the East Atlantic. Policemen there dressed like British soldiers in the desert: they wore knee-length khaki shorts and white knee socks. Women tourists began wearing the short pants because they couldn’t wear bathing suits: Bermuda law didn’t allow women to show their thighs on the beach. Soon their husbands were heading the cool, comfortable shorts, too. As the fashion made its way to the U.S., the khaki fabric was replaced by bold colors and plaids.

By the 1950s, Bermuda shorts gave way to more daing garb: the short shorts known as “hot pants.”

The Landing at Inchon

In August, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. The United States and other nations under United Nations authority sent troops to help the South. But North Koreans quickly overran the Korean Peninsula. They pushed the U.N. forces back to Pusan, in the southeast corner of the country.

Commanding U.S. and U.N. forces, General Douglas MacArthur planned a surprise counterattack at Inchon in the northwest. His goal was to capture Seoul, the South Korean capital, and cut off North Korean forces to the south.

Early on September 15, ships carrying U.N. forces sailed into Inchon’s inner harbor. Backed by shelling and bombing from sea and air, the troops struggled through heavy seas and rain to land at two points. They had to scale high natural seawalls to battle the North Korean forces holding the port city. In a day of bitter fighting, they captured Inchon and a five-mile strip around it. Ten days later they took Seoul, outflanking the enemy as planned. General MacArthur’s bold gamble had turned the tide of the Korean War.

The Inchon Landing required precise timing because at low tide the harbor’s water drops so low that boats are stranded on the mud. Troops could land only during two-hour periods of high tide.