Dwight D. Eisenhower

Name at birth: David Dwight Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the most famous U.S. Army general of World War II and the 34th president of the United States. A career Army man, "Ike" rose to the level of five-star general and oversaw the Allied forces in Europe, including the famous D-Day invasion of France in 1944. After the war he served briefly as president of Columbia University, then was chosen over Robert A. Taft as the Republican candidate for U.S. president in 1952. He won handily in 1952 and again in 1956, defeating Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson both times. Eisenhower was succeeded by John F. Kennedy, who defeated Eisenhower's vice president, Richard Nixon, in the elections of 1960. Eisenhower survived a half-dozen heart attacks over 15 years before succumbing to a final attack in 1969.