Through Mamie’s Eyes

Recently I visited the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home.  Curator William Snyder provided us with a tour. I loved learning the Eisenhower story through Mamie’s eyes.

We saw the boyhood house where President Eisenhower grew up, then we toured the library and museum, plus, we viewed the memorial where he and wife and child, Doud, are buried. We learned and saw so much about this President that served during wartime as a General, then moved us through the Cold War. What fascinated me though was the story of Maime Eisenhower. What I learned was that without Mamie there may never have been a Dwight.

Thank you, Visit Abilene, for hosting us in Abilene and making our tours possible!

Memorial

Our visit began in the Memorial where Dwight, Mamie, and their young son Doud are buried. The beautiful stained-glass windows designed by Odell Prather, bring in light through the colored panels. This allows a soft muted light to reflect on the lives of the Eisenhower’s. Dwight D. Eisenhower passed in 1969, and Maimie lived ten more years. Little Doud “Icky” passed at the young age of three in 1921.

The Boyhood Home

The land where the Dwight Eisenhower home is located once belonged to his Uncle Abe. He was a large animal veterinarian, and the area had a large barn, rabbit hutch, smokehouse and large garden. William shared that Abe sold a tract of the land to David and Ida Eisenhower, Dwight’s parents. This was with the agreement that they would take in Grandpa Jacob. Initially a three-room home, they later added two rooms. David and Ida met at the Mennonite College they attended in Lecompton, Kansas. They had six sons, losing Paul at 10-month-old from diphtheria when Dwight was 4 years old. In a later photograph of the family, you can see David, Ida, Dwight and brothers Milton, Edgar, Earl, Arthur, and Roy.

Dwight Eisenhower was quite athletic, and he played both baseball and football at Abilene High School.

The house is an amazing treasure because much of the original furnishings are here. Dwight D. Eisenhower worked hard and had a humble beginning. After high school, he went to work with his father at Belle Springs Creamery. “His father worked in the creamery for 28 years,” William said. “He worked 80 hours a week, six days a week. The creamery was near where the Courthouse is located.”

Dwight Eisenhower lived in the home from the age of 8 – 21 leaving for Westpoint in 1911. The boyhood home has been open to the public since early 1947. Ida Eisenhower, Dwight Eisenhower’s mother was the last person to live there. The home first opened as a World War II Veterans Memorial. Now it is open as the boyhood home of Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States.

Westpoint

In 1911 Dwight Eisenhower won an appointment at West Point. From that point on, he said, “From here on it would be the nation I would be serving, not myself. Suddenly the flag itself meant something.”

While at Westpoint he played football until a serious knee injury ended his sports days. His mother, Ida, a Mennonite, did not really approve. She was a religious pacifist who opposed war and all things military. The family did later applaud his efforts in World War II as time went on.

His letter sweater from Westpoint is on display.

Mamie’s childhood.

Mary Geneva “Mamie” Doud was born in Boone, Iowa on November 14, 1896. She was the second child of John Sheldon Doud and his wife Elivera Mathilda Carlson. John was a successful meatpacking executive. Mamie’s childhood was much different than Ike’s, she lived in relative wealth. Her father retired at a 36, and the family moved to Colorado because Mamie suffered from rheumatic fever and the doctors said she would do better in Colorado’s climate. This early illness would still be with her later in her years at the Whitehouse.

Maimie had three sisters losing one Eleanor Carlson Doud, on January 8, 1912, and her younger sister, Eda Mae Doud, died on November 9, 1918. Both were buried in the family cemetery plot in Denver.

The family traveled a lot so while her education was limited, her horizons were expanded. The family traveled to San Antonio every winter in the warmer climate where the family had a home.

Mamie attended Wolcott School for girls. She really never learned to cook, because her mother said, “If you learn to cook, a man will expect it.”

Thankfully later in her marriage, Dwight cooked and loved it.

Marriage and Courtship.

William shared that Ike and Mamie were introduced while the Douds were visiting a friend at Fort Sam Houston where Ike was based. He was a young officer just graduated from West Point, Ike took her on a tour of the facility, and he fell fast. He is quoted saying “…a vivacious and attractive girl, saucy in the look about her face and in her whole attitude.”

At the museum is a copy of Mamie’s comment about meeting Ike, “Ike was the handsomest man, (a far cry from the society boy) lounge lizards with patent leather hair.”

They had a four-month courtship and became engage on Valentine’s Day 1916. Ike initially gave her a miniature of his West Point class ring, an amethyst set-in gold. Mamie wasn’t having it; she wanted the bigger men’s ring. William said she had it sized to her finger, and it is on display showing her spirit early on.

The wedding took place at the Doud home in Denver at noon on July 1, 1916, with only family and close friends in attendance. Linda Womack a Denver-based writer and historian recalled the day. “The wedding ceremony was simple in style, yet strong on family and religious values, when Ike pledged his vows and took Mamie as his bride. Mamie was radiant in an ivory laced gown, escorted down the family staircase by her father. Ike was equally splendid in his dress white military uniform, completed with sword and stars and bars of rank. Following the ceremony, the new couple enjoyed a ten-day honeymoon, spending the first days in Colorado. Then, the newlyweds left by train to Abilene, Kansas for a brief visit with the Ike’s parents.”

Mamie was just 19 years old.

Married life, the life of an Army wife.

Growing up with the life of luxury, it would have been quite an awakening to be in bachelor quarters after their marriage and learning how to budget. Mamie’s father had warned her about the rigors of being an army wife and he was right. Over their marriage, she was stationed in the United States, the Panama Canal Zone, France and the Philippines. She estimated that she moved 27 times. Their longest separation was three years! This was while he was in WWII, he served as the supreme commander of the Allied forces in western Europe during World War II. She was said to write him every day during this long, lonely period of time. A display at the museum shares the unsettling information that during the war 80 million died. This number includes civilians, soldiers and citizens.

Many war items are on display like the D-Day planning table. “Ike stayed in Germany until the end of the War,” William said.

Right off the bat, Mamie settled in, and dedicated herself to being Ike’s partner. “Her ability to socialize brought him out. They were well known for rank socializing in the Army,” William said. “The Lieutenant or Captain’s wives would help the younger wives. “

Mamie’s Biography shares, “Each move meant another step in her husband’s career and more responsibilities for her. Their first child, a boy named Doud Dwight, was born in 1917, but died of scarlet fever in 1921. Their second son and only child to survive adulthood, John, was born in 1922. He enjoyed a career in the U.S. Army and later became an author and ambassador to Belgium.”

During her stay in Panama, William said that Mamie and another influential wife, Mrs. Conner established a hospital for women and children where there had not been any before.

After the War

After the war, Ike served a brief stint as president of Columbia University and the couple purchased their first home, a farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. They would later return to this home in Gettysburg during retirement. On a visit to Pennsylvania years ago I was honored to interview Stanley Wolfe, who once owned Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Blackhawk Cockshutt tractor. It was a cool piece of machinery that if I read it right is now on display at the Harrisburg, PA airport, not far from the Eisenhower farm at Gettysburg. It was cool to see that President Eisenhower had a bit of the Kansas boy still instilled in him years after he left the state and the White House!

In 1950, Eisenhower became supreme commander of NATO and the family moved again, this time to a little chateau outside Paris, France. Mamie’s social skills came into play again. William said, “She bridged the gap up and down the ranks.”

The Whitehouse years

It was in 1952, that Dwight Eisenhower ran for the U.S. presidency. As always, Mamie traveled with him on his campaign trips, presenting herself as a partner which she established from the beginning.

“Ike was the first President not to wear a top hat,” William said about his inauguration. “He took his oath with the Bible his mom gave him.”

Mamie had her own set of style, and there are several examples at the museum. Her famous hairstyle and “Mamie bangs” began back in 1922 when John was born.

The closeness of the couple surprised Whitehouse staff. “They caused a scandal,” William said. “They slept in the same room and in the same bed, they were the oldest couple to be elected.”

Mamie’s biography states, “When the couple entered the White House, Mamie quickly took charge of the domestic staff, who dubbed her “Hostess in Chief.”

During his Presidency Ike had several accomplishments, the most memorable being establishing the highway system. Others include establishing the Atomic Energy Agency. He also is credited with signing in the Civil Rights Act. Eisenhower set the first satellite into orbit and created NASA. Mamie is said to have been very much a woman of the 50’s doing like the famous Tammy Wynette song says, “Stand By Your Man”. Taking care and making sure he had someone to talk to. She made sure the Whitehouse ran smoothly and frugally.

During all their moves over the years, she kept things stable for Ike all the way down to the decorations. “Mamie carried two sticks of wood with three colors of paint for each place,” William added. This ensured the same color and decoration scheme no matter where they lived.

Serving two terms, in the White House both Mamie’s dress and pearls are on display that she wore for the 2nd inauguration.

Once in an interview when asked about her place with Ike, she replied, “I was a good friend.”

Mamie

During her time as First Lady, her illness raised its head, and her doctors said she was to stay in bed three days a week. Instead, her compromise was to stay in bed until noon meet with her staff and sign correspondence. “She hand-signed over 500,000 pieces of correspondence in eight years,” William said.

After the White House years, the Eisenhower’s lived a quiet life in Gettysburg on a beautiful farm. Ike passed first of a heart condition on March 28, 1969. Mamie lived for ten more years passing in 1979. While there are many stories and history celebrating President Dwight D. Eisenhower, I much loved a tour looking through Mamie’s eyes.

The Eisenhower’s in Abilene

Besides the Presidential stop, there are several other places to find Eisenhower history in Abilene with the art, statues and more.

Besides the Ike trail, there is also the Cowboy trail in Abilene. You might enjoy following that history as well!