Dwight Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890, in Denison, Texas. He entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on June 14, 1911, and was commissioned a 2d Lt of Infantry on June 12, 1915. His first assignment was as an Infantry Officer at Fort Sam Houston, Camp Wilson, and Leon Springs, Texas, and then at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, from September 1915 to February 1918, followed by service with the Tank Corps at Camp Meade, Maryland, Camp Colt, Pennsylvania, Camp Dix, New Jersey, Fort Benning, Georgia, and then at Fort Meade, Maryland, from February 1918 to January 1922. During this time, he trained tank crews for service in World War I. Maj Eisenhower next served as Executive Officer to General fox Conner at Camp Gaillard, Panama Canal Zone, from January 1922 to September 1924, and he then served as as an Infantry Officer in Maryland and Colorado from September 1924 to August 1925. He attended Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, from August 1925 to June 1926, and then served as a Battalion Commander with the 24th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning from August 1926 to January 1927. Maj Eisenhower was assigned to the American Battle Monuments Commission in Washington, D.C., from January to August 1927, and then attended Army War College in Washington, D.C., from August 1927 to June 1928. His next assignment was back with the American Battle Monuments Commission, this time in Paris, France, from July 1928 to September 1929, followed by service as Executive Officer to General George V. Moseley, Assistant Secretary of War, in Washington, D.C., from November 1929 to February 1933. He served as Chief Military Aide to General Douglas MacArthur, Chief of Staff of the Army, in Washington, D.C., from February 1933 to September 1935, and then served under Gen MacArthur as Assistant Military Advisor to the Philippine Government in Manila from September 1935 to December 1939. LTC Eisenhower next served with the 15th Infantry Regiment at Fort Ord, California, and then as Regimental Executive at Fort Lewis, Washington, from February to November 1940, followed by service as Chief of Staff to the Commander of the 3rd Division at Fort Lewis from November 1940 to March 1941. His next assignment was as Chief of Staff to the Commander of the 9th Army Corps at Fort Lewis from March to June 1941, and then as Chief of Staff to the Commander of 3rd Army at Fort Sam Houston from June to December 1941. Gen Eisenhower served as Deputy Chief in charge of Pacific Defenses under the Chief of the War Plans Division on the General Staff in Washington, D.C., from December 1941 to February 1942, and then as Chief of the War Plans Division from February to April 1942. His next assignment was as Assistant Chief of Staff in charge of the Operations Division for General George Marshall, Chief of Staff of the Army, from April to May 1942, followed by service as Commanding General, European Theater, in London, England, from June to November 1942. Gen Eisenhower served as Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces North Africa from November 1942 to December 1943, and then as Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces, from December 1943 until the end of World War II in Europe in May 1945. During this time, he was promoted to the 5-star rank of General of the Army on December 20, 1944. He then served as Military Governor of the U.S. Occupied Zone in Frankfurt, Germany, from May to November 1945, followed by service as the 16th Chief of Staff of the Army from November 19, 1945, to February 6, 1948. Gen Eisenhower next served as President of Columbia University in New York City from June 1948 to December 1950, and then served as Supreme Allied Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Commander of U.S. Forces, Europe, from December 1950 until his retirement from regular active duty on May 31, 1952. He resigned his commission in July 1952 in order to run for President, and he served as the 34th President of the United States from January 20, 1953, to January 20, 1961. As a 5-star General of the Army, Eisenhower reverted back to active duty status in March 1961, and remained on the active duty list of the Army until his death on March 28, 1969. Dwight Eisenhower was buried at the Eisenhower Center in Abilene, Kansas. He married Mamie Geneva Doud (1896-1979) of Boone, Iowa, on July 1, 1916.

His 1st (of 5) Army Distinguished Service Medal Citation reads:

For exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. While Commanding Officer of the Tank Corps Training Center from 23 March 1918 to 18 November 1918, at Camp Colt, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Lieutenant Colonel Eisenhower displayed unusual zeal, foresight, and marked administrative ability in the organization, training, and preparation for overseas service of technical troops of the Tank Corps.