Eisenhower became famous for his military leadership during World War II. After planning the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and mainland Italy, he became supreme commander of Allied forces in western Europe (1943) and planned the Normandy Invasion (1944) and the conduct of the war in western Europe until the German surrender (1945).
Dwight Eisenhower’s parents, David Jacob and Ida Elizabeth (Stover) Eisenhower, moved their family from Denison, Texas, to Abilene, Kansas, where their forebears had settled in a Mennonite colony. David worked in a creamery, the family was poor, and young Dwight and his brothers were introduced to hard work and a strong religious tradition.
Eisenhower was more interested in sports than in his studies at Abilene (Kansas) High School. He matriculated at the U.S. Military Academy, where he ranked 61st academically out of 164 graduates. He ranked first in a class of 275 at the army’s Command and General Staff School and then graduated from the Army War College.
The 34th U.S. president, Eisenhower served two terms, from 1953 to 1961. His tenure came at the end of fighting in the Korean War but during the Cold War. A period of general economic growth and prosperity, it was the age of the housing, television, and baby booms but also the era of McCarthyism.
Ronald Reagan rose to prominence initially as a film actor, appearing in more than 50 films, notably including Knute Rockne—All American (1940), Kings Row (1942), and The Hasty Heart (1950). Reagan later served as governor of California from 1967 to 1975, before being elected the 40th president of the United States in 1980.
Ronald Reagan is largely credited with the demise of Soviet communism during the 1980s. As president, he worked to reduce the threat of war between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., to convince Soviet leaders that cooperation with the U.S. would serve Soviet interests, and to encourage openness and democracy in the U.S.S.R.
After defeating Japan in World War II, Soviet forces occupied the Korean Peninsula north of the 38th parallel and U.S. forces occupied the south. Korea was intended to be reunited eventually, but the Soviets established a communist regime in their zone, while in 1947 the United Nations assumed control of the U.S. zone and sought to foster a democratic pan-Korean state. Amid partisan warfare in the south, the Republic of Korea was established in 1948. By 1950 the violence had convinced North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung that a war under Soviet auspices was necessary for reunification.
