Dwight David Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and the 34th President of the United States. A career military officer from Kansas, Eisenhower rose through the ranks on organizational ability rather than combat leadership, emerging as the general who held together the fractious Allied coalition.
As president (1953-61), Eisenhower practiced 'modern Republicanism'—accepting New Deal programs while pursuing fiscal conservatism. He ended the Korean War, built the Interstate Highway System, enforced school desegregation at Little Rock, and managed Cold War tensions with a combination of nuclear deterrence and covert operations.
Eisenhower's reputation has risen with time. Once dismissed as passive, he's now seen as a skillful leader who kept America out of war while managing great power rivalry. His farewell address warning against the 'military-industrial complex' proved prescient. He governed as a moderate conservative, frustrating both right-wingers who wanted rollback and liberals who wanted expansion.