America's Greatest 20th Century Presidents by Charles River Charles River Editors
Authors: Charles River Charles River Editors
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temporary promotion was reverted, but he didn’t remain Captain for long. Within weeks, he was promoted to Major. Shortly after the war was over, Eisenhower took part in the “Transcontinental Motor Convoy,” in which a convoy of military vehicles traversed the country from Washington D.C. to San Francisco. Automobiles were still rather new, and in 1919 there was just one transcontinental road. Ike would later recall the journey wistfully, but the state of the roads reduced the convoy to a snail’s pace. It took two months for the convoy to cross the country, meaning it had traveled on average under 10 miles a day. About 25 years later, Eisenhower would come into contact with Germany’s “Autobahn” highway while at the head of over a million men as the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and the difference was so stark that it would provide all the motivation necessary for President Eisenhower to upgrade the nation’s transportation with a network of interstate highways.
Eventually, Eisenhower settled into a new location at Camp George G. Meade in Maryland, named after the victorious commander of the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, which would ultimately become Eisenhower’s home. For the time being, however, Camp Meade would be his home until 1922, during which he continued to focus his efforts on the tactics and technology of tanks with the intent of convincing his superiors to embrace the weaponry. At times, Eisenhower's tank enthusiasm nearly got him into trouble. He began publishing pieces in support of the tanks, but was threatened with a court martial because the writings contradicted the commands of higher offices. Eisenhower threw in the towel and decided to relent on the tank issue.
By 1922, Eisenhower was given a much more exciting and “active” assignment in the Panama Canal zone, where he took a staff position under Executive Officer Fox Conner, who was commanding the 20 th brigade and who Ike later called “ the ablest man I ever knew." Conner was just as effusive with his praise of Eisenhower, labeling Ike “one of the most capable, efficient and loyal officers I have ever met. ” While he continued to bolster his administrative resume serving as a staffer for Conner, his time in Panama also proved to be a learning opportunity. Because there was no warfare going on around the Canal, Eisenhower spent much of his time studying military tactics, in particular the seminal military treatise On War , written in the 19 th century by the Prussian soldier Carl von Clausewitz. Much of what he learned in Panama influenced his later strategies in World War II.
Fox Conner, who would later be called “the man who made Eisenhower”
Because of Conner's support, Eisenhower decided to increase his military education with more formal training. From 1925-1926, he attended the Command General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. There, his enthusiasm for warfare was much more appreciated than it was at West Point, and he graduated as valedictorian, first in a class of 245 officers.
Depression and Peacetime
By the mid-1920's, America’s military priorities were gradually being put on the backburner. With relative peace taking hold across the world, especially in Europe, the need to rigorous military training and engagement seemed unnecessary. Many of Eisenhower's closest military friends resigned from the army and found high-paying jobs in the private sector. Eisenhower, however, was in the army for the long haul and opted to stay in throughout the interwar years.
Eisenhower performed a variety of military-related activities throughout this period. His first assignment was with the American Battle Monuments Commission, for which he produced a guide to American battlefields for European readers. Assisted in this task by his brother Milton, who was a journalist with the government’s Agriculture Department, the assignment
Eventually, Eisenhower settled into a new location at Camp George G. Meade in Maryland, named after the victorious commander of the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, which would ultimately become Eisenhower’s home. For the time being, however, Camp Meade would be his home until 1922, during which he continued to focus his efforts on the tactics and technology of tanks with the intent of convincing his superiors to embrace the weaponry. At times, Eisenhower's tank enthusiasm nearly got him into trouble. He began publishing pieces in support of the tanks, but was threatened with a court martial because the writings contradicted the commands of higher offices. Eisenhower threw in the towel and decided to relent on the tank issue.
By 1922, Eisenhower was given a much more exciting and “active” assignment in the Panama Canal zone, where he took a staff position under Executive Officer Fox Conner, who was commanding the 20 th brigade and who Ike later called “ the ablest man I ever knew." Conner was just as effusive with his praise of Eisenhower, labeling Ike “one of the most capable, efficient and loyal officers I have ever met. ” While he continued to bolster his administrative resume serving as a staffer for Conner, his time in Panama also proved to be a learning opportunity. Because there was no warfare going on around the Canal, Eisenhower spent much of his time studying military tactics, in particular the seminal military treatise On War , written in the 19 th century by the Prussian soldier Carl von Clausewitz. Much of what he learned in Panama influenced his later strategies in World War II.
Fox Conner, who would later be called “the man who made Eisenhower”
Because of Conner's support, Eisenhower decided to increase his military education with more formal training. From 1925-1926, he attended the Command General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. There, his enthusiasm for warfare was much more appreciated than it was at West Point, and he graduated as valedictorian, first in a class of 245 officers.
Depression and Peacetime
By the mid-1920's, America’s military priorities were gradually being put on the backburner. With relative peace taking hold across the world, especially in Europe, the need to rigorous military training and engagement seemed unnecessary. Many of Eisenhower's closest military friends resigned from the army and found high-paying jobs in the private sector. Eisenhower, however, was in the army for the long haul and opted to stay in throughout the interwar years.
Eisenhower performed a variety of military-related activities throughout this period. His first assignment was with the American Battle Monuments Commission, for which he produced a guide to American battlefields for European readers. Assisted in this task by his brother Milton, who was a journalist with the government’s Agriculture Department, the assignment
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