[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 64 (Monday, May 10, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E797-E798]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE EISENHOWER LEGACY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. TODD RUSSELL PLATTS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 10, 2004

  Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, as the Member with the proud privilege of 
representing the

[[Page E798]]

19th Congressional District, including Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, I have 
tremendous admiration and respect for this Nation's thirty-fourth 
President, Dwight D. Eisenhower.
  When President Eisenhower left the White House in January of 1961, he 
and his wife Mamie settled down on their small farm in Gettysburg to 
enjoy their retirement together. This farm remains a popular tourist 
attraction today.
  The former Supreme Commander of the Allied Troops on D-Day, Supreme 
Commander of NATO, and President of the United States passed away on 
March 28, 1969. On the 35th anniversary of this loss, John Burke 
Jovich, a Presidential Historian and constituent of the 19th 
Congressional District, wrote a remembrance of Ike that very 
effectively captured the character of this great American. I am honored 
to commend this article to my colleagues.

The Eisenhower Legacy . . . Remembering Ike on 35th Anniversary of His 
                                 Death

       It seems that Americans have a funny way of remembering 
     their past presidents. Last November 22nd, for example, the 
     40th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. 
     Kennedy, our nation was barraged with television specials and 
     print commemorations focusing on JFK's life and death. Even 
     during the non-milestone years, there is always some public 
     reminder of President Kennedy on the 22nd of November.
       But do we remember the deaths of those presidents who 
     served immediately before and after Kennedy? Do we bother to 
     observe the death of Harry Truman each December, or Dwight 
     Eisenhower in March, Lyndon Johnson in January, or Richard 
     Nixon each May?
       Of course not.
       None of those presidents were assassinated. They did not 
     die suddenly in office. And all four lived into their senior 
     years and enjoyed the elder statesman status that comes with 
     presidential longevity.
       It was thirty-five years ago today, March 28, when Dwight 
     David Eisenhower passed away at Walter Reed Army Hospital. As 
     his wife, Mamie, held his hand in hers, he spoke his last 
     words to her and their son, John: ``I've always loved my 
     wife. I've always loved my children. I've always loved my 
     grandchildren. And I have always loved my country. I want to 
     go; God take me.''
       Americans called him Ike. He was the commanding military 
     figure of the 1940s, the dominant national leader of the 
     '50s, and the respected elder statesman of the '60s. He had 
     an enduringly handsome grin, and Mamie's curls were as much a 
     trademark in her day as Farrah Fawcett's locks became twenty 
     years later.
       Over the years, several historians have made the mistake of 
     discrediting Eisenhower's two administrations over his habit 
     of relying heavily on the advisement of presidential aides. 
     While Ike did not possess quite the persuasive personality of 
     Franklin Roosevelt or the cajoling force of Lyndon Johnson's 
     in-your-face prevalence, he worked equally hard to achieve 
     his goals.
       As president, Eisenhower worked diligently with the United 
     Nations to end the Korean War shortly after taking office. He 
     lobbied behind the scenes to put the brakes on Joe McCarthy's 
     red-baiting hearings. Ike dispatched federal troops to Little 
     Rock to allow black students to safely enroll at the all-
     white Central High. It was on Eisenhower's watch, not those 
     of Kennedy and Johnson, upon which NASA was initially formed 
     and the Mercury 7 Space Program established. And it was Ike, 
     in his last nationally-televised address as president, who 
     warned the American people about the eminent dangers of 
     the military-industrial complex, a full three years prior 
     to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the tragic escalation 
     of the Viet Nam War.
       But perhaps the most crowning of all Eisenhower's 
     achievements as president was his determined work with a 
     Democratic Congress to establish this nation's interstate 
     highway system, which today stretches some 42,000 miles 
     across our land.
       The idea for such a national undertaking occurred to Ike as 
     a young first-ever Tank commander in the Army at Camp Colt 
     (Gettysburg) during World War I. He witnessed what can happen 
     when entire brigades of tanks and artillery became mired in 
     mud or fell off impassable roads. He told fellow officers 
     that if he ever achieved an important position in public 
     service, one of his goals would be to create a magnificent 
     system of highways for the convenience of all Americans.
       Today, whenever you see one of those familiar blue and 
     white signs adorned with five stars along the interstate that 
     read, ``Eisenhower Interstate System,'' think of Ike.
       Dwight Eisenhower was not a perfect individual. But his 
     affable and honorable disposition made him friends all his 
     life. He was a brilliant military tactician and a gifted 
     leader among men. But he was also very much a common man who 
     preferred watching ``Gunsmoke'' on the back porch of his 
     Gettysburg farmhouse while eating a TV dinner atop a tray, as 
     opposed to hosting a formal dinner at the White House.
       One of the classic stories about Eisenhower occurred one 
     evening in Washington. The President picked up the telephone 
     and asked the switchboard operator to please get Senator 
     Young on the line. After a couple of minutes, the senator 
     respectfully said, ``Good evening, Mr. President.''
       ``Hello, Milt, I want to touch base with you about the 
     status of our Agricultural bill. These Democrats on that 
     committee are holding this thing up and . . .''
       The senator on the other end of the line attempted to 
     interrupt Ike, saying, ``But Mr. President. . .''
       Eisenhower ignored him and kept on urging the senator to 
     get fellow Republican senators together and ``talk some sense 
     to those Democrats about this legislation. . .''
       The senator again tried to interrupt Ike, without success.
       Finally, the senator raised his voice and said, ``Mr. 
     President, this is Senator Steve Young, not Senator Milt 
     Young.''
       Stunned, Ike realized that the White House operator had 
     mistakenly called the Democratic Senator Stephen Young from 
     Ohio rather than the Republican Senator Milton Young from 
     North Dakota.
       Ike muttered, ``Oh damn,'' and hung up.
       Despite the error, Senator Young of Ohio continued to like 
     Ike.
       And so did America.

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