Dwight David 'Ike' Eisenhower (/ˈaɪzənhaʊ.ər/ EYE-zən-how-ər; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969), GCB, OM was an American army general and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he became a five-star general in the Army and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe. He cited constant relocation during his military career as one reason. He graduated from West Point in 1915 and later married Mamie Doud, with whom he had two sons. His mother originally named him David Dwight but reversed the two names after his birth to avoid the confusion of having two Davids in the family. All of the boys were called 'Ike', such as 'Big Ike' (Edgar) and 'Little Ike' (Dwight); the nickname was intended as an abbreviation of their last name. NATO did not have strong bipartisan support in Congress at the time that Eisenhower assumed its military command.