Claim: Dwight D. Eisenhower graduated in the 20th century.

Dwight David `` Ike '' Eisenhower -LRB- -LSB- ˈaɪzənˌhaʊ.ər -RSB- ; October 14 , 1890 -- March 28 , 1969 -RRB- was an American politician and Army general who served as the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 . He was a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe . He was responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942 -- 43 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944 -- 45 from the Western Front .   Eisenhower was born in Denison , Texas , and raised in Kansas in a large family of mostly Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry by parents with a strong religious background . His mother was born a Lutheran , married as a River Brethren and later converted to Jehovah 's Witnesses . Eisenhower did not belong to any denomination until he was President . He graduated from West Point in 1915 and later married Mamie Doud , with whom he had two sons . During World War I , he was denied a request to serve in Europe , instead commanding a unit training tank crews . Following the war , he served under several notable generals , and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1941 . After the U.S. entered World War II , Eisenhower oversaw the successful invasions of North Africa and Sicily before supervising the invasions of France and Germany . After the war , Eisenhower served as Army Chief of Staff and then in an uncomfortable role as president of Columbia University . In 1951 -- 52 , he served as the first Supreme Commander of NATO .   Eisenhower entered the 1952 presidential race as a Republican , in order to block the foreign policies of Senator Robert A. Taft . He won two landslide elections , becoming the first Republican winner to do so since 1928 . Eisenhower 's main goals in office were to contain the expansion of the Soviet Union and reduce federal deficits . In 1953 , he threatened the use of nuclear weapons until China agreed to terms regarding POWs in the Korean War . An armistice ended the stalemated conflict . His New Look policy of nuclear deterrence prioritized inexpensive nuclear weapons while reducing funding for expensive Army divisions . He continued Truman 's policy of recognizing the Republic of China as the legitimate government of China , and he won congressional approval of the Formosa Resolution . His administration provided major aid to help the French fight off Vietnamese Communists in the First Indochina War . After the French left he gave strong financial support to the new state of South Vietnam . He supported local military coups against hostile governments in Iran and Guatemala . During the Suez Crisis of 1956 , Eisenhower condemned the Israeli , British and French invasion of Egypt , and forced them to withdraw . He also condemned the Soviet invasion during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 but took no action . After the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957 , Eisenhower authorized the establishment of NASA , which led to the space race . During the Syrian Crisis of 1957 he approved a CIA-MI6 plan to stage fake border incidents as an excuse for an invasion by Syria 's pro-western neighbours . He deployed 15,000 soldiers during the 1958 Lebanon crisis . Near the end of his term , his efforts to set up a summit meeting with the Soviets collapsed when an American spy plane was shot down over Russia .   On the domestic front , Eisenhower was a moderate conservative who continued New Deal agencies and expanded Social Security . He covertly opposed Joseph McCarthy and contributed to the end of McCarthyism by openly invoking executive privilege . Eisenhower was reluctant to support civil rights but signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent Army troops to enforce federal court orders that integrated schools in Little Rock , Arkansas . His largest program was the Interstate Highway System . He promoted the establishment of strong science education via the National Defense Education Act . Eisenhower 's two terms saw widespread economic prosperity except for a minor recession in 1958 . In his farewell address to the nation , Eisenhower expressed his concerns about the dangers of massive military spending , particularly deficit spending and government contracts to private military manufacturers . Voted Gallup 's most admired man twelve times , he achieved widespread popular esteem both in and out of office . Since the late 20th century , consensus among Western scholars has consistently held Eisenhower as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents .