The Dwight D. Eisenhower Society

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Society "I hope and pray that the Society will become a perpetual living memorial to Ike." -- Mamie Doud Eisenhower, December 14, 1975

On Wednesday, May 6, students, guardians and teachers gathered at the Adams County Technical Institute for an awards bre...
05/28/2026

On Wednesday, May 6, students, guardians and teachers gathered at the Adams County Technical Institute for an awards breakfast and the presentation of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Senior Self-Improvement Awards. These awards were presented to students that were at risk of not graduating high school but turned their lives around. Students self-nominated themselves to improve their school performance in the areas of school grades, improved attendance, more positive attitudes, better behavior, and their involvement in school and community activities. They kept portfolios documenting their efforts, secured references, and wrote a personal statement about their efforts. These portfolios were used to select the most improved student and four honorable mentions from each of the six Adams County school districts. Twenty-eight students received awards. A resiliency award was also presented to two students who overcame great odds.

Partners for this program include the Adams County Economic Education Foundation, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Society, the Adams County Bar Foundation, The Robert C. Hoffman charitable Endowment Trust, The Gettysburg Optimist Club, the Rotary Club of Gettysburg, 1st Ed Credit Union, and the Chamber of Gettysburg & Adams County.

As Eisenhower wrote in his autobiography, At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends, about the men in the Development Battalion at Camp C**t, Gettysburg in 1918, “I am inclined by nature to be optimistic about the capacity of a person to rise higher than he or she has thought possible once interest and ambition are aroused.”

Congratulations to this year’s awardees.

“Let us reverently honor those who have fallen in war, and rededicate ourselves through prayer to the cause of peace, to...
05/25/2026

“Let us reverently honor those who have fallen in war, and rededicate ourselves through prayer to the cause of peace, to the end that the day may come when we shall never have another war—never another Unknown Soldier.”

President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Memorial Day Proclamation
1953

It was 1963 when May was first designated as National Barbecue Month. Just two years earlier, one of the White House's m...
05/21/2026

It was 1963 when May was first designated as National Barbecue Month. Just two years earlier, one of the White House's most masterful barbecuers, President Dwight Eisenhower, had left office. He was such a fan of barbecuing, he had a grill installed on the balcony outside the White House Solarium.

Ike was infamous for his preferred steak barbecuing method. He liked his steaks grilled up “dirty,” or so-called “caveman” style. A three inch slab of meat was thrown directly on a bed of red hot coals. The result, after brushing off the ash, was a juicy blood rare steak with a thoroughly burnt crust.

Journalist Ralph McGill wrote in an article for the Miami Daily News that Ike’s guests would be so alarmed upon observing his grilling technique that they “would have to be restrained from springing forward to rescue the steak.”

(Note that Ike is not barbecuing “dirty” in this photo. Photo courtesy of Eisenhower NHS.)

On May 13, 1943, all remaining Axis forces in North Africa officially surrendered to the Allies in Tunisia. Over 250,000...
05/14/2026

On May 13, 1943, all remaining Axis forces in North Africa officially surrendered to the Allies in Tunisia. Over 250,000 German and Italian troops became prisoners of war. This marked the end of the three-year North African Campaign which included, six months prior to the surrender, the first large scale US – British joint operation of the war – Operation Torch – the invasion of North Africa commanded by General Dwight Eisenhower. Following the surrender, Eisenhower immediately shifted his focus to planning and overseeing Operation Husky - the invasion of Sicily.

Pictured in the photo is Eisenhower in Tunisia discussing future operations with British General Harold Alexander, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces in North Africa. Alexander, who would be promoted to Field Marshal in 1944, was Eisenhower’s and Churchill’s favorite British general, highly regarded by both for his capable leadership, courage, dependability, tactfulness, and charm.

(To learn more about the Dwight D. Eisenhower Society, visit our website at www.dwightdeisenhowersociety.org)

After the Allied victory in WWII, a reporter asked General Eisenhower’s mother, Ida, if she was proud of her son. The mo...
05/10/2026

After the Allied victory in WWII, a reporter asked General Eisenhower’s mother, Ida, if she was proud of her son. The mom of six boys famously replied, “Which one?”

Happy Mother’s Day to all our Moms!

(Photo: Ida, husband David, and their six sons, c. 1935)

On Law Day, May 1, 2026, Taurean Moses, Esq. (right), of the Adams County Bar Foundation, presented Executive Director C...
05/05/2026

On Law Day, May 1, 2026, Taurean Moses, Esq. (right), of the Adams County Bar Foundation, presented Executive Director Carol Hegeman with a $3,300 grant to support the Dwight D. Eisenhower Senior Self-Improvement Awards. For over 20 years, the Society has worked with the local Adams County Economic Education Foundation to provide cash awards to students that have turned their lives around to graduate from high school. Each of the six Adams County school districts nominates up to five students who receive cash awards either for most improved or honorable mention. Students will be recognized on May 6th at an awards breakfast. Thank you, Adams County Bar Foundation, for your support of this program!

(The Dwight D. Eisenhower Society is dedicated to promoting the memory and legacy of leadership of Dwight D. Eisenhower through educational programs, scholarships, grants and special events. To learn more about the Society, visit our website at www.dwightdeisenhowersociety.org )

On Saturday, a three-year old thoroughbred c**t - Golden Tempo - came from dead last to win the 152nd Kentucky Derby at ...
05/03/2026

On Saturday, a three-year old thoroughbred c**t - Golden Tempo - came from dead last to win the 152nd Kentucky Derby at 23 – 1 odds!

Speaking of horses, Dwight Eisenhower had a lifelong love of riding horses and during his presidential and retirement years kept 8 to 9 horses and ponies on his Gettysburg farm, including quarter horses and Arabians. In those later years, he didn't ride as often, but retained a love for horses and watching his grandchildren ride.

Granddaughter Susan has said that one of her fondest childhood memories of her grandfather involved the horses:

Susan had been out with the horses and afterwards apparently forgot to secure the pasture gate. Later while sitting out on the sun porch with her family and grandparents, the horses suddenly galloped back and forth past the window and in the process repeatedly trampled across the president's newly installed putting green. After running out with the Secret Service to corral the horses, she returned to apologize to her grandfather and face his terrible wrath.

She remembers dutifully marching up to her grandfather. But then, before she could offer her apology, he remarked wistfully, “You know, I haven't seen horses run free like that since I was a boy in Abilene. What a beautiful sight!”

And that was it. The incident was never mentioned again.

Ike never attended a Kentucky Derby, but he and Mamie were on hand as former president and first lady at the 93rd running of the Belmont Stakes in 1961 won by the 65 -1 longshot, Sherluck, in a huge upset. (Photo courtesy of Eisenhower Presidential Library)

BY POPULAR DEMAND…Queen Elizabeth’s DROP SCONE RECIPE sent to President Eisenhower in her handwritten letter after the P...
05/01/2026

BY POPULAR DEMAND…
Queen Elizabeth’s DROP SCONE RECIPE sent to President Eisenhower in her handwritten letter after the President’s visit to Balmoral Castle in 1959:

INGREDIENTS:
4 teacups flour
4 tablespoons caster sugar
2 teacups milk (a “teacup” is about 3/4 of a standard cup measure)
2 whole eggs
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
3 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons melted butter

INSTRUCTIONS:
Beat eggs, sugar, and about half the milk together, add flour, and mix well together adding remainder of milk as required, also bicarbonate and cream of tartar, fold in the melted butter.

A few scone prep tips the Queen also included in her letter:
“Though the quantity is for 16 people, when there are fewer, I generally put in less flour and milk, but use the other ingredients as stated. I have also tried using golden syrup or treacle instead of only sugar and that can be very good too.

I think the mixture needs a great deal of beating while making and shouldn’t stand about too long before cooling.”

As King Charles visits America in celebration of our 250th anniversary, we recall his mother's visit to America during P...
04/29/2026

As King Charles visits America in celebration of our 250th anniversary, we recall his mother's visit to America during President Eisenhower’s second term to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. (And to help mend the relationship between the two countries after the Suez Crisis.)

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip stayed at the White House where they attended a state dinner in their honor. Several days later they joined the Eisenhowers at Sunday church service and again for a dinner at the British Embassy. The Queen also addressed the United Nations, attended a college football game, and visited Jamestown, Williamsburg, and a Giant grocery store.

The Queen and the President shared a warm relationship. During her visit, she surely recalled for him her memory of the first time they “met” during WWII: It was 1942 and her father, King George, had invited Generals Eisenhower and Mark Clark for a private tour of Windsor Castle grounds with the intention that he and the Royal Family would remain inside to forego any need for protocol and the Generals would be able to relax and enjoy their visit. One day, while the King was outside in the Rose Garden having tea with his family, he suddenly spotted the Generals and realized he’d forgotten that this was the arranged tour date. He and the rest of family, including Princess Elizabeth, then ducked under the table and crawled behind the hedges in an effort not to be seen.

A reflection of their mutual fondness was the hand-written note including her scone recipe that the Queen sent to the President after his visit to Balmoral Castle in 1959:

“Dear Mr. President,

Seeing a picture of you in today’s newspaper standing in front of a barbecue grilling quail, reminded me that I had never sent you the recipe of the drop scones which I promised you at Balmoral. I now hasten to do so, and I do hope you will find them successful…

We remember with such pleasure your visit to Balmoral, and I hope the photograph will be a reminder of the very happy day you spent with us.

With all good wishes to you and Mrs. Eisenhower.

Yours sincerely,
Elizabeth R”

Photo: Queen Elizabeth greets President Dwight D. Eisenhower on his arrival at the British Embassy, October 1957. (National Archives)

April is National Poetry Month during which we’re reminded of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s favorite poem – “If” by Rudyard Kip...
04/25/2026

April is National Poetry Month during which we’re reminded of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s favorite poem – “If” by Rudyard Kipling. For Ike, two of the most inspiring lines from the poem were:

“If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch…”

The poem was one of FDR’s and Churchill’s and Patton’s favorites as well. John Eisenhower said his Dad considered the poem “his watchword” and made him memorize its entire last stanza:

“If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!”

To learn more about the Dwight D. Eisenhower Society, visit our website at www.dwightdeisenhowersociety.org

Address

789 Baltimore Street, Suite 100
Gettysburg, PA
17325

Telephone

+17173982349

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