President Dwight D. Eisenhower

PRESIDENT DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
 
 
Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower  (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961, and the last U.S. President to have been born in the 19th century.  He was a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied 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.  In 1951, he became the first Supreme Commander of NATO.  Eisenhower’s two terms saw considerable economic prosperity except for a sharp recession in 1958–59.  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.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 

In a 2001 interview published in USA TodayBob Dylan linked this song to the famous farewell address by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 17, 1961:  “‘Masters of War . . . is supposed to be a pacifistic song against war.  It’s not an anti-war song.  It’s speaking against what Eisenhower was calling a military-industrial complex as he was making his exit from the presidency.  That spirit was in the air, and I picked it up.”  

 

(May 2013)

 

Last edited: March 22, 2021