Fleckvieh Forum
by Larry H. Maxey, founder, NAILE Fullblood Simmental Shows
Our Pioneers — “Ike” Part 3
“The proudest thing I can claim is that I am from Abilene.”
As we concluded the March 2026 edition, “‘Ike’ Part 2,” Eisenhower was at a really low point in his military career at the end of World War I. Failing to be dispatched to the war zone was an irreconcilable fact he was hard pressed to understand, given his enormous set of leadership skills. As Stephen E. Ambrose described in his biography, Eisenhower Soldier and President , “Eisenhower was deflated and depressed. He could hardly believe it had happened to him — he was a professional soldier who had missed action in the greatest war in history. He had never heard a shot fired in anger and now did not expect to in his lifetime.”
As in the lives of many great people, the heavy hand of fate can often be found. No one could have known or predicted that fate was at work as Eisenhower’s West Point class of 1915 was assembled. The 1915 class became known as the most famous class in West Point history — “the class the stars fell on.” Of the 164 graduates, 59 rose to the rank of brigadier general or higher, three to the rank of full general, and two to the rank of general of the army. Ike and his friend Omar Bradley share that distinction.
When World War I ended, Eisenhower was 28 years old. With no wars to fight, the US began dismantling its military. In fact, by 1935, the Army didn’t have a single combat unit of any size and ranked 16th among the world’s armies. It was described as more of a school than an army. Ike took the “schooling time” as an opportunity. He became close friends with George S. Patton, Jr. Their assignment was to study the use of tanks for the next war. Eisenhower and Patton were strong on military history. The Eisenhower-Patton friendship would serve both men and the nation well down the road. Patton told Eisenhower, “victory in the next war will depend on execution, not plans.”
What seemed like endless years of studying — war gaming, multiple assignments within the War Department, and the years between the two great wars — proved invaluable in readying Eisenhower for the unthinkable, horrific war to come. It also proved invaluable to Eisenhower in allowing him to work with or for those who would become the greatest leaders of World War II, most notably Generals Douglas MacArthur and George C. Marshall. Eisenhower spent 14 of his 37 years in the Army working directly under these two men — ten with MacArthur, and four with Marshall. Each general liked and respected Eisenhower. MacArthur said of Eisenhower in a fitness report in the early 1930s: “This is the best officer in the Army. When the next war comes, he should go right to the top.” In 1942, “Marshall showed that he agreed with that assessment by implementing the recommendation,” Ambrose recounted.
By 1935, Eisenhower had been in Washington, DC, for six years. In his assessment, he had very little to show for it. No promotions had come to him. He and many other officers had been unable to persuade the government to rebuild the nation’s defenses. “He had had no service with troops and seemed fated to be forever a staff officer,” Ambrose said.
In September 1935, Eisenhower and his family joined MacArthur, bound for the Philippines. He would remain there until the end of 1939. “Nothing that he did there met any of the
criteria he himself had set down for a happy life. His work was neither necessary nor suited to his age or abilities. It was also terribly frustrating and, when the test came, proved to be worthless, as the Japanese in 1941 conquered the Philippine Army he had labored to help create,” Ambrose shared.
In September 1939, World War II began in Europe. By Christmas of 1939, Eisenhower was back in the States with his family, who had endured the hardships of life in the Philippines for four long years. Eisenhower’s son John was now 17, and was considering going to West Point, so he wanted to make sure his son knew what he was getting into.
Finally, to Eisenhower’s great relief, he was back with troops. In Washington state, “he did not just enjoy being with troops, he relished it, reveled in it,” Ambrose said.
The war in Europe was raging. Through the winter of 1940–1941, the Army expanded. New recruits came in by the thousands. At every Army post, construction was in a fevered pitch. Even though the US was not a party to the European war, astute observers knew that it was just a matter of time. Eisenhower’s organizational, planning, and administrative skills were put to use in full force. Eisenhower led a war gaming exercise in August and September 1941 in Louisiana under General Krueger. It was the largest maneuver held by the US Army before America entered the war. Krueger’s 240,000 men prevailed in their invasion of Louisiana that was defended by General Lear’s 180,000 troops. Eisenhower’s performance earned him a promotion to brigadier general (temporary). Eisenhower, in his typical manner, was embarrassed at being singled out. “His insistence that others, not he, really deserved the praise, became one of his best known characteristics, something millions of people found irresistibly appealing,” Ambrose said.
On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, Eisenhower got the news that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Five days later, he was summoned to Washington, DC, by General Marshall. Bad weather prevented his travel from his base in San Antonio to Washington, DC, by air. He was forced to travel by train. Passing through Kansas City, he was now on the same tracks he had traveled on 30 years prior on his way from Abilene to West Point. He could never have imagined the reason he was swiftly summoned to Washington, DC, and what role it would play in leading our great nation in its darkest hour. To be continued… .
Editor’s note: This is the fifty-second in the series Our Pioneers.
Is there a Simmental pioneer who you would like to see profiled in this series? Reach out to Larry Maxey or the editor to submit your suggestions:
