Eisenhower, then age 12, poses with a sign in 1960 at the presidential retreat named after him
Dwight David Eisenhower II, better known as David, was named after his grandfather, Ike. David was born on March 31, 1948, in West Point, New York, to Barbara (Thompson) and John Eisenhower, the only son and eldest of four children. His father was a U.S. Army officer, and his grandfather was Dwight D. Eisenhower, future president of the United States, and former Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War II.
His father would go on to be a brigadier general in the U.S. Army Reserve, United States Ambassador to Belgium (1969–1971), and a renowned military historian. His grandfather would become president of Columbia University (1948–1953), and later the 34th president of the United States (1953–1961). After assuming the presidency in 1953, President Eisenhower renamed the presidential mountain retreat, formerly Camp Shangri-La, Camp David, after his grandson.[1]
He was at least loosely identified with the Nixon administration, when he accepted a request to attend the funeral of Dan Mitrione in 1970, the operative whose activities in training Uruguayan police in torture techniques, when later publicized, caused profound controversy,[5] although there has been no suggestion that Eisenhower had any knowledge of Mitrione's controversial activities.
Eisenhower was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history in 1987 for his work Eisenhower At War, 1943-1945 about the Allied leadership during World War II.[4][8]
He is the host of a public television series called The Whole Truth with David Eisenhower, distributed by American Public Television.[9]
Eisenhower and Julie live in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.[13] They have three children: actress Jennie Elizabeth Eisenhower (born August 15, 1978);[14] Alexander Richard Eisenhower (b. 1980); and Melanie Catherine Eisenhower (b. 1984).[15] They also have three grandchildren.
'Fortunate Son' wasn't really inspired by any one event. Julie Nixon was dating David Eisenhower. You'd hear about the son of this senator or that congressman who was given a deferment from the military or a choice position in the military. They seemed privileged and whether they liked it or not, these people were symbolic in the sense that they weren't being touched by what their parents were doing. They weren't being affected like the rest of us.[17]
In the satirical 1976 film Tunnel Vision, Eisenhower is identified as President of the United States in the then-future year of 1985, succeeding an African-American woman named Washington, who in turn took over from George Wallace.
References
^"Camp David"Archived 2018-09-17 at the Wayback Machine at Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home" site. Says "Ike re-named it 'Camp David' in honor of his grandson David Eisenhower." Retrieved August 3, 2012.
