Eisenhower National Historic Site, Gettysburg, United States

Eisenhower National Historic Site preserves the home and farm of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, and its surrounding property of 690.5 acres (279.4 ha). It is located in Cumberland Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania. Located adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield, the farm served the President as a weekend retreat and a meeting place for world leaders. With its peaceful setting and view of South Mountain, it was a much needed respite from Washington and a backdrop for efforts to reduce Cold War tensions.

Purchased by then-General Eisenhower and his wife Mamie in 1950, the farm served as a weekend retreat for the President and a meeting place for world leaders, and became the Eisenhowers’ home after they left the White House in 1961.

History
Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American Army general and statesman who served as the 34th President of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was a five-star general in the United States Army and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe.

Eisenhower had a long history with the Gettysburg area. His graduating class from West Point had visited the battlefield in 1915. In 1918, he was assigned to nearby Camp Colt in his first independent command as an army officer, commanding a tank training unit; he and Mamie Eisenhower were newly married.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s association with the town and battlefield of Gettysburg began in the spring of 1915 when, as a cadet at the US Military Academy at West Point, he visited with his class to study the battle. Three years later during the First World War, Capt. Eisenhower found himself back in Gettysburg with his wife Mamie and their first son. Despite his hope for duty overseas, he had been appointed commander of Camp Colt, the US Army Tank Corps Training Center located on the fields of Pickett’s Charge. Eisenhower’s orders were, “To take in volunteers, equip, organize, and instruct them and have them ready for overseas shipment when called upon.”

At war’s end Eisenhower left Gettysburg for a new assignment, one of many in a 31 year career in which he rose to the rank of five star general. After World War II, while president of Columbia University, the General and his wife returned to Gettysburg to search for a retirement home. In 1950, fondly recalling Camp Colt days, they bought a 189 acre farm adjoining the Gettysburg Battlefield from Allen Redding who, according to son Raphael Redding, “was always very proud of the fact… that he sold to General Eisenhower.” The Eisenhowers’ retirement was delayed, however, when the General left for Europe to assume command of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Throughout his long army career, Dwight Eisenhower and his wife never had a house to call their own, with the couple moving from army post to army post. After he became Columbia University’s president in 1948, Mamie requested that they finally have a place to call their own. A married couple that were friends with the Eisenhowers, George and Mary Allen, had recently purchased a small farm around Gettysburg, and recommended the area. In 1950, they found a “run-down farm” on the outskirts of Gettysburg, and purchased the farm and its 189 acres (76 ha) for $40,000 (equal to $406,860 today) from one Allen Redding, who had owned the farm since 1921. Eisenhower stated that he could feel the “forgotten heroisms” that occurred on the grounds as the Battle of Gettysburg.

Eisenhower returned home to run for the Presidency in 1952. To kick off his Pennsylvania campaign, he welcomed state Republican leaders to a picnic at the farm.

During his first term as President, he and Mamie renovated their Gettysburg home. Much of the original house was not sound and had to be torn down. The construction was complete by March of 1955 and the Eisenhowers began to visit on weekends and holidays.
On weekends, the Eisenhowers entertained family and friends at the farm. The President enjoyed playing golf at the Gettysburg Country Club, shooting skeet at his skeet range, and inspecting his herd of Angus show cattle.

From its completion in 1955 to the end of Eisenhower’s second term on January 20, 1961, the President spent 365 days total on the Gettysburg farm. The longest of these stays was 38 days in late 1955, while recovering from a heart attack he had suffered that September. After 1955, the Eisenhowers spent most weekends and summer vacations at the Gettysburg farm. They sometimes went to both the Gettysburg farm and Camp David, prompting one person to call Camp David “an annex to Gettysburg”.

In 1961, after 45 years service to their country, General and Mrs. Eisenhower retired to their Gettysburg Farm. For the next eight years the Eisenhowers led an active life. The General worked weekdays at his Gettysburg College office, meeting political and business associates and writing his memoirs. He continued to serve as elder statesman advising Presidents and meeting world leaders. But the Eisenhowers’ greatest joy was to simply spend time on their farm with family and friends.

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The Eisenhowers donated their home and farm (230 acres (93 ha) total at the time) to the National Park Service in 1967, with lifetime living rights for the former president. Two years later, Eisenhower died at the age of 78. Mamie Eisenhower rejected the idea of moving to Washington to be closer to family and friends and, with Federal permission, lived on the farm until her death in 1979, although the living area for Mamie was reduced to 14 acres (5.7 ha). The National Park Service opened the site in 1980.

Historic Site
The plans for decoration and construction of the house were dictated by Mamie Eisenhower. At one point, Eisenhower told the contractor “For God’s sakes, just give her what she wants and send me the bill.” His main concern was personally mixing the paint to recolor the barn, which had a red coat he thought was hideous, so he painted it a light gray-green. Mamie, meanwhile, was delighted in being able to use everything they always had in storage, and decorated more for sentimentality than for aesthetics.

Cattle were raised at the farm. Eisenhower would often poke the rump of a bull with his shotgun to show what quality of steak the animal would eventually produce, alarming the Secret Service agents that were protecting him. Once, while barbecuing (something he loved to do on the farm), he made the mistake of announcing which cow he was cooking. As it had been the favorite cow of his granddaughter Susan Eisenhower, she was brought to tears.

A row of fifty Norway spruce trees lines the main driveway leading to the farm. These trees represent the fifty U.S. states, and were given to Eisenhower as birthday presents from each of the state Republican Party chairmen in 1955. The furthest one from the house was the tree representing Texas, and it was seen as a mark of Eisenhower’s recovery that he was able to walk that far after his heart attack.

The Eisenhowers (especially Dwight in the beginning) spent most of their time in a glass-covered porch overlooking Seminary Ridge. Reading and playing cards with friends were popular pastimes on the porch, it was said that he would sit for hours reflecting on his life and legacy.

Collection:
The Eisenhower National Historic Site museum collection relates to the life and work of Dwight David Eisenhower—a career United States Army officer and the 34th President of the United States—with an emphasis on his accomplishments at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Eisenhowers’ home is fully furnished with approximately 98% of the furnishings being original to the Eisenhower occupancy.

The collection also contains most of the personal effects of Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower ranging from clothing to motor vehicles and includes the Eisenhower Family Papers. Maintaining the Eisenhower Home and grounds resulted in such objects as appliances, cookware, utensils, carpentry tools, and lawn mowers. A U.S. Secret Service detail protected the Eisenhowers and some of their office furnishings and electronic equipment are still extant in the collection. An aspect of Eisenhower’s life unique to the park is Eisenhower Farms, his award winning Black Angus show cattle operation. The park has the definitive collection of Eisenhower Farms’ cattle grooming equipment, halters, medications, awards, and farm machinery, as well as the herdsman’s records.

The collection also covers Eisenhower’s military and political careers with objects and archival materials. An area of special emphasis is Camp Colt—Eisenhower’s first independent command—located on the Gettysburg Battlefield during World War I.

National Park Service management of Eisenhower NHS is documented via resource management records, archeology specimens, and samples of historic fabric removed from structures. The park does not collect or maintain a natural history collection at this time.

Visit:
The Eisenhower National Historic Site is open daily from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The home, grounds, barns and cattle operation are available for public tours. Visitors may reach the site via a shuttle bus which departs from the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center. The total land area is 690 acres (280 ha). Two different films cover the grounds and President Eisenhower’s life.

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