Ike
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s rise to major command can legitimately be described as meteoric. In 1940 “Ike” was a lieutenant colonel and had never commanded any sized unit in combat. By 1942, after four promotions, he was a lieutenant general in command of Operation Torch and all forces landing in North Africa. Even though most Army officers knew of his organizational talents, some considered his success extremely fortunate and some even thought it providential. George Patton privately claimed Eisenhower’s initials stood for “Divine Destiny.”
Gen. Dwight Eisenhower (Eisenhower Presidential Library)
On November 5, 1942, Eisenhower arrived in British-held Gibraltar to establish his headquarters for Operation Torch. As one historian noted, the British began to take his measure:
He was a true believer in Allied righteousness: “If (the Axis) should win we would really learn something about slavery, forced labor, and loss of individual freedom.” He took pride in being apolitical, as required of American Army officers, and he impressed others—as one British admiral later noted—as “completely sincere, straightforward, and very modest.” There was that incandescent grin, of course, said to be “worth an army corps in any campaign.” Both his face and his hands moved perpetually, and he exuded a magnetic amiability that made most men want to please him. Perhaps that was because, as one admirer asserted, they intuited he was “good and right in the moral sense,” or perhaps it was because, as a British air marshal concluded, “Ike has the qualities of a little boy which make you love him.”128
General Eisenhower was a complicated and uniquely gifted man. His open and sincere nature disguised a keen intellect, a broad range of knowledge, and an amazing capacity for hard work. I believe, however, that one of the greatest keys to his success was his essential “goodness” as a human being, which others sensed in his presence. This quality ensured the loyalty of many strong personalities under his command in spite of many contentious disagreements over strategy.
So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.” So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power.
—1 Samuel 16:12–13