He ranks as the 5th greatest president, per a 2017 @CSPAN survey of historians - Dwight Eisenhower, born this day in 1890. He was born David Dwight, but didn't like it and changed his name to Dwight David /1 
Eisenhower's greatest quality: "Moral Authority." His worst: "Vision/Setting an Agenda." Yet even here, he ranks #16 out of the 44 men (not 45) who have been president /2
Eisenhower - just one of nine five-star generals in American history - will always be remembered for leading U.S. invasions of North Africa and Europe during WWII, and for guiding American through a (mostly) peaceful and (for the most part) prosperous 1950s /3
Eisenhower's 1950s often seem like a forgotten decade today, sandwiched between World War II and the turmoil of the 1960s. But the '50s were a time of enormous growth and change in America. Halberstam's book remains the best on that fascinating decade:
The Eisenhower grave in Abilene, Kansas. Wife Mamie on right. Great honor for WWR’s Paul Brandus to have lectured at his Presidential Library last year. When in Kansas, do visit (Photo/WWR)
Landing a plane steps from the West Wing may have been possible on this day in 1910 - but authorities frown on such things today
A heavy coat, an eyeglass case and this thickly-folded speech saved Theodore Roosevelt's life, when the former President was shot this day in 1912. Bleeding, he continued his speech - for another hour - before allowing himself to be taken to a Milwaukee hospital
Take it from Gerald Ford - get your flu shot. This day, 1976 (South Lawn visible through window)
