Audio Guide

Hello, i'm senator pat roberts chairman
of the eisenhower memorial commission
this tour will introduce you to the
memorial dedicated to kansas's favorite
son,president dwight d eisenhower the
general who saved western democracy in world war ii and as president led america for eight years of peace and prosperity.
welcome, and i hope you enjoy the audio tour. We must be ready to dare all for our
country for history does not long entrust the
care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
We must acquire proficiency in defense
and display stamina in purpose

January 20th 1953, dwight d eisenhower stands at the base of the capitol building
just a few blocks from where you are now.

He's delivering his first inaugural
address as the 34th president of the united states of america. From rural kansas to the war-torn beaches of normandy and now to the oval office eisenhower's story
is the embodiment of the american dream.

Today he addresses tens of thousands of
onlookers as he charts a path towards national peace and prosperity.

We are summoned by this honored and
historic ceremony to witness more than the act of one citizen swearing his oath of service in the presence of his god we are called as a people to give testimony in the sight of the world to our faith that the future
shall belong to the free.

Welcome to the dwight d eisenhower
presidential memorial.This memorial is both a celebration of eisenhower's accomplishments and a meditation on the values vision and integrity that shaped his legacy and continue to resonate throughout american society today.

Right now you are standing at an important historical corridor in the heart of washington dc. The buildings that surround the memorial, the department of education, the department of health and human
services, the federal aviation administration and the national air and space museum
are all institutions whose origins can
be traced back to the eisenhower presidency.

They frame this four acre urban memorial
park designed by frank gehry. Here the story of eisenhower's life unfolds around you. Near the northwest corner of the site is
a sculpture of eisenhower as a young man sitting on a wall looking towards his future achievements. He grew up in abilene kansas america's heartland, one of six boys from a family of modest means. He went on to shape the course of human
history.

At the heart of the memorial you see
general eisenhower addressing the
paratroopers of the 101st airborne division shortly before the d-day invasion of normandy. This was one of the largest and most complex wartime operations in history.

As supreme commander of all the allied
nations in world war ii eisenhower made the final crucialdecision to launch the assault.

In the statue opposite this scene
eisenhower stands in the oval office
flanked by members of his administration.
As president he kept the peace under the constant threat of communist nations with atomic weapons. Eisenhower did this all while strengthening the country's democratic institutions and economy.

The defining feature of the eisenhower
memorial is the metal tapestry that spans the entire southern border of the
site, it depicts the rugged cliffs of normandy
france, but here there are no soldiers tanks or planes, this is normandy in peacetime a symbol of eisenhower's lasting legacy to the
world.

Eisenhower was a man of contrasts
he was a humble man who became one of
the most powerful leaders of our time.
He was a war hero who would also become
a champion for peace, strength, modesty and integrity.

Defined ike as eisenhower was called throughout his life and came to define the country he helped shape.

Eisenhower was a moral compass for the nation a model of traditional american values such as individualism, diplomacy, and cooperation.

In his farewell address of 1961
eisenhower outlined his greatest vision
for the future:

You and i my fellow citizens need to be
strong in our faith that all nations under god will reach the goal of peace with justice may we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the nation's great goals.

This was eisenhower's lifetime goal
to achieve global peace to balance
security and freedom so that democracy would flourish in america and the world over.

This audio guide has been made possible
with the generous donation from the
boeing company

 

World-renowned architect frank gehry designed the eisenhower memorial. In this interview gary speaks with his biographer
the architecture critic paul goldberger about the choices and challenges that went into realizing his vision

Why eisenhower why would you want to be designing a memorial to this general and president?

I really got into the man the whole life the whole ethos, I mean once you're caught up in it, It's amazing. Made me realize there was more to Eisenhower than a lot of us ever thought about it seems that there was sort of a firm and quiet authority.

Exactly there's somebody that understood people and understood their needs and was able to Fulfill their needs but have them operative at a crucial moment in history.

One of the things that makes this memorial unusual is that it really is a memorial that
encompasses the whole arc of his life. I was trying to keep it simple so that you walked into the memorial and in two minutes you could see the story you saw the general you saw the the president and now you
see the the normandy coast and you see it all at once.

It's it's separate but it's one story and you see it while you're standing under a tree which is symbolically a point of learning.

I hope there's a modicum of serenity in the experience.

I wanted them to stand there and connect with with eisenhower the man,because he was such a great man and such an important man and such an important american.

In both the presidential and the military tableau. He's shown relating to other people.This is rare among memorials because memorials often support the kind of cult of the individualas this vast figure who operated as a great person.

Above all others and in fact, you don't feel that here you feel him operating in concert with others. Yes the idea of Eisenhower is being with the people amongst people and and needing and wanting to be communal not, uh represented as in a napoleonic way.

I think that resonated very much. That was the surprise for me. Well, I was going to ask you about the broader challenge of designing a sort of a modern memorial
that is true to your own instincts as an architect and yet fulfills the ethos of a memorial this story.

Is that for my fellow architects is it doesn't have to be my language. In fact, it's better without that. There's no curving titanium in this no no no, the whole thing is new invention. I I don't know if we'd ever do anything like this again.

I'm as i'm approaching 91 the opportunity is not but the fact that you wanted to push yourself, not only to honor eisenhower but to do some architecture that was a little bit different from things you've done before I think is yeah, I think as an architect if you
go with the flow go with the project, go with the problem, go with the client, go with the
situation.

Something comes out of it that's unique. It's like a scientist. It's an exploration. You don't know where you're going and and creativity is like that if if you know where you're going it's not exciting to do it, to be creating something that has so much gravitas for the world.

That was I was living with that for a long time in the end, it's a great honor to be part of it

This audio guide has been made possible with the generous donation from the boeing company

Here's dwight d eisenhower at about 15 years old, he's sitting wearing overalls boots and a simple button-down shirt. His arms are on his knees.

The sculpture by sergey lombakov is human scale. Young eisenhower looks peaceful happy maybe because he's in abilene, kansas his hometown

Abilene is more than 1000 miles from where you're standing. It was once a wild cowboy town where cattle drives gave way to the railroads. But by the time eisenhower was growing up there abilene was a quiet farming community where all the streets were dirt.

He was one of six boys in a family from the wrong side of the tracks. But abilene informed a lot of who eisenhower was

And what he became?

general

wartime commander

president

Eisenhower always said that out of everything else. He was most proud of where he was from. He was an independent-minded young man who liked to hunt and fish and especially play seven card stud poker. He stood out on the football and baseball fields.

He also knew about hard work putting in long hours at the local creamery and doing many chores around the house, feeding animals gardening and canning food.

But it was the influence of his mom ida. That would set him on a course to greatness. Ida instilled in him the value of education. Eisenhower's high school yearbook named him the best historian and mathematician in the class, and so in 1911
eisenhower was accepted into the united states military academy at west point.

He took the train all the way from abilene to the hudson valley in new york. He brought with him everything. He had learned at home, the good and the bad

He chafed against authority racking up constant demerits for sneaking out to smoke cigarettes. But the hard physical training of west point was no challenge for a hearty country boy like eisenhower.

He was well liked by his peers and took the first steps towards growing into the leader that he'd become later in life.

Take a look here at young eisenhower's right knee in the sculpture, it's still healthy

But at a football game in his second year at west point eisenhower injured that knee so badly that he never played football again.
Yet instead of despairing. He went on to coach football at west point. He soon developed a reputation for getting the most out of his players. After graduating this talent led him to train army recruits just the beginning of a long celebrated military career.

But as you see him here, that's all in his future. If you can try to follow his line of sight and see what's written there. It's an excerpt from a speech eisenhower made in abilene when he returned there as a war hero.

June 22 1945. Just over a month after germany surrendered to the allies in world war ii eisenhower returned to his hometown on a victory tour.

It is a privilege this afternoon to present to you the supreme commander of all the allied forces in europe. Five stars general but more than that the son of abilene dwight eisenhower.

After a parade through town eisenhower stood and addressed the gathered crowd.

Please note that this speech has been edited for length.

Because no man is really a man who has lust out of himself all of the boys. I want to speak first of the dreams of a barefoot boy frequently they are to be a streetcar conductor or he sees himself as the town policeman. Above all he may reach the position of locomotive engineer.

But always in his dreams is that day when finally he comes home? Comes home to a welcome from his own hometown. Because today that dream of mine of 45 years or more ago has been realized beyond the wildest directions of my own imagination.

I come here first to thank you, to say the proudest thing I can claim is that I am from abilene. Never has this town been outside my heart and my memory.

Here are some of my oldest and dearest friends. Here are people that are lifelong friends of my mother and my late father,
the really two great individuals of the eisenhower family

They raised six boys and they made sure
that each had an upbringing at home and an education that equipped him to gain a respectable place in his own profession.

And I think it's fair to say they all have.They
and their families are the products of the loving care the labor and work of my father and mother just another average abilene family.

One more word, there was one thing in the parade today that was in error a number of times. I saw a sign welcome to our hero.
As I before mentioned I am not the hero,
I am the symbol of the heroic man you people and all the united states have sent to war it has been my great honor to command three million american men and women in europe.

And now on the part of myself and my wife my brothers and all their families,I want to say thanks to kansas to dickenson county and to abilene for a reception that so far exceed anything any of us could imagine. That all of us are practically choked with emotion. Good luck and god bless every one of you

This audio guide has been made possible with the generous donation from the boeing company

In this sculpture six paratroopers of the united states 101st airborne division dressed in battle uniform.

Look toward general dwight d eisenhower, supreme commander of the allied forces, some appear young and uncertain,
others look battle hardened and ready,
all eyes are locked on eisenhower who stands before the men as he does before you now one arm behind his back and the other partially outstretched hand clenched in an upturned fist.

Eisenhower is there to boost the morale of the soldiers because he's about to send them on a dangerous mission. One that could turn the tide of the war. He's decided to risk everything on a break in the weather
and send more than 150 000 allied troops across the english channel to storm the beaches of normandy france

It will be the largest and most complex coordinated invasion of world war ii. The attack will happen early the next morning
june 6 1944, D-day.

To be successful the sea ground and air forces of many nations have to be closely coordinated, but it is the paratroopers who will see the fiercest combat.

Eisenhower knows many of them will not survive. He walks among the men asking their names and where they are from hoping to meet someone from his home state of kansas. Each soldier is to him the same sort of young man that he had been when he began his military career

This statuary inspired by a famous photograph was sculpted by sergey lam bakov. Here eisenhower and the soldiers are larger than life standing over eight feet tall. But ilan bakov said he wanted to capture eisenhower's human connection to the troops, he had this certain warmth and
humanity in him. And this was the thing that is indispensable because he was not just a leader. He had this human characteristic in him.

Eisenhower never forgot that he was asking his soldiers sailors and airmen to make the ultimate sacrifice for their nations

Eisenhower also, never forgot his own roots, he knew as well as anyone that his rise to the highest rank of supreme commander was an unexpected one.
Despite his west point pedigree eisenhower had not been a model cadet or soldier.
He had a rebellious streak and often balked at authority. He showed a talent for strategy and training but this led him to military staff jobs rather than positions in the field.

But eisenhower was patient savvy and determined able to navigate army bureaucracy while keeping a clear focus on his goal to command troops. As america drew closer to entering world war ii eisenhower finally had his chance.

Army chief of staff general george c marshall saw much had to be done to get the army into fighting shape. So marshall broke protocol and promoted younger talent
,talent like dwight d eisenhower.

He was a natural leader with a rare combination of personality and intelligence
Marshall's judgment proved to be right.

Eisenhower inspired respect and unity among his troops and effectively coordinated leaders of the disparate allied forces, forces that often resembled more of a dysfunctional family than a united front.

In the end he led a vast army of more than a dozen countries on D-day here carved into the wall behind the statuary is a scene of the troops approaching the beaches in the historic storming of normandy?

Soldiers sailors and airmen of the allied expeditionary force. On the morning of the assault as soldiers made final preparations
eisenhower delivered the order of the day.
A rallying cry and message of good luck.
The order was printed and given to each soldier to take into battle.

On d-day eisenhower read the order over the radio.You are about to embark upon the great crusade toward which we have striven these many months.The eyes of the world are upon you.The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave allies and brothers in arms on other fronts. You will bring about the destruction of the german war machine, the elimination of nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of europe and security for ourselves in a free world. Your task will not be an easy one.Your enemy is well trained well-equipped and battle-hardened, he will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944. Much has happened since the nazi triumphs of 1940 1940-41.The united nations have inflicted upon the germans great defeats in open battle man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.

The tide has turned.The free men of the world are marching together to victory. I have full confidence in your courage devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory. Good luck and let us all be seats the blessing of almighty god upon this great and noble undertaking.

Despite the loss of thousands of allied fighters the attack was a success. Opening the coast for troops to fight their way across europe and defeat the nazi armies within a year.The victory made eisenhower an international hero

This audio guide has been made possible with the generous donation from the boeing company

Here president dwight d eisenhower stands in front of his desk in the white house oval office. A pair of civilian advisors stand to one side of him on his other side is a military advisor. These men are not based on any specific people. Instead they are symbolic of two strong sometimes competing influences.The need for strength abroad on one side and progress at home on the other

What made eisenhower want to be president? At first he wasn't interested in the job. As a general in the army and former nato commander he felt he had to be non-partisan. But in 1952 he changed his mind.
The country was at war in korea, tensions were rising with the soviet union.

In response a grassroots campaign began to recruit general eisenhower to run for president. Eisenhower saw that he was needed to keep the peace. He ran and won a decisive victory carrying 39 of 48 states.

It's true, people liked ike, and ike knew that as president he could serve the people.
He knew it was vital to keep the peace without sacrificing the country's economy or democracy

He had to create balance through his leadership. There is in our affairs at home a middle way between untrammeled freedom of the individual and the demands for the welfare of the whole nation.

Notice at the back of this scene on the wall is a carved relief map of the world. As a former soldier eisenhower always maintained a global perspective. After taking office eisenhower extricated the u.s from korea and understanding that future wars would be nothing like what had come before.

Eisenhower built a nuclear arsenal to deter atomic powers like the soviet union. Later eisenhower would say the united states never lost a soldier or a foot of ground in my
administration, we kept the peace.

People ask how it happened. By god, it didn't just happen, I'll tell you that.

Keeping the peace abroad allowed eisenhower to pursue progress at home.
He believed that a free society and a productive economy were just as important as military strength.

In the statuary here, the military advisor is a white man as is the civilian advisor to the far left of the scene. However, the man closer to eisenhower holding a briefcase under one arm, he's african-american.This is symbolic of eisenhower's work to advance civil rights. Eisenhower saw civil rights as one of the most important issues facing the nation.

When the governor of arkansas refused to integrate the schools in little rock. Eisenhower ultimately deployed the 101st airborne division to support the peaceful integration.

Eisenhower had a special connection to this unit. It was the same one. He visited on the eve of d-day. That visit is also depicted here in the memorial in the statuary across from the oval office scene, the paratroopers there are all white men because the military wasn't integrated during world war ii.

During his presidency eisenhower completed the desegregation of the military.
There are many other ways eisenhower's domestic legacy lives on today.

Education was his ticket from abilene kansas to the united states military academy at west point and beyond. He never forgot this and his president he created the department of health education and welfare. Elevating education to a higher level of importance than any previous president.

He also created the national aeronautics and space administration,NASA, and the interstate highway system. The largest public works project in u.s history.

When eisenhower first became president, it wasn't clear if the united states would be able to compete with the communist nations, but by the time he left office eisenhower was truly the leader of the free world.

From the white house in the office of the president of the united states, we present an address by dwight d eisenhower

January 1961

Three days before the end of president eisenhower's second term

This evening. I come to you with a message of leave taking and farewell and to share
a few final thoughts with you my countrymen. Eisenhower's farewell address is one of his best known speeches.

Some excerpts can be found inscribed behind this statuary, In his farewell eisenhower praised the values that make america strong

Throughout america's adventure in free government

Our basic purposes have been to keep the peace to foster progress in human achievement and to enhance liberty dignity and integrity among peoples and among nations.To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people

But eisenhower also offered some final words of caution

Please note. This speech has been edited for length

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty ready for instant action so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Until the latest of our world conflicts the united states had no armaments industry
American makers of plowshares could with time and as required make swords as well.
But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense.

We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. We recognize the imperative need for this development, yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence whether sought or unsought by the military industrial complex

The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense.

With our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together. It was the end of a lifetime of public service

Eisenhower entered the u.s army in 1915, and now nearly 46 years later. It was time to say goodbye. So in this my last good night to you as your president. I thank you for the many opportunities. You have given me for public service in war and in peace. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle.
Confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the nation's great goals.To all the peoples of the world. I once more give expression to america's prayerful and continuing aspiration.

We pray. That peoples of all faiths all races all nations may have their great human needs satisfied.That those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full.
That all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings.Those who have freedom will understand also its heavy responsibility. That all who are insensitive to the needs of others

Will learn charity and that the sources scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made disappear from the earth and that in the goodness of time all peoples will come to live together in a piece guaranteed
by the binding force of mutual respect and

Love this audio guide has been made possible with the generous donation from the boeing company

Here is the defining feature of the eisenhower memorial a vast metal tapestry depicting the cliffs of normandy. Depending on the time of day or the weather or even the angle of your gaze the scene may appear to be glowing lit from behind or the image may be subtle blending in with the background.

At the very center is puente duoc. It was one of the keys to general eisenhower's d-day victory. But in the tapestry, there are no german fortifications, no allied forces storming the shore no boats or troops or guns.This peacetime scene is based on a drawing by frank gehry the designer of the memorial.

The tapestry is 450 feet long and eight stories high. It's made up of 600 individual panels of braided stainless steel cable.
The material is enduring, but the tapestry is always changing.

This drawing changes every hour every half an hour because of the structure of it because of the three-dimensional character of it the light is playing with it all the time

That's artist and architect. Thomas oshinski who oversaw the creation of the tapestry

He's speaking from his shop. It's shimmering silver or it's getting completely black from one side. It's more contrasty from another is less, so it's almost like a live live drawing. This huge tapestry was central to architect frank gehry's early vision for the memorial. It had a interest in tapestry.

The great tapestries and it occurred to me that if we could create a backdrop of some kind that could define the site. Gary submitted a proposal for the eisenhower memorial a design that featured a giant metal tapestry. Something he had never made before and something he wasn't even sure could be built. We shockingly won the competition. It proved to be a challenge both in its design and in its fabrication.

So gary enlisted oshinsky to execute this seemingly impossible structure. He said I know how to do this. Every time I ask him to do something impossible, he says I can do it and nine out of ten. He figures it out and
thomas turned out to be the crazy genius that we always knew he was. It was a complicated undertaking but oshinski says he wasn't intimidated.

My approach of the scale is if it's too big
you cut it in half if it's still too big you cut it again until you're comfortable with the piece that you have.The same with complexity complexity is the bunch of non-complex elements and the size is just a bunch of smaller pieces put together.

To create the tapestry in front of you oshinski invented a machine to weld together panels of stainless steel wire.
He enlisted his daughter tia a software engineer to write a computer program that would control the welding machine.
But in the early stages, they weren't sure it would work. At some point I asked my daughter. Okay switch it on, she switched it on and we first time in the history of the project. We get 10 consecutive good wells
of wire to wire and everybody was amazed including me my daughter looked at me
and asked me dad are you crying? And I was.It was such a relief that you couldn't not cry.

This father-daughter ingenuity made the over 80 million welds in the tapestry before you. But even with the technical details mastered gary still needed to figure out the artwork and depicting the cliffs at normandy also proved challenging. If you take a picture of the cliffs of normandy, it's very dark chunk of real estate and the tapestry became overwhelmingly complicated and
difficult to create a clarity to it.

We tried every way to show the churches on the coast and the buildings and the sky and the clouds. We tried everything and and hit the wall. We couldn't figure out how to do it, so gary put pen to paper and started sketching.

I had a piece of yellow paper like a notepad
and I was talking to craig webb my partner,
I said we need to get some kind of clarity and I did a drawing for him of what it needs to be and I said, I don't know how to get here. And craig unbeknownst to me took that drawing blew it up big and put it on the wall, and I looked at it and I said, oh my god it works and craig said yeah, you got to draw it. I said wait a minute. I don't think that's my forte to do a landscape drawing.

The 90 year old master architect rose to the challenge. I was sitting on the bed early one morning and I just started drawing it. That's the drawing that became the tapestry
and who knew I could draw that drawing.

The scene captures the beautiful serene cliffs of the french coast. This is normandy in peacetime. I think it represents winning the war when you look at a peaceful image
of what started as a very threatening piece of land and you see it at peace that represents.The accomplishment of generalizing her. That accomplishment the d-day victory made eisenhower famous throughout the world. But in london shortly after germany surrendered, he spoke of the true cost of being a war hero

Here is eisenhower

Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives a claim earned the blood of his followers and in the sacrifices of his friends.

Conceivably a commander may have been professionally superior, he may have written a chapter in military history that will grow forever. Brightly even such a man if he existed would sadly face the fact hat his honors cannot hide in his memories the crosses that mark the resting places of the dead.

They cannot sue the anguish of the widow and the orphanage whose husband or his father will not return

The scene of normandy in front of you is quiet peaceful and that is what eisenhower himself wanted.

He walked these beaches in 1964 as part of a cbs news report on the 20th anniversary of d-day

Thinking back on the invasion eisenhower spoke of his hope for the future. I devoutly hope that we will never again have to see such scenes as these. So every time I come back to um these beaches I say once more we must find some way to work to peace and to gain an eternal peace for this world.

This audio guide has been made possible with the generous donation from the boeing company