In The Footsteps of Leaders: Famous Visitors to the Eisenhowers' Gettysburg Farm

Dwight Eisenhower welcomes French President Charles De Gaulle to his Gettysburg farm in April 1960

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

When you visit the Eisenhower National Historic Site, you are walking in the footsteps of many famous world and national leaders. During his presidency as well as his retirement years after his presidency, Dwight Eisenhower—and his wife, Mamie—welcomed many famous visitors to their Gettysburg home and farm.

While president, Eisenhower used these visits from foreign leaders as part of his own personal style of diplomacy. At the farm, Eisenhower and his guests engaged in informal discussions that were off the record and used to get “the measure of the man,” said Eisenhower, a way for him to learn more about each leader individually, as a person and not just as a politician. Most of the visits were short, averaging just two hours or less. Only one famous visitor—Prime Minister Nehru of India—stayed overnight. And most of these visits to the Eisenhower Farm were in addition to more formal discussions and meetings that occurred in the Oval Office or at nearby Camp David. Oftentimes, visits to the farm included lunch, informal chats in the sunporch, meet-and-greets with members of the Eisenhower family including his grandchildren, and tours of Eisenhower’s Angus cattle barn and operation. On at least two occasions, Eisenhower personally led his distinguished guests on tours of the adjacent Gettysburg battlefield.

While most of their famous visitors were heads of state, statesmen, and politicians, Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower also welcomed other well-known individuals to their Gettysburg home, including, among others, spiritual leader Reverend Billy Graham, entertainer Bob Hope, golfer Arnold Palmer, and famed American artist Andrew Wyeth. Three future presidents also visited with Ike and Mamie at their Gettysburg farm: Richard Nixon, who served as Eisenhower’s Vice President, visited on several occasions; Gerald Ford, who as House Minority Leader visited in 1961 and whose children received a personal two-hour-long battlefield tour from Dwight Eisenhower; and Ronald Reagan, who visited on June 15, 1966, when he was then a candidate for the governorship of California.

Some of the famous world and foreign leaders who visited the Eisenhowers’ Gettysburg home and farm included Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, who visited in May 1959; Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, also in 1959; French President Charles De Gaulle (1960); Jawaharlal Nehru, First Prime Minister of India (1956); British Prime Minster Harold MacMillan (1950); British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery (1957); Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of West Germany (1957); Adolfo Lopez Mateos, President of Mexico (1960); Alberto Lleraas Camargo, President of Columbia (1960); and King Mohammad Zahir Shah and Queen Homeira Begum, the last King and Queen of Afghanistan, who visited in September 1963.

The following is a gallery of images of some of the famous world leaders who visited Dwight and Mamie at their Gettysburg Farm.

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

Former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, sitting in rear, with white hat and cigar, next to Dwight Eisenhower, visited the Eisenhowers' Gettysburg farm on May 7, 1959

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

Jawaharlal Nehru, First Prime Minister of India (1947-1964), visited the Eisenhower farm on December 17-18, 1956. Here, they are examining one of President Eisenhower's black angus cattle.

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

Nikita Khrushchev, Premier of Soviet Union (1953-1964), visited the Eisenhowers' farm on September 29, 1959. Here, he and Ike are standing for a photograph in front of the Aspen Lodge at nearby Camp David.

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Libary and Museum

Konrad Adenaur, Chancellor of West Germany (1949-1963), and President Dwight Eisenhower watch a young calf during his visit on May 26, 1957

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

Dwight Eisenhower welcomes President Adolfo Lopez Mateos of Mexico to his home and farm on October 10, 1960.

 

Eisenhower National Historic Site

The last King and Queen of Afghanistan, King Mohammad Zahir Shah (foreground, left) and Queen Homeira Begum (foreground, walking between the Eisenhowers), are welcomed by Dwight and Mamie to their Gettysburg home on September 7, 1963.

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

President Eisenhower provided a tour of the Gettysburg National Military Park to French President Charles DeGaulle during his visit on April 24, 1960. Here, Eisenhower points eastward, toward Cemetery Ridge, while standing in front of the Virginia Memorial.

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

President Eisenhower also provided a tour of the Gettysburg battlefield to Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, British General, during his three-day-long visit to Gettysburg on May 11-13, 1957. Here Eisenhower and Montgomery stand atop a large rock on Little Round Top.

 

Eisenhower National Historic Site

Dwight Eisenhower also led future president Gerald Ford's children on a two-hour tour of the battlefield during the Congressman's visit to the Eisenhower farm in 1961. In this photograph, Ford, who was then the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, sits far left, while former president Eisenhower sits far right, during a conference of Republican leaders. In the background is the Eisenhowers' outdoor grill and brick patio in front of their tea house.

 

Dwight D. EIsenhower Presidential Library and Museum

As Eisenhower's Vice President and later as a Presidential Candidate, Richard M. Nixon visited the Eisenhowers' Gettysburg farm on numerous occasions. In this photograph from 1955, Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower stand on the left, while Nixon is standing far right. In between Mamie Eisenhower and Nixon is Oveta Culp Hobby, who served in Eisenhower's cabinet as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. In the background stands Nelson Rockefeller, long-serving Governor of New York who later served as Gerald Ford's Vice President.