Hi everybody, it's Ranger Dan Vermilya here at the Eisenhower
National Historic Site. We're very honored to be taking part
in the 2021 Winter Lecture series today I am standing in a
very special place. I am here in the Eisenhower home here in
Gettysburg, PA and specifically I am in the den of the
Eisenhower home. Now this is one of my favorite rooms in the
house and as I've heard from countless visitors, this is one
of their favorite rooms as well. It's a very special room in the
Eisenhower home. Very rustic.
Dark colours the wood beams in the ceiling in here are from the
original 1700s home that was here when the eisenhowers bought
this farm here in 1950. The floor boards are original from
that time as well and we're standing here today to talk
about some of the artifacts that are on display here in the
Eisenhower Den. As along with the other videos in this series,
we are focusing on specific artifacts and the stories that
they tell us and I don't know about you, but one of my
favorite items in the entire
home. Is Eisenhower's book collection. We have more of this
single item than any other in the House books. In fact, in the
Eisenhower collection we have 982 original Eisenhower books on
exhibit. There are 395 more original Eisenhower books in
storage for a grand total of 1377 original Eisenhower books
in our museum collection, and for reference, our friends at
the Harry S Truman National
Historic Site. Have around 1100 books in their collection.
I'm fascinated by the books that Eisenhower read because I think
books tell us a lot about who an individual is, tells us about
their passions, their interests, their friendships, their
beliefs, and that is certainly true of the collection here in
the Eisenhower National Historic Site. As Kurt Vonnegut wrote by
Reading the writings of the most interesting minds in history, we
meditate with our own minds and their's as well. This to me is a
miracle. Well, Eisenhower enjoyed reading the writings of
many famous people from history.
In fact, when he was young, his first love was reading ancient
history. He loved reading about ancient Greece and ancient Rome
so much that his mother actually had to hide his books in order
for him to do his chores until he was old enough that he found
the key to the closet that she kept the books in, and whenever
his mother would leave the house to go to town or simply be away,
Eisenhower would open up that closet and read some of his
favorite books and pastimes.
And as he wrote in his memoir at Ease about his early interest in
history, he said, quote for me the reading of history was an
end in itself, not a source of lessons to guide us in the
present or to prepare me for the
future. He went on to say quote, I did not know what
opportunities were there for learning. I read history for
history sake for myself alone.
Now that was Eisenhower Speaking of his early interest in Reading
as he grew as he became a student at West Point a Cadet at
West Point, a young army officer. He came to realize the
value in reading about history, and today we're going to talk
about a few of the books that are in the Eisenhower Museum
Collection. Specifically, some of the books that are on the
shelf here behind me in the Eisenhower Den. And it's
appropriate that the first one we speak about is our nation's
first president. George Washington, who was a hero for
Dwight Eisenhower Eisenhower, wrote of his readings of past
Heroes. He said when I got around to the Americans,
Washington was my hero. I never tired of reading about his
exploits at Princeton at Trenton, and particularly at
Valley Forge. I conceived almost a violent hatred of Conway and
his cabal and could not imagine anyone so stupid and some so
unpatriotic, as to have wanted to remove Washington from
command of the American Army.
The qualities that excited my admiration where Washington
stamina and patience in adversity. 1st and then his
indomitable courage, daring and capacity for self sacrifice he
went on to write the beauty of his character. Always impressed
me while the Cherry Tree story may be pure legend his farewell
address his councils to his countrymen on the occasions such
as his speech at Newburgh to the rebellious officers of the army
exemplified the human qualities I frankly idolized.
But there's a lot to impact in that quote. We find a lot of
similarities in the traits that Eisenhower describes and says
that he admires in Washington and the trades he displayed in
his own life. Indeed, there are many different similarities
between Eisenhower and
Washington. Both became president based on the merits of
their time as a general leading American forces. After the
Revolution, Washington sought to go back to a peaceful life of
being a farmer at Mount Vernon until he was called to the
presidency. after World War Two. After his time leading the army
in the Post War years for several years, Eisenhower sought
to retire to a peaceful life of farming. Buying this farm here
in Gettysburg in 1950 until he was first called to be Supreme
Commander of Nato forces and then president of the United
States. Well, if you're reading about George Washington, there's
really one name that you might go to if you're reading about
him and Eisenhower's era, and that is Douglas Southall
Freeman, one of the more prominent preeminent writers and
historians of the American 20th century. Freeman was a
journalist and historian, a classic Virginian, he lived in
Richmond. He worked on many different books, many different
articles. During his lengthy career as a journalist in the
1920s and 30s, he began writing
about. Robert E. Lee. He published a four volume
biography of Lee. This was given to great acclaim, though
it has a classic lost cause style praising Lee as a
general praising the South and kind of ignoring some of the
causes of the Civil War itself and other other things.
In the 1940s, Freeman went on to publish a series of books called
Lee's lieutenants about Lee and some of the officers in the Army
of North Virginia, and these became very popular because they
were being written during World War Two at a time when a lot of
people are interested in military strategy and they help
to catch the eye of many American officers, including
Dwight Eisenhower. In fact, in 1946, Eisenhower and Freeman
struck up a friendship and Freeman was among those really
pushing Eisenhower after World War Two to run for president of
the United States. He did this
over the span. Of many years.
Well, he began writing in the late 1940s. Freeman did, a
multi volume biography of George Washington and we have the
complete set here on the shelves behind me. 1234567 Biography of
volume, biography of George Washington. It was a favorite of
eisenhowers. He enjoyed reading about Washington from his early
days and of course his friendship with Freeman Freeman
giving him this multi volume biography of George Washington.
It's a very important staple.
Of the library collection here at the Eisenhower National
Historic Site. In fact, Eisenhower and Freeman were such
good friends so close that up on Freeman's death from a heart
attack in 1953, Ike wrote America has lost one of her most
distinguished citizens. A fine historian and an outstanding
American, he was a true and valued personal friend, whom I
shall miss greatly. In the spirit of books that Eisenhower
enjoyed reading that were given from friends, the next volume,
we're going to discuss is by a man many of you have heard
of Sir Winston Churchill. Of course, Eisenhower and Churchill
were great partners in the endeavor of World War Two,
working together to defeat Fascism and Nazism in Europe.
While Churchill, in addition to being a great statesman, was
also a great writer. He won a Nobel Prize for Literature in
addition to his efforts as a
statesman. And his via his four volume biography of the Duke of
Marlboro stands as one of Churchill's most impressive
feats. He wrote this in the 1930s. At that time, Churchill
was going through what many historians refer to as his
wilderness years. He had lost his seat in Parliament. He was
in need of money, and he turned to writing to help provide money
for his estate for his family and to help keep his political
career. His political future hopes alive, the Duke of
Marlboro was actually.
A descendant or an ancestor of Winston Churchill, he was a
prominent statesman and military figure in Britain in the 1600s
and 1700s, and Churchill saw the Duke of Marlboro as this great
legendary figure that he was carrying on his mantle with his
own statesmanship. In the 20th century, well he gifted that set
of four volumes to Dwight Eisenhower, and inside the cover
of the first volume, he personalized it and signed it.
To Dwight Eisenhower giving it to him in 1945, the same
year that Allied forces defeated Hitler's tyranny.
Now, in addition to having a great passion for history,
Eisenhower also had a great passion for art. He himself was
an artist. In 1948 he began painting. He took it up as a
hobby, partly at the suggestion of his friend Sir Winston
Churchill. So in the Eisenhower collection in the books that we
have, there are numerous books that are biographies of artists
like George Healy, biography of a Western artist Charles
Russell, their books on painting technique, all sorts of
different books on.
Art and painting. But when we wanted to highlight, today was a
book by Norman Rockwell, a great illustrator, a Great American
artist and figure of the 20th century. He is perhaps most
famous for the Americana paintings that graced covers of
the Saturday Evening Post. For many years he had this lengthy
career writing and publishing these paintings on magazine
covers really staples of American life, including those
famous Four Freedoms paintings during World War Two.
Well, in 1952 Rockwell actually flew out to Denver, Co to
interview and paint Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952
presidential campaign and the image that he painted of
Eisenhower appeared on the October 11th, 1952 ISH issue of
the Saturday Evening Post. Some of his thoughts that he included
in painting this image of Eisenhower. He said of Ike quote
for a former military man, his nature is about as unmilitary
as they come. He went on to note of Eisenhower's own painting
style. The general paints in oil when he has a spare 10 minutes,
but doesn't regard the outcome too seriously. The main idea
seems to be that a brush doesn't talk to him about world affairs,
and that's a remarkable quote when we think about why someone
like Dwight Eisenhower, former Supreme Allied Commander in
Europe during World War Two and President of the United States,
would seek painting as a hobby as a relief for him. A way of
handling his stress and dealing with all the issues he was
facing as president. Rockwell went on to write from his
expression and manner. I got the feel of leadership by a man who
had not had any experience with defeat, had never entered a
campaign with any thought but victory, and wasn't changing his
ways. Now his words were about the necessary independence of
leadership. Well, this book by Norman Rockwell. It's his
autobiography. My life as an illustrator published in 1960.
He gave it to Eisenhower as a gift, even personalizing and
signing inside the front cover, saying to his very good friend,
the president of the United States. And he even included a
little doodle drawing inside the cover of this book. So it's one
of the neater items that we have here in our collection.
This book by Norman Rockwell, given to Eisenhower with a little
doodle by one of the Great
American artists of the 20th century.
Now, in addition to Art, Eisenhower did have many other
passions and interests, but of course going back to books about
history, history was a great driving interest of his, and
perhaps no era in history interested him more than the
American Civil War. After all, when he chose to buy a farm in
retirement, he bought it here in Gettysburg, PA, on a plot of
land that borders the Gettysburg Battlefield. So it is of no
surprise that in the Eisenhower collection there are numerous
books about the American Civil
War. Gray Fox by Burke Davis even Joshua Lawrence
Chamberlain's passing of the armies they met at Gettysburg.
But among all these books, one that I wanted to highlight here,
several books by the Great Bruce Catton. That's right, Bruce
Catton is a name that is probably familiar to many of
you. He was a Great American writer and journalist for many
years, and he published some of the most endearing classic books
on the American Civil War and perhaps none stand out more than
his trilogy on the Army of the
Potomac. These books were in order. Mr Lincoln's Army Glory
Road and stillness at Appomattox. One we've
highlighted here is Glory Rd because that is the middle of
those three volumes and it talks about the Battle of Gettysburg
and of course for Eisenhower living here in Gettysburg. That
was of great note. These books were published in the early
1950s and in 1954 A Stillness at Appomattox actually won the
Pulitzer Prize. So these came out when Eisenhower was getting
into politics and running for and becoming president.
Of the United States, Eisenhower would appoint Bruce Catton to
the Civil War Centennial Commission in 1957, a few years
before the Centennial of the Civil War. And indeed, in
retirement in 1962, Eisenhower actually hosted Bruce Catton,
here in Gettysburg. The two went out spent time on the
battlefield. There are photographs, famous photographs,
black and white images of them standing at the high watermark
on Cemetery Ridge, and one can only imagine the discussions had
between this former president,
former general. And Bruce Catton. One of the more
preeminent, an noted civil war historians of the 20th century.
Now Lastly the 5th book we wanted to highlight is a book
that's very near and dear to Eisenhower's heart. In a 1966
letter, Eisenhower noted that the three most influential books
of his life were on war by Clausewitz, George Bancroft's
history of the United States, and the Bible.
Now in our museum collection here we have over a dozen
different Bibles here. In fact, on the shelf right behind me.
This shelf is full of Bibles that Dwight Eisenhower owned,
and one that we're highlighting here. Today is a Bible that
dates to 1944. It's a very worn copy. The edges are worn
ostensibly for many years of use, and referring to it time
and time again, Eisenhower was a Christian man. He was not a
member of a formal church until he was president of the United
States. When he became a member of the Presbyterian Church, he
believed very strongly that principles of faith were central
to not just his idea of citizenship, but essential to
the United States protecting the fates of many different peoples
and cultures, and in an address to the Naval Academy in 1958.
Eisenhower said basic to our Democratic civilization are the
principles and convictions that have bound us together as a
nation. Among these are personal Liberty, human rights and the
dignity. Of man, all these have their roots in a deeply held
religious face. Faith in a belief in God. For Eisenhower,
the Bible was a central book for his own life. Again, it was one
of the most influential books in his life according to his own
words and we thought and highlighting several books here
in his collection. It was important to note that
Eisenhower not only had books by friends such as Douglas
Southall, Freeman, Winston Churchill, he not only had books
about art, such as Norman Rockwell's, My Life as an
Illustrator. He not only enjoyed reading about history and civil
War history, but he also had books such as the Bible that
were very central to his faith and his own identity. Now other
books that Eisenhower enjoyed reading, he was very fond of
Western novels. He was drawn to Westerns because of their strong
good versus evil storylines they frequently had, and often times
during World War Two and during his presidency he would go to
sleep at night by thumbing through the pages of a Western
novel as he tried to relax his mind. And I think as we look
into these books that Eisenhower
enjoyed reading. These pieces we have in our museum
collection not only are we very fortunate to have so many
original books that belonged to Dwight Eisenhower that he
himself read, but they also give us a window into the mind
of the man and they remind us that these books they tell us
so much about who an individual is, his
friendships, his beliefs, his passions, his faith and his
character. We hope you've enjoyed this look at some of
the books in the Eisenhower Museum Collection.