Published Sunday, December 4, 2005

Eisenhower Memorial -- It's time

A commission hopes to develop a monument to
President Eisenhower in Washington, D.C.

By The Capital-Journal editorial board

“People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable. Actually, all human problems, excepting morals, come into the gray areas. Things are not all black and white. There have to be compromises. The middle of the road is all the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are the gutters.”

-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Among the must-see attractions on a visit to Washington, D.C., are the memorials to Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Now, amid growing respect for Dwight Eisenhower's presidency, an organization is pushing for an Eisenhower memorial in the nation's capital, too.

Many people still think Eisenhower's greatest service to his country was as supreme Allied commander in Europe in World War II. In that capacity, and in his two terms as president, he made decisions that affected millions of lives.

But it is mainly his presidency that would be honored in the proposed memorial.

Associated Press writer Sam Hananel, pointed out in a recent story that, "when (Eisenhower) left office, historians dismissed him as timid and indecisive."

It took them awhile to realize all that he accomplished as president using a "hidden-hand" style of governing.

Many in Ike's native Kansas probably understood that earlier than the professional historians did.

Dan Holt, director of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, said, "He kept the peace during the Cold War. Most people don't understand how difficult that was in the 1950s."

He was criticized for not publicly condemning Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy during his communist witch hunts in the early 1950s. Documents uncovered later showed Eisenhower actually had a secret campaign to undermine McCarthy.

Eisenhower initiated the interstate highway system and saw to it that the 1954 school desegregation order by the U.S. Supreme Court was enforced, even ordering National Guard troops to put down rioting in Little Rock, Ark.

Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Carl Reddel is executive director of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission.

"He's a much more profound figure than many realized," Reddel said of Eisenhower.

A four-acre location has been selected across the street from the Mall, near the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, but there is no design for a memorial, yet, and more congressional approval is needed. It likely will be five or six years before we can visit an Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, but Kansans should do all they can to support the idea.