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Cadet Eisenhower Learns From a Mistake

Ike’s deep humanity — his respect for the dignity of all human beings without regard to their social condition — developed early.

Cadet Eisenhower

An encounter with another cadet at West Point helped to build this side of Ike’s character. A West Point tradition at the time was upperclassmen “hazing” of first-year students, called “plebes.” New plebes would be forced to answer silly or obnoxious questions like the following: “What was your previous condition of servitude?” To answer this question, a cadet would have to tell what he had done before entering the academy.

One day a young plebe bumped into Ike and fell to the ground in disarray. Ike seized the moment as an opportunity for hazing. Looking down at the plebe, Ike bellowed, “Mister, what was your previous condition of servitude? You look like . . . you look like” — Ike searched for a profession quite detached from military grandeur — “You look like a barber!”

“Sir,” replied the plebe, “I was a barber.”

Ike choked and walked away without a word. He confessed to his roommate the same day that “I’ve just done something stupid and unforgivable. I managed to make a man ashamed of what he did to earn a living.”

Ike then made a vow that he would never again belittle other people from humble circumstances.

His own humble beginnings helped him understand something that many other people in positions of authority would never appreciate: that everyone under your direction deserves your respect for their service. For the rest of his career, as a soldier, commanding general, and as president he never again lost his respect for the common man.