Most Americans know the story of Washington and the cherry tree.
Few Americans know the story of Eisenhower and the apple tree.
Beneath his amiable exterior – the beaming smile, the unassuming
ways – Ike had a terrible temper. It was a life long challenge.
While many people over the years could tell colorful stories about
the occasions when his anger boiled over, few of them knew just
how often Eisenhower had reigned in his temper. Even fewer of his
colleagues knew when he learned his first lesson in governing his
anger. His mother taught him this important lesson.
The lesson came on Halloween night when Ike was nearly ten years
old. His older brothers were allowed to go out into the night with
the other neighborhood kids for the kind of Halloween fun characteristic
of small-town America. Ike wanted very badly to go out with his
brothers, but his parents said he was too young.
He promptly through a tantrum and began beating his fists against
an apple tree in the front yard while screaming at the top of his
lungs. He kept it up until his hands were bloody and raw.
His father angrily spanked him and sent him upstairs to his room.
Then his mother, Ida, came up with some washcloths and medicine.
She explained to him calmly that uncontrolled rage was a destructive
and self-defeating emotion. As she quoted the Bible to back up her
points, young Dwight listened. Years later he remembered that moment
and said that it was one of the most important in his life.
The lesson he learned that evening would serve both him and his
country in the decades to come. He wasn’t perfect and his
self-control would frequently be tested in war and peace, but he
never forgot the lesson that his mother taught him after his tantrum
at the apple tree.
© Dwight
D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, Washington, DC, 2004
