PRESIDENT DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 08/14/1953 - HFSID 4838

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
The new President congratulates Fort Loudon, Pennsylvania on its sesquicentennial celebration.
Typed Letter Signed: "Dwight D. Eisenhower" as President, 1p, 6¾x8¾. On White House stationery, but written from Denver, Colorado, 1953 August 14. To Mrs. William C. Rea, Secretary, Fort Loudon [Pennsylvania] Sesquicentennial Committee. In full: "I am delighted to send best wishes to all of you on the happy occasion marking the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the village of Fort Loudon. The spirited self-reliance which you have exhibited in preserving the memory of your past is one that I hope will inspire other communities also to keep alive the traditions which have made this Nation great. I trust that the Sesquicentennial celebration will be enjoyed and long remembered by all. Sincerely," Twenty-nine years after his West Point graduation (1915), Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) received his fifth star and the rank of General of the Army (December 20, 1944). Only the year before, he had been appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces (January 1944) and placed in command of the Normandy invasion, "Operation Overlord". An experienced leader, "Ike" had commanded the U.S. Army in Europe from June 1942 to December 1943, during which time he had directed the invasions of North Africa (November 1942) and Sicily (July-August 1943). On May 7, 1945, Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of Germany at Rheims. During his two terms as 34th U.S. President (1953-1961), Eisenhower presented his famous "Atoms for Peace" plan to the United Nations (December 1953), issued the Eisenhower Doctrine, which provided aid to Middle-Eastern countries threatened by Communist aggression (January 1957), and dispatched troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce students' civil rights (September 1957). Eisenhower's rank of Five-Star General of the Army was restored in 1961, two months after his presidential term ended. Creased. Light type transfer at lower margin.