October  14

Dwight David Eisenhower's Birthday
 

Dwight D. Eisenhower and Kay Summersby ( foreground)

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the most famous US Army general of World War II and the 34th president of the United States. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-45. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.

Few presidents have enjoyed greater popularity than Eisenhower. His presidency was often characterized as a caretaker presidency with the grinning, grandfatherly chief of state more interested in golf and trout fishing than in world or domestic affairs. Although he was the first Republican to be elected president since Herbert Hoover, his policies appeared to be more Democratic than Republican. Ike expanded Social Security, made major investments in public works including a massive expansion of the interstate highway system, and enforced segregation in the Little Rock School System.

However, Ike was also the eminence gris behind one of the most effective spy networks ever created and was responsible for some of the greatest cloak-and-dagger coups in history, including the famous "The Man Who Never Was" charade, the overthrow of Guzman's government of Guatemala, the overthrow of Iran's Mossedegh, the U-2 over flights of Russia, Operation AJAX, etc. Ike's penchant for covert activity apparently extended to his personal life. In 1942, he was assigned Kay Summersby as his personal chauffeur. Kay was a former Irish model who had joined the British Transport Corps and drove an ambulance throughout the Blitz in 1940 and 1941. She later became Ike's secretary in 1and allegedly began an affair with her boss.  With Ike's help, she subsequently became a US citizen and a commissioned officer in the U.S. Women's Army Corps.

The accounts of Ike's relationship with the model-turned-chauffeur vary. Stephen Ambrose contends in his biography, Eisenhower (Volume I), that Ike wanted to divorce Mamie and marry Kay and had even asked permission from Truman to do it. Whatever the case, it is generally agreed that Ike and Kay and Ike were extremely close, were seen together in many press photographs during the war and as evidenced by letters between the two. Their relationship eventually become the basis for the 1979 Emmy-winning TV film Ike with Robert Duval as Ike and Lee Remick as Kay.

 Food played an important part in Ike's life. He learned to cook as a child and always enjoyed it. Ike tried to teach Mamie to cook after they were married,  But she hated cooking with the exception of making fudge which Ike was particularly fond of.  He once joked that the only reason that he married Mamie was her "Million-Dollar Fudge." Since Mamie hated cooking,  Ike became the chef in the family and continued to pursue his interest in cooking as well as painting throughout his life. Ike enjoyed cooking for his close personal friends and would get a special kick out of serving his famous nasturtium soup.
 

Dwight Eisenhower's Nasturtium Vegetable Soup

 
Ingredients

3/4 cup barley
2 lbs beef shanks, cut in pieces
Several fried chicken bones
3 quarts water
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 celery stalks, sliced 1/2" thick
3 carrots, sliced 1/2" thick
1 large onion, diced

1 medium potato, diced
1 turnip, diced
1&1/2 cups fresh green beans, cut in half
1&1/2 cups canned corn
1 28-oz. can tomatoes,
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
10-12 nasturtium flowers and stems, washed

 
Instructions
 
  1. Soak barley overnight in 2 quarts of water.
  2. Drain barley and cook in 2 quarts of water for 45 minutes. Drain and put aside.
  3. Place pieces of beef shank and chicken bones in a large kettle. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Skim scum from surface as it collects. After all scum is removed, lower heat, cover and simmer for 4 hours. Remove shank and chicken bones. Cut meat from shank bones and put in kettle. Discard all bones.
  4. Add salt, pepper, celery, carrots, and onions, Simmer for 15 minutes.
  5. Add potato, turnip, and green beans. Simmer for another 15 minutes.
  6. Add corn, tomatoes and Worcestershire sauce and simmer for another 15 minutes.
  7. Add barley,salt, and pepper to taste. Turn off heat.
  8. Irnmediately after turning off heat, place nasturtium flowers and stems (cut in 1-1/2" lengths) in soup. Cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

© 2011 Gordon Nary and Tyler Stokes