>> skills she brought --

we have a couple of special guests today west point class of 1945 general he is up here. he is board of trustees and while at west point a certain john eisenhower class of 1944 taught him how to roll a -- apparently. small world i guess. are also privileged to have him here. he jumped into normandy on d- day as part of the airborne. >> [ applause ]

>> to both of these men and to all veterans in our audience thank you for coming and for your service to this country. our first speaker he said there is a high bar and i said thanks charlie. our first speaker today is susan eisenhower. i think it is appropriate our first speaker has a unique relationship to dwight eisenhower as both a family member and someone who has bent her entire lifetime studying issues of national security, energy policy and leadership development. she has authored and co- authored several books and is currently working on a book on her grandfather's military and political career. she has a long track record of paying forward the lasting legacy of dwight eisenhower

through her involvement with the eisenhower college and world affairs and the two. we've been fortunate to have her here as part of the institute here at gettysburg college. she has carry the torch for dwight d. eisenhower's legacy while building a legacy of her own. she has been a journalist, strategist, consultant and prolific author and speaker on topics ranging from energy policy to the former soviet union. she is a voice of integrity engagement and pragmatism. i cannot do justice and a brief introduction of all of her accomplishments but i can't tell you every year for the past several years gettysburg college students have had the opportunity transformational times program to gain a far greater understanding of strategy and implementation through her thought for him and for mentorship. major-league baseball started this week so please permit me a

baseball metaphor. i can think of no one better position to battle a leadoff for today's symposium than susan eisenhower. personally and professionally she offers unique insights into leadership as a key figure behind the assault on fortress europe. please join me in welcoming susan eisenhower. >> one a nice introduction and thank you very much. honestly i can't tell you what an honor and privilege it is to be here to open today's symposium. we are grateful to all of our donors and so much appreciated the support you've given us and i would like to remark on the wonderful gathering we have here. i see so many friends of long- standing, i don't say old friends anymore and it is an honor to have a number of distinguished scholars who we

will be hearing from later in your booklet. i just would like to say thank you for all you do for the eisenhower society. i also want to single out guy winton who i met on a number of occasions in normandy and then a couple of times here in gettysburg. i can't tell you how gratifying it is that you are here as a symbol of those important events and how much you contributed to your country. it is quite extraordinary. a guy was with the -- parachute infantry division and this is a very important group. of the 502 the famous picture of ike with the 101st airborne division, it will come up again in a minute. it reminds us of his many

visits to the airfields before the paratroopers dropped. the tall paratrooper in that picture when it cycles through again, you will see he is looking at general eisenhower who looks very intent. he looks like he is telling the paratroopers who are standing around him what they are about to face. actually we find out from the paratrooper number 23 that he was talking about flyfishing. please note the thumb because that is like this. we know this because -- lived until the age well i am not sure exactly when he passed away but he lived until quite recently and was able to share that story with us. he had a habit of going around and talking to paratroopers and other troops about where they came from and where they would

be returning to. i asked my father why he would be talking about that and on extorting the troops to go in and get hitler and the big peptalk. he said, they knew what they were going to do. he wanted to give them an idea of what to live for. i think it is an interesting story too because he always asks them usually are you well- trained. i think it is a moving story to have somebody as distinguished as guy who has been a great advocate for world war ii veterans with us today it is just amazing and thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. now there are several things i learned about d-day from my grandfather. i thought i would leave a scholarly piece of all of this to our scholars who will be speaking later. i learned one big thing, don't sweat the small stuff. i want to give you an example

of doubt because i cougar brother was a bit of a worrier. after i became president -- at that time was at penn state university and invited the president to come and speak, the weather wasn't looking good and they were going to have a big convocation out side. milton called up ike and said, what are we going to do about the weather? should we move the group inside which would necessitate a number of people losing an opportunity to hear the president or shall we risk it and stay outside. ike said in a rather annoyed way, listen milton i haven't worried about the weather since june 6 1994. while that is funny enough to think about don't sweat the small stuff i've also had a very emotional feeling this week because it marked the anniversary of mike's passing.

it is hard to believe it's been 50 years since his death but i've come to realize it was the passing of a giant, a giant. and if i wasn't fully aware of that as a kid i know it now after researching my book. to say i am overwhelmed at times by ike's tenacity cochlear thinking and vision would be an understatement. i've come to meet who is disciplined, courageous and compassionate with an extraordinary level of emotional intelligence i was asked today to say something about dwight d. eisenhower's leadership skills so let's start with the proposition that not all leadership can be trained. there is a mysterious element to leadership and some of it is god-given likability for instance or a big smile i had a

kind of energy and i've read this in my research and really can be put into words. he could fill an empty room and when one of his colleagues called an un-loosened physical and intellectual energy he had star quality and i know this played a role in his leadership. people were attracted to him as one scholar said, like a magnet. there was something else now this is something that probably is one of the most basic evolved values but to be humble at your core is quite a different thing there is

another side forged by the burden of responsibility which is iron core. i think that is rather fun since the name eisenhower means iron your or two look at it in another translation might be an iron artistic. you could say he had an iron core but around his artistry was the way he handled people. this is the thrust of my comments today, so at odds with a time in which we live. he was a genius i think at knowing when to deploy his ego and when to suppress it. he was brilliant at knowing when to take his foot off the pedal and went to hit it hard he deployed his ego for instance

his transportation plan, his airborne decision -- i decided to go ahead understanding that the casualties might be unsustainably high which would not only grind the airborne troops but jeopardize the mission itself. he decided he had to go forward. as far as his ego is concerned he suppress it again in front of his critics, especially the british, who attacked him personally and professionally over his strategy for ending the war and for any other

member of small issues. there are times when you read the history in this and you want to say stand up for yourself. remarkably he won every big fight. he knew just went to turn it on and turn it off. then he would deploy his ego again ever disagreements over charles de gaulle not a minor disagreement. franklin roosevelt did want not want to see general de gaulle become the leader of france he wanted elections in the midst of french chaos. eisenhower found a crafty way around the presidents views. they suppress his ego again suppressed his ego again by letting charles de gaulle's march at the apparent liberators of france. finally he had the courage to look his men in the eyes as he made decisions that would seal their fate. he had this courage in the way he lived and i know first hand he had this courage in the way

he died. we are here today to remember the iconic operation overlord. it is a special subject for me. i've been privileged to take three groups of students to normandy, is there a more apt case study on strategy and leadership than operation overlord? while we might start out informationally with the tough decisions eisenhower had to make at the end of the day it is a story of the fighting men who took those beaches, secured a beachhead for the liberation of europe and continued to the final day in may in 1945. tuesday kids go to those beaches and to stand there i

always take them to low tide omaha beach then i've made a habit of getting up to the top of the hill and telling them i will see them when they get up there. it has had i hope a lasting impact on many of my students and i am proud to say one of them wrote me he was terrified of going into an interview. he wrote on a piece of paper this is not omaha beach. i have to say i was also proud of my students for helping us solve one of the local mysteries on the normandy coast which was the finding of private frankie mackey who saved several airborne troops. he was a medic and also a number of villagers in a small town which is outside of --. up until that time for more than 70 years the village did not know the name of this medic. my students and i have had many adventures on the normandy coast and i was hesitant i have

to confess to go back in that capacity. i thought, how long will i tell someone else this story? i've had a career myself in foreign-policy and i thought i don't know. to see the impact it has had is one thing but then i realized suddenly the d-day story is part of my story too. it is part of the community's story. not only did you have a supreme allied commander living here in gettysburg after the presidency. general nevins who many of you may remember was far manager. i found out only three years ago when i went to the war college to prepare my students were going to normandy the general have been the rapid tour in the wee hours of the morning when the decision to go was decided. he was with ike at -- and played an important role as a

deputy to one of the key people on that team. many of you remember the sergeant who had been with ike throughout the war from the north africa campaign onwards who was addressing the general on those mornings when big decisions were being made. finally sergeant dry, who by the way was the man who drove ike's car to see the 101st airborne division that evening. i will say the sergeant who i knew very well had not given him credit for being a chauffeur that day these men never talked about what had happened. one of the pivotal moments of history and they didn't talk about it because they did their duty. they didn't talk about it because they were humble.

we know this from the list terry military and strategic reasons we will never mobilize that requires mobilization of resources both human, logistical and financial. it will be a different kind of war if we have one. we have to recognize times have changed. it is worth looking back to remember the most important asset we have in our arsenal. the mysterious element that dwight d. eisenhower summoned for the great crusade against -ism. we are fortunate to be together today to remember that cause. thank you.