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November 2024

Eisenhower posed for his first official portrait as President in 1952
Eisenhower posed for his first official portrait as president in 1952. American Heritage Collection

Editor’s Note: Steven Wagner is a professor of history and former head of the Social Science department at Missouri Southern State University. He is the author of three books on Ike, including Eisenhower for Our Time, in which portions of this essay appeared. 

Early in his presidency, President Eisenhower wrote a letter to his good friend, retired Brigadier General Bradford Chynoweth, in which he explained his philosophy of the Middle Way.

Editor’s Note: This is the ninth essay in American Heritage by Joseph J. Ellis, author of a dozen critically acclaimed books on the early years of the Republic including Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in History. Portions of this essay appeared in his recent book, The Cause: The American Revolution and its Discontents, 1773-1783. 

Benjamin Franklin, National Portrait Gallery
Benjamin Franklin painted around 1785 by Joseph S. Duplessis. National Portrait Gallery

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