1941 - The Year Eisenhower Became a General Part 2

Carlo D'Este | August 25, 2008  | 0 comments  | Print  | E-mail

Also in the autumn of 1941, Marshall asked Mark Clark to provide him with a list of ten officers he would recommend to become the head of the Operations Division of the War Department General Staff. Clark replied that there would only be one name on the list. “If you have to have ten names, I’ll just put nine ditto marks below.” The name Clark wrote was, “Ike Eisenhower.”

* * *

On Sunday, December 7, 1941, Eisenhower went to work in the morning, but by noon was exhausted and returned to his quarters, leaving orders that “under no circumstances” was he to be disturbed as he took a rare afternoon nap. As he slept Mamie heard the news flash about Pearl Harbor on the radio, and “I immediately went and wakened up my soldier.”

1941 would prove to be the turning point in Eisenhower's career. National Archives.

Eisenhower was dismayed. He had no idea of what lay ahead in Washington, but was certain it would mean his relegation to a dreaded staff job for the duration of the war. “Heavy-hearted, I telephoned my wife to pack a bag, and within the hour I was headed for the War Department.” Eisenhower later learned that Colonel Charles W. Bundy, the officer whom he was to replace had been killed in a plane crash in the Colorado Rockies the previous night. Bundy had been a senior War Plans Division planner for Pacific operations and needed to be replaced at once.

For the second time in six months Eisenhower was urgently summoned to a new post without benefit of formal orders. This time, however, his journey was to become a date with destiny.

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Tags: American, Historical Figures, World War II