Denison -- There five statues of Dwight Eisenhower, all created by renowned sculptor Robert Dean. One statue stands sentinel outside United States Military Academy at West Point; one was commissioned for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Kansas; another statue stands at the U.S. Embassy in London; and a statue is fittingly located at Normandy, France, the scene of Eisenhower's greatest military victory.
The fifth statue is located in Denison, Texas at the birthplace of the man who would go on to become a five-star general and later the 34th President of the United States. A celebration July 9 marked the 40th anniversary of the dedication ceremony in Denison.
"It was dedicated 40 years ago on this spot!" exclaimed tour guide Carolyn Villareal. "And you can see why we are so proud to have one of the five, given the location of the other four."
The nine-foot-tall bronze statues stands as a tribute to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II.
Ms. Villareal provided a wealth of information about Eisenhower, his birthplace in Denison and the man commissioned to sculpt all five statues of Eisenhower. For example, by coincidence Robert Dean, a '53 graduate of West Point, marched at Eisenhower's first presidential inauguration and Dean remembered the "eyes left" order to look at the nation's commander-in-chief. The sculptor would later joke that, had he known that in his lifetime he would be asked to create five statues of Eisenhower, he would have taken a better look.
Villareal led a tour of the simple, white frame home that now bears the historical designation of Eisenhower's Birthplace.
The Katy Railroad arrived in Denison in 1872 and this was very much a "railroad town" when David and Ida Eisenhower arrived with their two oldest sons in 1899. The house, which the Eisenhowers rented for $8 a month, was only a few yards from the railroad track.
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was born October 14, 1890, in a home that was very representative of the houses in Denison at that time -- no running water, an outhouse in the back and a vegetable garden from which Ida would can food while David earned $40 a month washing steam engines for the railroad. The house had two bedrooms upstairs, with the two oldest boys sharing one room, while another railroad employee rented the other room for $4 per month. Eisenhower's first trip back to Denison was in 1946; he had left as a toddler and returned as the "Liberator of Europe." That trip included a visit to his birthplace, and Eisenhower sat down in the kitchen to enjoy a big Texas breakfast with Bonham native Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Eisenhower would make two more trips back to Denison. He came back in 1952 as a presidential candidate and again in 1960 when Denison High School dedicated Eisenhower Auditorium.
In 1892, The Eisenhower family moved to Abilene, Kansas. Dwight Eisenhower was the third of seven sons born to David and Ida. All grew up to be successful men. In fact, Milton Stover Eisenhower served as president of three universities: Johns Hopkins University, Kansas State University and Pennsylvania State University.
Later on in life, when reporters would ask Ida if she was proud of her son, she would reply, "Which one?"
