EISENHOWER: A FACTUAL SKETCH

Some highlights from the life and works of Dwight David Eisenhower, General of the Army, Supreme Commander of NATO's armed forces and a leading prospect for the Republican presidential nomination:

Ancestry: of German Mennonite stock; on the paternal side, the first Eisenhowers (who spelled it "Eisenhauer") settled in Pennsylvania between 1730 and 1740; the general's grandfather, Jacob Eisenhower, a leader of the River Brethren sect of Mennonites, moved his family to Kansas in 1878. On the maternal side, the general's forebears (named Stover or Stoewer) were also German immigrants who prospered in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley until the Civil War brought hardship and destruction.

Born: Oct. 14, 1890, at Denison, Texas. His parents, David Jacob and Ida Elizabeth, had met at Lane University, a United Brethren school in Lecompton, Kans.; after failing in a general-store business at Hope, Kans., father David moved his family briefly to Texas, where he worked as a railroad hand, but soon returned to Kansas.

Boyhood: spent at Abilene, in a frame house with three acres. Family circumstances: poor and puritanical. Ike once had to wear his mother's high-button shoes to school. Father David, who eked out a living as a mechanic in a Brethren-operated creamery, gave much attention to Bible reading. Mother Ida, a strong personality and lifelong pacifist who eventually joined Jehovah's Witnesses, held the household together. There were seven children, all sons, of whom four besides the general are still alive--Arthur B., 65, a Kansas City banker; Edgar N., 63, a Tacoma (Wash.) attorney; Earl D., 54, a Charleroi (Pa.) engineer; Milton, 52, president of Pennsylvania State College.

West Point: class of 1915; better than average in scholarship, ranking 61st in a graduating group of 164; worse than average in conduct, ranking 95th among the 164. A good halfback, Cadet Ike badly wrenched his knee in a rough game with the Carlisle Indians, whose star was the great Jim Thorpe; in a subsequent game he broke the knee, then injured it further in the riding hall and had to quit football for good. Among Ike's classmates were Omar Bradley (who stood sixth in conduct), James Van Fleet, the late Vernon Prichard (a top West Point football star), Joseph T. McNarney, George Stratemeyer.

Early Career: during World War I, served at Army training posts, rising to lieut. colonel (temporary) in the tank corps; during the 19203, after reverting to his permanent rank of captain, he gradually rose to major; was No. i man in his class (1926) at the Fort Leavenworth Command & General Staff School; in 1932 stood by Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur during Washington's famed bonus march; in 1933 became MacArthur's aide; from 1935 to late 1939 served as MacArthur's right hand in the Philippines; learned also to fly a plane (300 air hours); distinguished himself in the 1941 Louisiana maneuvers as chief of staff to Lieut. General Walter Kreuger.

World War II: started a uniquely rapid rise up the ladder of rank. On Pearl Harbor Day, he was a brigadier general (temporary). In March 1942 he was appointed chief of the Operations Division of the General Staff and made a major general, thus becoming right hand to Chief of Staff George C. Marshall. By July 1942 he had risen to lieut. general, in command of U.S. forces in Europe. By November he had led the dramatic allied landing in North Africa. In early 1943 he became a full general and in December was appointed Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. On June 6, 1944, he gave the signal for Dday.

Postwar: wearing the five stars of a General of the Army (which he got in December 1944), Eisenhower stayed on in Germany until November 1945; served as U.S. Chief of Staff until February 1948, then became president of Columbia University; in December 1950, at the request of President Harry Truman, returned to military service, taking on the supreme command of NATO.

Appearance: height, 5 ft.10 1/2 in.; weight, 173 Ibs.; ruddy complexioned; blue-eyed; bald with a sandy fringe.

Personal Traits: great dignity; affable, with an infectious grin; vigorous conversationalist; fluent speaker; able administrator and coalition manager.

Family: in 1916, married Mamie Geneva Doud, of a prosperous western meat-packing family; two children, both sons--Dwight Doud, who died in infancy, of scarlet fever; and Major John Sheldon Doud, 29, a West Pointer stationed at the Fort Knox (Ky.) Armored School; John is married to Barbara Jean (Thompson) and they have three babies; the eldest, Dwight David Eisenhower II, at four years is the image & the joy of grandfather Ike.

Interests: religious but not a churchgoer; in reading, prefers books on military history, with westerns for relaxation; topnotch bridge player; likes to cook, fish, ride horseback, play golf (low 80s), dabble with painting.

Kudos: 27 honorary college degrees; 20 U.S., 42 foreign decorations plus miscellaneous city freedoms, gold medals, etc. Free Europe admires him warmly as the outstanding living American, of whom Churchill wrote: "I express . . . our admiration of [his] firm, farsighted and illuminating character."

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