Romantic Evening

Down among the sheltering palms, O honey, wait for me . . .

Meet me down by the old Golden Gate,

Out where the sun goes down about eight . . .

Lieut. Dwight Eisenhower, 19th Infantry, U.S.A., and Miss Mamie Doud were married in Denver on a July afternoon in 1916. It was the time of the hobble skirt, the Pianola and the maxixe, the year that Woodrow Wilson won his second term as President by the margin of 3,806 California votes. It was a time of gathering tension, and because of trouble on the Mexican border, the Eisenhower-Doud wedding was held four months earlier than had been planned. The bridegroom, just promoted to first lieutenant, didn't have time to get new silver bars for his uniform on his wedding day.

Songs & Remembrances. Last week, after wars, tragedies, triumphs and 38 years together, Ike and Mamie Eisenhower celebrated their wedding anniversary in the White House. Ninety-three guests, members of Ike's West Point class (1915), their wives and a few widows, came for dinner on the anniversary eve. Through dinner the scarlet-coated Marine Band orchestra played nostalgic songs from the days when Ike was courting Mamie, e.g., selections from The Chocolate Soldier; the conversation was full of sentimental remembrances. The song that stopped the table talk, stretched Ike's grin to capacity and moved Mamie to clap her hands, was Down Among the Sheltering Palms, a national hit in 1915 and still the President's alltime favorite.

Waltzes & Blushes. After dinner the President and First Lady led their guests to the East Room, to the dum-dum-de-dum strains of the wedding march from Lohengrin. There was a short string concert by members of the Air Force Symphony Orchestra, and then Ike helped pass around the West Point song books. For two hours the Class of 1915 sang the old songs, with assistance from the orchestra.

When the old grandfather clock in the East Room chimed midnight, the orchestra played The Anniversary Waltz. The President bowed to Mamie, caught her around the waist and swung her expertly around the polished floor for a few turns before they both gave up in laughter and embarrassment. Afterwards, Ike recalled that it was the first time he and Mamie had danced together since 1938.

The next afternoon the President took a few minutes off to pose with the First Lady for photographers on the White House south lawn. Mamie, resplendent in a white silk dress, proudly fingered a new diamond-studded gold pendant, Ike's anniversary present. When a photographer suggested that she put her arm around the President, Mamie laughed and nudged Ike. "Oh no," she exclaimed. "You're the one who's supposed to put your arm around me--" Ike blushed under his tan and declined to hug his wife in public; Mamie affectionately hooked her arm through his.

As the photographers were leaving, Ike waved and called: "Well, when we have our fiftieth anniversary, we'll see you--I hope."

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