John Joyce, Retired Park Ranger at Eisenhower National Historic Site here at Gettysburg, was our guest speaker.  Mr. Joyce spent over 36 years working for the National Park Service in various parks around the country, spending the most years here at Gettysburg before his retirement.  While still actively employed with NPS, he received an award for creating, writing and producing "The Ike Blog."  His wife, Evangelina Rubalcava-Joyce is also a retiree from the NPS, with a 37-year career. He shared a very informative presentation on the life and romance of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Marie Doud aka “Ike and Mamie.”

 

Mamie Doud, was the daughter of very successful businessman and benefitted from being able to attend a finishing school which was quite opposite of the up-bringing Ike experienced. They seemed like polar-opposites that were attracted to each other.  Chance brought Mamie to Texas when the family wintered in San Antonio, Texas, and it was there in October 1915 that Mamie met Dwight Eisenhower, a young army lieutenant. Mamie said “he was the most handsome boy she ever seen.”  They were married on July 1, 1916, and spent 53 wonderful married years together.

 

 

Mamie and Ike began married life in military housing in San Antonio, where she learned budgeting and household management—things that had not concerned her in her youth. As his career took them all over the world, she ran many different homes, often with little money.  When the couple came to Gettysburg the first time in 1918, and Ike was commanding Captain of Camp Colt, they rented a small apartment and then part of a fraternity house on North Washington Street; often operating on a tight budget.  Mamie knew how to “squeeze a dollar” but always made renting a piano as a priority for the household. Their home was known as Club Eisenhower and frequently was the palace to entertain young officers.   By the time they returned to Gettysburg, it was estimated they had lived in 38 different places.

 

Several lesson Mamie recalled as reasons for a blissful married life together with Ike included (1) don’t throw-away Ikes ugly clothes (those special $300 suits), (2) be a supportive wife of the officer at all social events, and (3) know that “my country will always come first.”  The biggest joy and biggest disappointment of their married life was with their first son, Doud Dwight who died of scarlet fever at age three.  Their second son, John lived to be 91 years old.

 

Ike and Mamie’s longest separation from each other was during World War II and lead to rumors about their happy marriage.  With this separation during WW II, they wrote letters often. His letters to her were later published by their son as Letters to Mamie (1978), in order to quell rumors of a wartime romance between General Eisenhower and his attractive young driver, Kay Summersby. 

 

The 1952 Presidential Election brought the Eisenhower’s to the White House and Mamie said she had one career – support Ike and run the domestic duties of the White House.  Mamie thrived on her duties as first lady, and she was known for gracious entertaining. White House employees reported that she supervised them closely, always on the lookout for lapses.  She greatly disliked the use of nicknames for her staff and she fiercely protected the East Wing of the White House from those West-Wingers.

 

After eight years in the White House, the Eisenhower’s moved to Gettysburg in January 1961, to the farm they had purchased.  Retirement meant dealing with each-others habits.  Control of the TV remote, Bridge card-partners and the location for the painting studio each caused some level of disagreement between Mamie and Ike, but never anything serious.  Ike still relied on Mamie to make all the household and homestead decisions.  However, when it came to golf, Ike was seriously in control. Golf was the relaxation for Ike – just be serious about the game.