U-2 cover story
Dated May 2, 1960, this cover story was drafted to conceal the actual mission of the U-2 spy plane which was shot down over Soviet air space on May 1, 1960. Much of the U-2’s wreckage was recovered by the Soviets, and its pilot, Captain Francis Gary Powers, captured alive, even though President Eisenhower was told that the U-2 spy plane had a self-destruct mechanism that would prevent them from discovering its true purpose.
More on the U-2 Incident via the Eisenhower Presidential Library »
Fun Leap Year Fact: What was Dwight D. Eisenhower doing on Leap Day 1956? He announced his reelection campaign. Yes, we still like Ike.
-from the Eisenhower Library
“Presley Presley
IS OUR CRY
P-R-E-S-L-E-Y”
-Letter to President Eisenhower from “Elvis Presley Lovers” Linda Kelly, Sherry Bane, and Mickie MattsonElvis Presley was drafted for the U.S. Army in December, 1957. This letter from the Eisenhower Library was written by three fans in Montana who pleaded to the President:
“You don’t no how we feel about him, I really don’t see why you have to send him in the Army at all, but we beg you please please don’t give him a G.I. hair cut, oh please please don’t! If you do we will just about die!”
On the right is the Acknowledgement of Service Obligation signed by Pvt E-1 Elvis Aron Presley. The National Archives holds Elvis’ Official Military Personnel file, take a peek here.
Panorama Photograph of Miles Glacier Bridge on the Copper River and Northwestern Railway in Alaska
via US National Archives on Facebook:
Although Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867, it wasn’t until July 7, 1958, that President Eisenhower signed the Alaska statehood bill. Six months later in 1959, the territory became the 49th state. Have you been to Alaska?
July 1, 1955 - Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower posed for this portrait on their 39th wedding anniversary at their farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
It is the intent of the Congress that the Interstate System be completed as nearly as practicable over a thirteen-year period and that the entire System in all the States be brought to simultaneous completion. Because of it’s primary importance to the national defense, the name of such system is hereby changed to the “National System of Interstate and Defense Highways.
National Interstate and Defense Highways Act
An ardent supporter of a “modern, interstate highway system,” President Eisenhower signed this bill into law on the 29th of June, 1956. The act authorized the building of highways throughout the nation, which would be the biggest public works project in the nation’s history.
June 6 - D-Day Statement to Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force
This order was issued by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to encourage Allied soldiers taking part in the D-day invasion of June 6, 1944.
Almost immediately after France fell to the Nazis in 1940, the Allies planned a cross-Channel assault on the German occupying forces, ultimately code-named Operation Overlord. By May 1944, 2,876,000 Allied troops were amassed in southern England. The largest armada in history, made up of more than 4,000 American, British, and Canadian ships, lay in wait, and more that 1,200 planes stood ready. Against a tense backdrop of uncertain weather forecasts, disagreements in strategy, and related timing dilemmas, Eisenhower decided before dawn on June 5 to proceed with Overlord. Later that same afternoon, he scribbled a note intended for release, accepting responsibility for the decision to launch the invasion and full blame should the effort to create a beachhead on the Normandy coast fail. Much more polished is his printed Order of the Day for June 6, 1944, which Eisenhower began drafting in February. The order was distributed to the 175,000-member expeditionary force on the eve of the invasion.
“In Case of Failure” Message
This note was drafted by General Dwight Eisenhower on June 5, 1944, in case the D-Day invasion failed.
Learn more about this message on a NARAtions blog post.
I respectfully remind you sir, that we have been the most patient of all people.
Now, therefore, I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States of America, do hereby call upon the people of the United States…to observe Friday, May 1, 1959 as Loyalty Day…
