Gettysburg, PA—The Last Post for General Ike by Kasey Pipes

A few miles east of Pennsylvania’s South Mountains nestled comfortably into green and fertile farm land, resides the little town of Gettysburg. Immortalized by three bloody days in July1863. General Robert E. Lee was confident—too confident, it turned out—that his Army of Northern Virginia could again perform miracles. He ordered a suicidal, fateful charge that failed to break the Union line. It was the high water mark of the Confederacy, and its death knell.

One hundred years later, visitors still made pilgrimages to this Pennsylvania hallowed ground. Not all of the battlefield was covered by the National Park. Many local people owned land either on or adjacent to the battlefield itself. Here, cannon and crops were neighbors.

One of these local landowners was a man in his seventies whose weathered head was rimmed with white hair and whose walk had been slowed a bit by years of health struggles. He was a former five-star General and President of the United States.

Dwight Eisenhower owned 246 acres and leased another 305. He grew oats, corn and barley. And the hay fed the Black Angus cattle that he raised.

When he wasn’t in his fields, Eisenhower could be found in the house. A white, two-story Colonial home, it had a glassed-in sun porch that was shaped like a rectangle. This was the former President’s favorite room. Here he could look out over Seminary Ridge to the east, where a hundred years before, Confederates assembled for Pickett’s Charge. Perhaps Ike sat and wondered how his hero Lee could have talked himself into such a colossal blunder.

Mostly, Ike sat in the sun porch and read, wrote, even painted. To tend to his business matters, he traveled a short distance to Gettysburg College where an office was set up for him. The office, as always, was simple. A wooden desk sat in the corner, with a rug posted in front and an American flag directly behind it. The walls were a pale green, the curtains a faded gold. Paintings of nature decorated the walls. Here, Ike answered correspondence, worked on his memoirs, greeted visitors, and kept on eye on politics.

Gettysburg suited Ike. He had been born in a small town (Denison, Texas), raised in a small town (Abilene, Kansas) and now was prepared to spend his twilight years in a small town. And they were eventful years.

Ike in winter was a restless man. In addition to writing his memoirs in his office at Gettysburg College, he famously hosted Barry Goldwater at his farm in 1964. Goldwater even filmed a campaign ad that was taped at the farm. In it, Ike talked about his support for the Arizonan (which, in private, was quite tepid).

Ike enjoyed the town—its size, its history, its beauty. And the townspeople were quite pleased the hero of World War II was now among them.

Eisenhower has been dead for nearly 40 years now. But his influence on Gettysburg is immense. Today, visitors to the battlefield often stop by to tour the Eisenhower farm as well. Docents take the guests inside the house, and walking trails lead to various points on the farm, including the stable where Ike’s horses once resided.

Recently, the connection between this famous American and this famous American town grew even stronger. Gettysburg College and the Eisenhower Institute (based in Washington, DC) began a more formal relationship that will foster research on leadership and policy issues.

The town itself remains small. The 2000 Census declared it the home of 7490 residents. But it still occupies an important place in the American story. Not only for the battle that was fought here, but for the former president who lived here.

On your next trip to Pennsylvania, check out the battlefield and the Eisenhower farm. They are two important attractions in one of the most important mid-sized cities in America.

(Kasey Pipes recently completed a book on Eisenhower entitled "Ike's Last Battle.")