Presidents in Retirement: Dwight Eisenhower
At a time when the next presidential election looked as if it would be between one candidate in his late 70s and another in his early 80s, it seems remarkable that such an accomplished man as Dwight Eisenhower faced criticism for his age when he left the presidency in 1960, having just turned 70. But the nation was in the mood for a younger President and the political parties gave them that choice in the 1960 Presidential Election: either 47 year old Vice-President Richard Nixon or 43 year old Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy.
In the election Eisenhower supported his Vice-President, telling friends, "I will do almost anything to avoid turning my chair and country over to Kennedy." He actively campaigned for Nixon in the final days of the campaign, but an off-the-cuff gaffe made by Eisenhower probably hurt Nixon's campaign. When asked by reporters at the end of a televised press conference to list one of Nixon's policy ideas he had adopted, Eisenhower joked, "If you give me a week, I might think of one. I don't remember." Kennedy's campaign used the quote in one of its campaign commercials. Nixon narrowly lost to Kennedy, though it now appears that he may have been helped by voter fraud if Illinois and Texas. Whether or not there is substance to these allegations, Nixon graciously conceded and Eisenhower, who was, at 70, the oldest president up to that time, was succeeded by 43-year-old Kennedy, the youngest elected president.
Eisenhower had planned on having a a more active role in the campaign. He wanted to respond to answer Kennedy's attack ads on his administration, including the false claim that the US was suffering from a missile deficit with the Soviets. But First Lady Mamie Eisenhower was concerned about the strain campaigning would put on Eisenhower's heart, and White House physician Major General Howard Snyder that he could not approve a heavy campaign schedule for the president. Nixon agreed and convinced Eisenhower not to go ahead with the expanded campaign schedule he had planned.
On January 17, 1961, Eisenhower gave his final televised Address to the Nation from the Oval Office, in which he raised the issue of the Cold War and role of the armed forces. He said, "We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose and insidious in method." He warned, "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex," adding later, "Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
Eisenhower had resigned his permanent commission as General of the Army before becoming President. Upon completion of his presidential term, his commission was reactivated by Congress.
Eisenhower was the first President to be subject to the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which prevented him from serving a third term in office. He was also the first outgoing President to receive the benefits provided by the Former Presidents Act, which entitled him to a lifetime pension, a staff provided by the government, and Secret Service protection.
Following the presidency, Eisenhower moved to ta working farm adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. It was 70 miles from his ancestral home in Elizabethville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The Eisenhowers also had a retirement home in Palm Desert, California.
Eisenhower had some political activity in his retirement. He went to San Antonio, Texas to campaign for John W. Goode, the unsuccessful Republican candidate against the Democrat Henry Gonzalez in the 20th Congressional District. He spoke at the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco, and appeared with party nominee Barry Goldwater in a campaign commercial, despite the fact that in the late 1950s Goldwater had called Eisenhower's administration as "a dime-store New Deal". On January 20, 1969, when Richard Nixon was inaugurated as President, Eisenhower issued a statement praising his former vice president.
On March 28, 1969, at 12:25 p.m., Eisenhower died from congestive heart failure at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He was 78 years old. The next day, his body lay in repose at the Washington National Cathedral's Bethlehem Chapel. He was then transported to the United States Capitol, where he lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda on March 30 and 31. His state funeral was held at the Washington National Cathedral on March 31. The president and First Lady, Richard and Pat Nixon, attended, as did former president Lyndon Johnson. That evening, Eisenhower's body was placed onto a special funeral train for its journey from the capital to his hometown of Abilene, Kansas. Eisenhower is buried inside the Place of Meditation, the chapel on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Center in Abilene. As requested, he was buried wearing his World War II Uniform, decorated with Army Distinguished Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit. Buried alongside Eisenhower are his son Doud, who died at age 3 in 1921, and wife Mamie, who died in 1979.
President Richard Nixon eulogized Eisenhower. He said:
"Some men are considered great because they lead great armies or they lead powerful nations. For eight years now, Dwight Eisenhower has neither commanded an army, nor led a nation, an yet he remained throughout his final days the world's most admired and respected man, truly the first citizen of the world."