Kansas’ President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the unifier in chief the U.S. needed

In September, the United States honored Dwight D. Eisenhower with a memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Designed by famed architect Frank Gehry, the 4-acre memorial celebrates Eisenhower’s life in three scenes: as the barefoot boy from humble beginnings in Abilene, Kansas; the commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II; and president from 1952 to 1960. Gehry ties the three scenes together with a 447-foot translucent tapestry in stainless steel depicting the Normandy coast where Eisenhower led the Allied troops to victory on D-Day in one of the most consequential battles of the war.

It is fair to ask whether Eisenhower deserves such a memorial. After all, his is only the fifth presidential monument on the National Mall, following heavyweights George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (sixth if the statue of General Ulysses S. Grant on military horseback is counted). Is our 34th president worthy of this company?

Like Washington, Eisenhower entered politics a popular war hero. And like Washington, he had to be talked into running for president, ultimately agreeing to do so out of a sense of duty to country, not a desire for personal gain or fame.

During his two terms in office, Ike compiled an impressive list of accomplishments. He quickly extricated the United States from the Korean War, to the overwhelming approval of a war-weary America. He deftly managed sticky crises in Suez, Hungary and elsewhere, protecting American interests and countering Soviet influence, while averting war at a time of escalating nuclear arsenals.

At home, he created the interstate highway system and NASA. In 1957, he sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, banning “separate but equal” schools. That same year, he signed the first civil rights bill into law. Cautiously, but ultimately successfully, Ike prevailed over Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s red-baiting witch-hunt.

Perhaps even more important than the what is the how Ike accomplished his agenda. Eisenhower approached every issue by asking this simple question: What is best for America as a whole?

“He believed there was a middle way that could draw Americans into a moderate center that could serve as a gathering place for compromise and conciliation, a place to coalesce around a national unity of purpose,” writes Susan Eisenhower, the president’s granddaughter, in her new book, “How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions.”

One small but important tactic Ike employed was this: He never publicly criticized his adversaries, even McCarthy, by name, instead opting for broad statements of principles befitting the office of the President.

Eisenhower’s legacy lies in how he brought the country together at a time of deep political divisions. His approval rating averaged 65% over his presidency. But it was not just Republicans who liked Ike. He enjoyed a 49% average approval rating among Democrats, an opposite party rating which has been equaled only by President Kennedy since then.

Ike understood that the most important duty of the president is to unify the country. This used to be understood by most, if not all, of our leaders. But sadly no more.

Given his emphasis on unity, it is not only appropriate that we celebrate Eisenhower with a national monument; it is imperative. And there has never been a better time to do so.

Jeff Mihm is a fellow at the University of Texas at Austin as part of its Towers Fellow program.