Dwight D. Eisenhower

📍Eisenhower National Historic Site, 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, PA 17325, USA

“I grew up in a small house in Abilene, Kansas, one of a family of boys who fought each other constantly and worked the family garden to make ends meet; the open plains taught me patience and hard work. Then came an army life — Mamie and I reckoned we moved thirty-seven times in thirty-eight years of marriage. In 1951 we finally bought a farm of our own, on the edge of the Gettysburg battlefield, with a view of South Mountain; it was the first and only home we ever owned. We rebuilt the old farmhouse, and it became our refuge through my presidency and our retirement. I painted, shot skeet, practised on my putting green, raised a prize herd of Black Angus cattle, and wrote my memoirs. In September 1959, after talks at Camp David stalled, I brought Nikita Khrushchev here; we walked the farm, looked over my cattle and met my grandchildren, and the mood between us thawed. Mamie made the sun porch the heart of the house. The farm is now the Eisenhower National Historic Site.”

Sources: nps.gov saturdayeveningpost.com hmdb.org