Sold – Ike on Leadership & Character, Written During the Midst of World War II

Physically the strain comes on the young fellows carrying the battle right up to the enemy. But the higher commanders must have an inexhaustible fund of nervous energy, determination and optimism.

The history website of the U.S. Army states that “Dwight D. Eisenhower was a master craftsman in the demanding art of leadership.” It goes on to say “The name Eisenhower is synonymous with dynamic leadership in a complex international environment…Under the intense pressure of a global war, he rose to become Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe…[it was] his leadership skills that won the great land campaigns of the twentieth century.” (U.S. Army Biography.)

Ike was promoted to four-star general in February 1943 and served as the Allied commander for all the major operations in the Mediterranean theater throughout that year. After victory in the North Africa campaign, he went to Tunis, and after Italy was invaded, to that country. The invasion of Sicily took place in July 1943, and after it was secured, the Italian mainland was the next Allied target. On September 23, 1943, General Eisenhower took the Italian surrender aboard the HMS Nelson off Malta. It was amidst all this that he wrote his definition of leadership, the very leadership that led the Allies to victory in World War II.

Typed Letter Signed on his Allied Force Headquarters letterhead, Office of the Commander-in-Chief, Italy, August 10, 1943, to his boyhood friend Charles Case (whom he addresses as Charley), also praising his country and upbringing for making that leadership possible. “…Your letter was written about two weeks after we started our Sicilian invasion. I assume that your newspapers keep you pretty well up with the progress of events, so you know that we are still hard at it. War is tough on everybody. Physically the strain comes on the young fellows carrying the battle right up to the enemy. But the higher commanders must have an inexhaustible fund of nervous energy, determination and optimism. I have often felt, in my own case, that a fine constitution and an upbringing by upright, intelligent and understanding parents in a wholesome and healthful country, like our great Midwest, has sustained me in many hours of crisis…”