Page "Dwight D. Eisenhower" Paragraph 7

Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890, in Denison, Texas, the third of seven boys.

His mother originally named him David Dwight but reversed the two names after his birth to avoid the confusion of having two Davids in the family.

All of the boys were called " Ike ", such as " Big Ike " ( Edgar ) and " Little Ike " ( Dwight ); the nickname was intended as an abbreviation of their last name.

By World War II, only Dwight was still called " Ike ".

In 1892, the family moved to Abilene, Kansas, which Eisenhower considered as his home town.

As a child, he was involved in an accident that cost his younger brother an eye ; he later referred to this as an experience teaching him the need to be protective of those under him.

Dwight developed a keen and enduring interest in exploring outdoors, hunting / fishing, cooking and card playing from an illiterate named Bob Davis who lived by the river.

And though his mother was against war, it was her collection of history books that first sparked Eisenhower's early and lasting interest in military history.

He persisted in reading the books in her collection and became a voracious reader in the subject.

Other favorite subjects early in his education were arithmetic and spelling.