Dwight David Eisenhower was an inspiring military leader, best-selling author, head of Columbia University, and president of the United States. As the top American general and later Allied Supreme Commander in the European theater, he directed Allied forces in World War II to victories in North Africa and Italy and coordinated the massive and successful D-Day invasion of France. Extraordinarily popular with both his soldiers and the American public, Eisenhower was twice elected to the presidency, where he led the United States with determination and purpose during the difficult early years of the Cold War. After his retirement from public life in 1961, Eisenhower continued to serve his country as an advisor to presidents Kennedy and Johnson. 
 

Little Rock Crisis
 

Can you imagine armed troops blocking you from going to school? That's what happened in Little Rock, Arkansas in the Fall of 1957, when Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prevent African American students from enrolling at Central High School. Governor Faubus was openly defying a 1954 Supreme Court decision, Brown vs. Topeka, which ordered that U.S. public schools be desegregated "with all deliberate speed." President Dwight D. Eisenhower, as the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, was presented with a difficult problem. He wanted to uphold the Constitution and the laws, but also avoid a possible bloody confrontation in Arkansas, where emotions ran high. What do you think Eisenhower did? 
 

President Eisenhower, who was vacationing in Newport, Rhode Island, arranged to meet Governor Faubus there to discuss the tense situation in Little Rock. In their brief meeting, Eisenhower thought Faubus had agreed to enroll African American students, so he told Faubus that his National Guard troops could stay at Central High and enforce order. Once back in Little Rock, Governor Faubus withdrew the National Guard. A few days later, 9 African American students slipped into the school to enroll and a full scale riot erupted. The situation quickly ran out of control, as Governor Faubus did nothing to stop the violence. Finally, the mayor of Little Rock appealed directly to President Eisenhower for help. 
 

Eisenhower knew he had to act boldly. He placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and sent 1,000 U.S. Army paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division to assist them in restoring order in Little Rock. The daring tactic worked and the African American students were enrolled without further violent disturbances. The law had been upheld, but Eisenhower was criticized both by those who felt he had not done enough to ensure civil rights for African Americans and those who believed he had gone too far in asserting federal power over the states.