Eisenhower, Milton Stover, 1899-1985

Milton Stover Eisenhower was born in 1899 in Abilene, Kansas, the son of local creamery worker David Eisenhower and Ida Stover. His younger brother, Dwight D. Eisenhower, became U.S. President (1952-1960). Milton Eisenhower graduated from Kansas State College in 1923 with a B.S. in industrial journalism before serving as the American vice-consul in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 1924 to 1926. In 1926, he entered the Department of Agriculture as an administrative assistant and became its director of information. In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt appointed Milton Eisenhower to establish and facilitate the War Relocation Authority whose primary task was to relocate 120,000 Japanese-Americans from the West Coast to internment camps inland. In his memoir, Eisenhower described this assignment to be the "most difficult and traumatic task of my career." In 1943, Eisenhower accepted the position as president, first at his alma mater, Kansas State College (1943-1950), then at The Pennsylvania State College (1950-1956). His administration at Penn State ushered in an age of modernity and prosperity. Eisenhower successfully managed the change of the institution's name from Pennsylvania State College to Pennsylvania State University, establishing and acknowledging the research mission of the institution. He fought for increased financial support from the state and put forth new initiatives in research, particularly nuclear engineering. He also played an active role in international peacekeeping as a goodwill Ambassador to Ecuador in 1953, and he advocated the research and implementation of peaceful nuclear energy after the advent of the atomic bomb. Eisenhower was known to be an approachable and accessible university president and official. In 1956, Eisenhower left Penn State to become president of Johns Hopkins University, where he served until 1969, and again for a brief stint in 1971. He helped Johns Hopkins become one of the country's elite institutions, and while he served as president of the university he also acted as a negotiator to Fidel Castro during the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961. In 1968, Eisenhower spearheaded Lyndon Johnson's National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence. Eisenhower was married to Helen Elsie Eakin in 1927; the Helen Eakin Eisenhower Chapel on the University Park campus is named after her. Their children were Ruth and Milton Eisenhower Jr. Milton Eisenhower died in 1985 at the age of 85.

From the description of Milton S. Eisenhower papers, 1943-1985. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 703158511

President of Johns Hopkins University (1956-1967, 1971-1972); d. 1985.

From the description of Oral history interview, 1972. (Maryland Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 32822003

Government official, educator.

From the description of Reminiscences of Milton Stover Eisenhower : oral history, 1969. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122308341

From the description of Reminiscences of Milton Stover Eisenhower : oral history, 1971. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122527422

From the description of Reminiscences of Milton Stover Eisenhower : oral history, 1967. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122565194

President of The Johns Hopkins University, 1956-1972.

From the description of Milton Stover Eisenhower scrapbook, 1957. (Johns Hopkins University). WorldCat record id: 49308206

Milton Stover Eisenhower (b. September 15, 1899, d. May 2, 1985) was the youngest brother of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He served as an adviser to every U.S. president from Calvin Coolidge through Richard Nixon. He began working for the U.S. State Department during the mid-1920's and served as Director of Information for the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1928 until 1942, when he was named director of the War Relocation Authority. In that capacity Eisenhower oversaw the forced placement of Japanese-Americans into internment camps, a policy decision he later termed as an "inhuman mistake"; he served in that post for only three months. During the 1950's and 1960's he was U.S. ambassador to Latin America. During his career he also served as the president of three colleges, Kansas State College (now University) from 1943 to 1950, Pennsylvania State University from 1950 to 1956, and Johns Hopkins University from 1956 to 1967 and again in 1971 and 1972.

From the description of Eisenhower, Milton Stover, 1899-1985 (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). naId: 10581838