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Eisenhower National Historic Site was the home and farm of General and President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mamie Doud Eisenhower. Located adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield in Cumberland Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the farm served as a weekend retreat for the President and a meeting place for world leaders. It was the Eisenhowers' home after they left the White House in 1961. With its putting green, skeet range, and view of South Mountain, it offered President Eisenhower a much-needed respite from the pressures of Washington. It was also a successful cattle operation, with a show herd of black Angus cattle. Some of the more notable of Eisenhower's guests were Premier Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union, President Charles de Gaulle of France, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain, and Governor Ronald Reagan of California. ==History== Dwight D. (Ike) Eisenhower had a long history with the Gettysburg area. His graduating class from West Point had visited the battlefield in 1915. In 1918, he was assigned to nearby Camp Colt in his first independent command as an army officer, commanding a tank training unit; he and Mamie Eisenhower were newly married.〔Walsh, Kenneth T. ''From Mount Vernon to Crawford'' (Hyperion, 2005) pp. 122–123〕〔(Eisenhower Military Chronology ) U.S. National Park Service〕 Throughout his long army career, Dwight Eisenhower and his wife never had a house to call their own, with the couple moving from army post to army post. After he became Columbia University's president in 1948, Mamie requested that they finally have a place to call their own. A married couple that were friends with the Eisenhowers, George and Mary Allen, had recently purchased a small farm around Gettysburg, and recommended the area. In 1950, they found a "run-down farm" on the outskirts of Gettysburg, and purchased the farm and its for $40,000 (equal to $ today) from one Allen Redding, who had owned the farm since 1921. Eisenhower stated that he could feel the "forgotten heroisms" that occurred on the grounds as the Battle of Gettysburg.〔Walsh p. 122〕〔(The Presidents (Eisenhower National Historic Site) ) U.S. National Park Service〕 When purchased, the included 600 chickens, 25 cows, and many dilapidated buildings dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries. Renovation of the property was delayed when Eisenhower became supreme commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1951. After he had attained the presidency of the United States in 1953, Mamie had him rebuild the old house. Much of the original building had to be torn down, due to its deterioration. The total cost of renovation was $250,000 (equal to $ today), due partly to Mamie's whims and also to his wanting to appeal to labor unions, meaning he spent $65,000 (equal to $ today) for the union help that had to come from away in Washington, D.C. on a daily basis to construct the farmhouse. In 1955, to celebrate the construction being finished (and it being the Eisenhowers' wedding anniversary), they threw a celebration party, the guests of which included the entire staff of the White House; as they didn't want the White House to go unstaffed, the staff went in two shifts, and were forever grateful to the Eisenhowers for including them in the festivities.〔(Eisenhower National Historic Site - Eisenhower at Gettysburg ) U.S. National Park Service〕〔Walsh pp.122-124〕 From its completion in 1955 to the end of Eisenhower's second term on January 20, 1961, the President spent 365 days total on the Gettysburg farm. The longest of these stays was 38 days, due to recovering from a heart attack he suffered in Colorado in 1955. Afterwards, the Eisenhowers spent most weekends and summer vacations at the Gettysburg farm, sometimes going to both the Gettysburg farm and Camp David, prompting one person to call Camp David "an annex to Gettysburg".〔Walsh p. 126〕 The Gettysburg farm provided a few headaches. Democrats chose the amount of time the Eisenhowers spent at the Gettysburg farm as another way to attack him. Paul M. Butler, head of the Democratic National Committee, called him a part-time president due to his many stays in Gettysburg. When his World War II ally Bernard Montgomery visited the farm, speaking as military commander to military commander, Eisenhower commented to Montgomery that he would have fired a subordinate that would initiate Pickett's Charge, which many Southerners saw as disrespecting the highly esteemed Robert E. Lee, causing a protest.〔(Gettysburg Refought ) ''Time Magazine'' May 27, 1957〕 When the Soviet Union's premier Nikita Khrushchev visited the farm in September 1959, he was so "grandfathery" to the Eisenhower grandchildren that David Eisenhower said that Khrushchev was such a nice guy, he (David) could become a communist if he did not know better, causing much embarrassment to the Eisenhowers.〔Walsh pp. 126, 132, 133〕 The Eisenhowers donated their home and farm ( total at the time) to the National Park Service in 1967, maintaining lifetime living rights for the former president. Two years later, Eisenhower died at the age of 78. Mamie Eisenhower rejected the idea of moving to Washington to be closer to family and friends and, with the United States government allowing it, continued to live on the farm until her death in 1979, although the living area for Mamie was reduced to . The National Park Service opened the site in 1980.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Eisenhower National Historic Site」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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