4 November: Dwight D. Eisenhower

On this date in 1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected the 34th president of the United States. He served as President from 1953 to 1961 and was one of the most popular Presidents in history. Here are 10 things you might not know about him.

1. His name was actually David Dwight Eisenhower. He was named after his father although his middle name was different so he couldn't be referred to as "Junior". His mother switched the two names around to avoid any confusion caused by having two Davids in the house. The President's working retreat, Camp David, was re-named by Eisenhower in 1953 after his father and Grandson. It was previously known as Shangri-La.
2. Eisenhower was an anglicised version of the German name Eisenhauer, which means "iron miner". His ancestors were farmers in Germany.
3. He came from a military background. He went to West Point and played a role in both world wars, although he didn't see any active combat. During WWI he trained tank drivers and by WWII he'd achieved a high enough rank that he didn't actually fight. He eventually reached the giddy heights of General of the Army, five-star, which only nine Americans have ever achieved.
4. He was the first president to use a Helicopter for short trips in and out of the White House. At his own suggestion, this mode of transport was adopted because it was safer than using a limo. His first such trip was in 1957 when he left the White House in a helicopter as part of an evacuation drill.
5. Generals of the Army never actually retire but remain on active duty till they die. Hence in 1961, when he retired as President, he went back to active duty.
6. When he was 58, he took up painting. He'd been inspired by watching a painter produce a portrait of Mamie Eisenhower, and was given a painting set as a gift by the artist, Thomas E. Stephens. He was encouraged to take up the hobby by Winston Churchill. Eventually, he painted about 250 pictures but never rated his own work very highly. When his paintings were shown at an exhibtion, and a reporter asked him what one of them symbolised, he replied, "They would have burned this shit a long time ago if I weren't the President of the United States."
7. He had a reputation as an excellent writer of speeches, letters and reports, and contributed to a guidebook about WWI battlefields. He was sufficiently good that William Randolph Hearst tried to headhunt him as a military correspondent for his magazine. Eisenhower declined, even though he would have earned three times as much as a journalist than he did in the military.
8. He was an avid golfer, too, which was bad news for the Squirrels which lived around the White House and used to bury their acorns on the putting green. This annoyed Eisenhower so much that he instructed his valet to shoot any squirrels seen near the green. Luckily for the squirrels, White House staff decided instead to trap them and release them into Rock Creek Park.
9. One enduring legacy from his presidency is the Interstate Highway system in the USA. Inspired by the autobahns in Germany, Eisenhower saw the advantages of such a system, not least to enable cities to be evacuated if they were targeted during a war. While driving in the US you might see commemorative signs reading "Eisenhower Interstate System" under a circle of five stars. The stars represent his five star rank in the military.
10. He was the first president to be limited to only serving two terms under the 22nd Amendment. While it was actually passed during Harry Truman's term, he lost the next election anyway. He was also the first to get a lifetime pension, paid staff and security.

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Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.

Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.

Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.

Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.

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