Yes, I think Ike would like Frank!

/ The Coastal Crone

Ike Campaign Button

In 2012 I wrote a post about the controversy  over the design of a planned memorial honoring the Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during WWII  and 34th president, Dwight D. Eisenhowser.  Frank Gehry was to be the architect.  That post can be found here,  “Will Ike like Frank?

The Eisenhower Memorial will be dedicated today after almost ten years of planning.   It is located in Washington, D.C.  near the National Mall.   I think Ike would approve of the final design.

National Public Radio had an excellent description by Susan Stanberg with good photos.  You can read her review or read it.  The link is here at Eisenhower Memorial, NPR.

The “I like Ike” campaign button reminds us of a time when presidential campaigns were a bit tamer than the one facing us in 2020.

 

 

27 thoughts on “Yes, I think Ike would like Frank!”

  2. I enjoyed both your earlier 2012 post and this one. I remember all the myths during the Kennedy campaign (“he will make us all become Catholics” and “he will take orders from the Pope”) and asking my mother “Why can’t we just keep President Eisenhower?” She explained term limits in ways a 10 year old could understand. My favorite quote from Eisenhower was when he said, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.” (April 16, 1953) . Thank you for this news!

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    • Thanks! I had very few “likes” back then on it. I remember the fears if Kennedy got elected too, as if Catholics would take over and the Pope would be in charge. Eisenhower had certainly seen his share of war. I suppose he got elected at a time when the country needed him again. Thanks for the quote!

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  4. I wasn’t sure what I’d see when I clicked over to the NPR page, but I actually liked the monument (I like Gehry’s more modern architecture too, but it didn’t seem appropriate for Ike). My parents were forever Democrats so Ike wasn’t a favorite, but he’d probably be seen as too liberal today. How times change, huh? Thanks for sharing! Hopefully, one of these days, I’ll get back to DC and see it for myself.

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    • And you came in at a good time with JFK! I remember seeing that speech on television. I long for a time when we were more united. And I wish this could have been given more coverage in the news. I read somewhere that all the living presidents had been invited to the dedication but were unable to attend. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your memories. May the smoke clear in your area soon! Stay safe!

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      • The smoke is gone Jo, at least in our area. But there are still fires and smoke all over California. I am sorry that WordPress only lets me post as Sunnycovechef. I tried to change it .

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  7. I was in grade school at the time, and my “I Like Ike” button was a prized possession. We were still so close to the war years that I suspect those memories helped to minimize conflicts even among those who disagreed politically.

    Somehow I’d missed knowing about the Eisenhower Memorial. When I read that Gehry was involved, I quivered a bit; I’m not at all a fan. Despite my best attempts to be open-minded, etc., I find most of his work off-putting (and ugly, in some cases). But this is appealing. I can imagine there were plenty of “discussions” along the way, but it seems both attractive and dignified –a fitting memorial to the man.

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  8. Yes, I agree that those memories of war made America appreciate peace and Eisenhower was someone we could trust perhaps. That button would be a vintage prize today. Now it is mostly flags and yard signs.

    I had almost forgotten about it until I heard about it yesterday on NPR Morning Edition when I was walking. Gehry is different but I like most of his work. Eisenhower’s memorial is different and seems fitting for a president. Perhaps the figure sculptures make it more traditional and as you wrote, both attractive and dignified. The young boy looking back was a nice way to bring in his early life as if the boy was dreaming of the future.

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  9. I like Frank Gehry’s work. He’s a dual citizen, born in Canada, considered to be a Canadian American architect. A very fitting memorial to a great leader.

    I’ve quoted him before. He famously said, “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist.”

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    • I always forget that he is Canadian American as we have taken him for our own. Thanks for the reminder. I like his work also.

      His quote is very relative today! Power can be a dangerous thing in the hands of the wrong person also. Thanks for sharing this quote and sharing Frank Gehry with the US. Take care!

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  10. I hadn’t heard of Frank Gehry until, with The Architect I visited Barcelona where he, The Architect, was excited to visit the statue of the fish. Gehry is indeed an exciting architect and I hope his memorial to Eisenhower is appreciated if not by all, at least by the majority.

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    • You were fortunate to have seen it with your own Architect. I was not familiar with it so I had to Google it. For the photos I saw of the memorial it should be accepted and appreciated by most but in America these days, who knows! Thanks for sharing your memory of The Architect and the fish! Take care, Judith!

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Comments are always welcome!