France 100 Francs Silver Coin 1994 Dwight David Eisenhower
Commemorative issue: 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Paris
Obverse: Portrait of General Dwight D. Eisenhower in uniform. He was a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe.
Lettering: RF DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER.
Engraver: Émile Rousseau.
Reverse: US Army Europe Patch at center & Flags of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II under Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Lettering: COMMANDANT SUPRÊME DES FORCES ALLIÉES EN EUROPE 1943-1945 1994 100F.
Edge: Smooth.
Year: 1994.
Value: 100 Francs.
Metal: Silver (.900).
Weight: 22.2 g.
Diameter: 37 mm.
Thickness: 2.2 mm.
Shape: Round.
Commemorative coins of France: 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Paris
Dwight David Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. He was responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–1943 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–1945 from the Western Front. In 1951, he became the first Supreme Commander of NATO.
Eisenhower was of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry and was raised in a large family in Kansas by parents with a strong religious background. He graduated from West Point in 1915 and later married Mamie Doud and had two sons. After World War II, Eisenhower served as Army Chief of Staff under President Harry S. Truman and then accepted the post of President at Columbia University.
Eisenhower entered the 1952 presidential race as a Republican to counter the non-interventionism of Senator Robert A. Taft, campaigning against "communism, Korea and corruption". He won in a landslide, defeating Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson and temporarily upending the New Deal Coalition. Eisenhower was the first U.S. president to be constitutionally term-limited under the 22nd Amendment.
Eisenhower's main goals in office were to keep pressure on the Soviet Union and reduce federal deficits. In the first year of his presidency, he threatened the use of nuclear weapons in an effort to conclude the Korean War; his New Look policy of nuclear deterrence prioritized inexpensive nuclear weapons while reducing funding for conventional military forces. He ordered coups in Iran and Guatemala. Eisenhower refused to send American soldiers to help France in Vietnam, although he gave the French bombers and napalm, and CIA pilots flew passenger planes to ferry French troops. CIA files released in 2005 showed that US pilots flew bombing raids with the French during Operation Castor, and two US pilots were killed during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. Congress agreed to his request in 1955 for the Formosa Resolution, which obliged the U.S. to militarily support the pro-Western Republic of China in Taiwan and continue the ostracism of the People's Republic of China.
After the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite in 1957, Eisenhower authorized the establishment of NASA, which led to the space race. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Eisenhower condemned the Israeli, British and French invasion of Egypt, and forced them to withdraw. He also condemned the Soviet invasion during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 but took no action. In 1958, Eisenhower sent 15,000 U.S. troops to Lebanon to prevent the pro-Western government from falling to a Nasser-inspired revolution. Near the end of his term, his efforts to set up a summit meeting with the Soviets collapsed because of the U-2 incident. In his January 17, 1961 farewell address to the nation, Eisenhower expressed his concerns about the dangers of massive military spending, particularly deficit spending and government contracts to private military manufacturers, and coined the term "military–industrial complex".
On the domestic front, he covertly opposed Joseph McCarthy and contributed to the end of McCarthyism by openly invoking the modern expanded version of executive privilege. He otherwise left most political activity to his Vice President, Richard Nixon. He was a moderate conservative who continued New Deal agencies and expanded Social Security. He also launched the Interstate Highway System, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the establishment of strong science education via the National Defense Education Act, and encouraged peaceful use of nuclear power via amendments to the Atomic Energy Act.
Eisenhower's two terms saw considerable economic prosperity except for a sharp recession in 1958–1959. Voted Gallup's most admired man twelve times, he achieved widespread popular esteem both in and out of office. Since the late 20th century, consensus among Western scholars has consistently held Eisenhower as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents.
US Army Europe Patch
Worn from: 13 December 1944 - 2 August 1945.
The black shield, changed to dark blue when redesignated for the Headquarters U.S. Forces, European Theater in 1945, represented the darkness of oppression. The sword of liberation with rising flames represents justice by which the enemy power will be broken. Above the sword is a rainbow, emblematic of hope, containing the colors of the National Flags of the Allies. The sky blue above the rainbow represents a state of peace and tranquility to be restored to the enslaved people by the United Nations.
Background
The shoulder sleeve insignia was originally approved for the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces on 13 December 1944. It was redesignated for Headquarters, U.S. Forces, European Theater and revised to change the background color from black to dark blue on 2 August 1945. It was redesignated for the European Command on 23 June 1947. The insignia was redesignated for United States Army Europe on 7 November 1952. It was amended to include the specific shade of orange in the description on 22 July 1970. It was cancelled effective 16 July 2009. The insignia was reinstated for United States Army Europe on 7 July 2009, revoking the cancellation. The insignia was cancelled effective 17 April 2010. It was reinstated on 21 January 2011.