David Eisenhower

Dwight David Eisenhower II (born March 31, 1948) is an American author, public policy fellow, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and eponym of the U.S. Presidential retreat, Camp David. He is the only grandson of 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the son-in-law of the 37th President of the United States Richard Nixon.

Eisenhower (age 12) poses with sign at presidential retreat named in his honor, 1960.

David Eisenhower was born on March 31, 1948, in West Point, Orange County, New York, to John and Barbara Eisenhower. His father was a U.S. Army officer, and his grandfather was future President of the United States of America, and former Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower.

His father would go on to be a brigadier general in the U.S. Army Reserve, U.S. Ambassador to Belgium (1969–1971), and a renowned military historian. His grandfather would become president of Columbia University (1948–1953), and later the 34th President of the United States (1953–1961). After assuming the presidency in 1953, President Eisenhower named the presidential mountain retreat, formerly Camp Shangri-La, Camp David, after his grandson.

Eisenhower graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1966. He received his B.A. in history cum laude from Amherst College in 1970. After college, he served for three years as an officer in the United States Naval Reserve. During this time, he was an officer on the USS Albany in the Mediterranean Sea. He then earned his J.D. cum laude from The George Washington University Law School in 1976.

He was at least loosely identified with the Nixon Administration, when he accepted a request to attend the funeral of Dan Mitrione in 1970, the operative whose activities in training Uruguayan police in torture techniques, when later publicized, caused profound controversy, although there has been no suggestion that Eisenhower had any knowledge of Mitrione's controversial activities.

He is today a teaching adjunct and public policy fellow at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, author, and co-chair of the Foreign Policy Research Institute's History Institute for Teachers. From 2001–2003, he was editor of the journal Orbis published by FPRI.

Eisenhower was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history in 1987 for his work Eisenhower: At War, 1943-1945—about the Allied leadership during World War II.

He is the host of a Public Television series called "The Whole Truth with David Eisenhower," distributed by American Public Television.

Julie and David Eisenhower (age 23) in 1971.

On December 22, 1968, Eisenhower married Julie Nixon, the daughter of the 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon, who served as Dwight Eisenhower's Vice-President. The couple had known each other since meeting at the 1956 Republican National Convention. The Reverend Norman Vincent Peale officiated in the non-denominational rite at the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City. Eisenhower's best man was future The Love Boat actor and congressman Fred Grandy.

Eisenhower and his wife Julie live in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. They have three children: actress Jennie Elizabeth Eisenhower (b. 1978); Alexander "Alex" Richard Eisenhower (b. 1980); and Melanie Catherine Eisenhower (b. 1984). They also have three grandchildren: Kaia Marie Eisenhower (b. 2007); Chloe Cheslock (b. 2013); and Kaeden Brian Eisenhower (b. 2013).

The Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Fortunate Son" (1969) was inspired by the wedding of David Eisenhower and Julie Nixon. Songwriter John Fogerty thought that Eisenhower received preferential treatment because he was born into a famous family and married to the daughter of the President.