Dwight David Eisenhower, 14 Oct 1890 - 28 Mar 1969
Gouache, ink and graphite pencil on paperboard
Sheet: 30.5 x 27.9cm (12 x 11")
Mat: 71.1 x 55.9cm (28 x 22")
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; purchased with funds from Rosemary L. Frankeberger
On June 6, 1944, Allied forces began establishing beachheads on France's Normandy coast. As this huge operation progressed into the second day, it was clear that the defeat of Germany was now certain. In light of this success, Time magazine doubtless knew by mid-June that the invasion's orchestrator-in-chief, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, would be its 1944 Man of the Year. Indeed, it would not have been surprising if the magazine had ordered this likeness within days of the invasion. But Eisenhower's heading of this operation was not the only circumstance that earned him his Man of the Year designation: his singular combination of tact and intelligence made him one of the few individuals capable of mounting such a massive invasion.