“Eisenhower Comes to Concord”
Growing up in the 1950s, I remember a moment in each school day where we would pause, turn to a photograph of Dwight D. Eisenhower, and as I remember it, drink a glass of milk. I do not remember much else about this ritual, but the memory has stayed with me.
I was too young to remember or have even known that President Eisenhower had visited Concord, New Hampshire. I can imagine the excitement that must have filled the town when a sitting president came through, crowds gathering, streets lines, a moment that would stand apart from the ordinary rhythm of daily life.
President Eisenhower came to Concord in 1955 as part of a New England trip, meeting with state leaders and connecting with the public. His visit came at a time when the country was in the midst of the Cold War, and he was a widely respected figure, not only as a president, but as the Supreme Allied Commander during World War II.
During his time in Concord, he was greeted with a parade along Main Street, with large crowds turning out for him. For any, it would have been the first, and perhaps only, time they would see a sitting president in person. These visits were not common, and they carried a sense of occasion that towns remembered for decades.
This banner commemorates his visit and the real presence of the man himself in a small New England capital.
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