What's with you and Eisenhower?

My cousin Russ called me this evening to say, "I bought a video A & E Biography of Eisenhower. You want to come over and watch it?" I said, "sounds good, I'll be there." On the way out I said hello to a couple of neighbors and one of them said, "what's with you and Eisenhower?" Knowing I had to go, I responded simply, "well, he was a great guy." Brilliant, eh? But, that got me thinking; what is with me and Eisenhower? It certainly is fair to say that I've always had an deep interest in history, especially American history and more specifically, World War II. This is something that Russ and I have shared since we were small boys. We've had dog-fights over the phone, me in a P-51 and him in a Messerschmitt-109. We've re-enacted the landing on Anzio Beach on his bedroom floor. We have built models two and three times over of every airplane that took part in the war. We still have lengthy discussions on the war and all of its ramifications. Tonight, after viewing the rather lame biography we had a what-if discussion based on Hitler invading and taking England in 1942. But my intense interest in Ike started in late 2000 when people were talking about "Person of the Century." At a dinner-table discussion, my brother-in-law Rob asked everybody to name who they thought was the most influential person of the century. (This was after he asked everybody to name the most influential person of their life. I said Annette was.) As I was listening to others answer, my mind naturally jumped to the influence of World War II on the century, so I thought Eisenhower was the most influential person of the war and then I thought about how added to that he had eight years in the White House. Now that influence. The only argument I was willing to entertain was from my other brother-in-law John, who thought it should be Churchill. Maybe. Since then, I've read two biographies (both new), one memoir by his son John and short little book called Eisenhower and Churchill that parallels their lives. Additionally, I've read two of Steven Ambrose's books: D-Day and Eisenhower in Berlin. I've chosen not to read Ambrose's biography for now as it strikes me as a bit too subjective, but I'll probably read it someday. He was married on July 1st in his mother-in-law's living room. I was married on July 1st in my mother-law's living room. Coincidence? Perhaps...perhaps not.