The Eisenhower baseball controversy refers to allegations that the former general and President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower, played a minor league baseball for the Junction City Army at Central Kansas League years before he attended United United Military Academy at West Point. According to the story, he did it by the name of "Wilson." The question of whether Dwight Eisenhower plays a minor league baseball is not well documented and is subject to various interpretations.
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Controversy
While at the Academy, Eisenhower plays college football for West Point. This will not be a problem except that to play college football, one must never play the sport for money, because it leads to the seizure of an athlete's amateur status. If Eisenhower really did play baseball for money, it would have violated the Honor Cadet Code. One source stated that Eisenhower even signed a voucher claiming that he had never exercised for money. The Eisenhower Presidency Library claimed in an e-mail that "We have no documentation of whether Ike signed the voucher when he arrived at West Point.It will be interesting to see if West Point requires this in 1911."
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Honor Code Cadet
The Cadet Honor Code, formalized in 1920, states that:
A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do so.
Although Eisenhower graduated in 1915, prior to the formalization of the Code of Honor, playing amateur football while previously having been a professional athlete, would be either lying, cheating, or both. At the beginning, informally, sometimes characterized as vigilante justice, the phase of the System of Honor, it is not clear whether Eisenhower will pass to become an officer in the US Army.
Eisenhower's love of baseball
Eisenhower has long been a dream to become a professional baseball player. He was quoted as saying:
When I was a kid in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of a summer afternoon by the river, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him that I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a true professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he wanted to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish.
At West Point, Eisenhower tried for the baseball team but to no avail. He would later be quoted as saying, "Not making baseball teams at West Point is one of the biggest disappointments of my life, probably the biggest one for me."
Evidence
The evidence on the subject of the semi-pro baseball Eisenhower consists of quotes and later statements that can be contradictory. In June 1945 during his homecoming trip to the United States at the end of World War II in Europe, General Eisenhower attended the New York Giants match in New York City. According to an article in The New York Times (June 20, 1945) and Life (July 2, 1945), he admitted in a meeting with the team's two managers that he had played a semi-pro ball in Kansas. He was again cited as referring to this incident during his visit to Abilene, Kansas, a few days later ( The New York Times , June 23, 1945; The Wichita Eagle , June 23 1945). The Times quotes him as saying:
I am a central fielder. I plunged into baseball deliberately to make money, and did not know to make it a career. I want to go to college that falls, and we have no money. But I am not a very good center fielder, and do not do well.
The Eisenhower Foundation biography includes that "he may or may not play a semi-professional baseball" in the summer back to Abilene after his second year in 1913.
Eisenhower never explained clearly the years he played the ball and for what team. The diary of his naval Grand Master Eisenhower: Personal Diary of Captain Harry C. Butcher, USNR (Simon & Schuster, 1946), mentions that during the war General Eisenhower told his staff and colleagues told stories about playing semi-pro baseball.
Early biographer Eisenhower, Kenneth S. Davis (Soldier of Democracy, Doubleday, 1945), attributes that it is common for temporary "city teams" to be organized to play teams from other cities and that players will split up. board the gate at the end of the game. Quite often this amount is only a few dollars per player.
After being elected president in 1952, there was renewed interest in Eisenhower's sporting activities, and he received many questions about him playing a semi-pro baseball. The President and his staff ignore these questions or firmly reject the activity.
Mel Ott, the premier league baseball player, was quoted as saying that "The general admits that as a youth he has done it (playing a semi-pro ball), under the assumed Wilson name." Outfield players with the name "Wilson" are listed among the 1911 Junction City Soldiers of the minor league team of Junction City, Kansas. He is said to have played in 9 games with 31 on bat and 11 punches for an average 0.355 punch. He also has 10 putouts in 10 chances for a perfect 1.000 share percentage.
Note
References
Most of this article is based on research conducted by and reproduced with permission from the Eisenhower Presidency Library.
- More media
Frank Sinatra broadcasts the story of "Wilson" on "Bill Stern Sports Newsreel 07/09/48" (available from Radio Spirit in the CD collection of "60 Great Time Old Time Films Starring Frank Sinatra And Friends")
External links
- How does a small baseball league almost make America the future president?
- Simon Center for Professional Military Ethics at West Point
- Eisenhower Presidential Library
- Eisenhower Baseball Quotes
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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