Eisenhower was a little-known Lieutenant Colonel at Ford Ord, near San Francisco, when World War II began in 1939. Four years later, he became Supreme Commander of the Allied Armies in Europe. He then united these armies into a fighting force that smashed Nazi Germany's dream of world conquest. His meteoric rise through the ranks is briefly chronicled below.

In March, 1941, Eisenhower became a full Colonel. Three months later, he was made Chief of Staff of the Third Army with headquarters in San Antonio, Texas.

Eisenhower's brilliant record in maneuvers earned him a promotion to Brigadier General in September, 1941. It also brought him to the attention of General George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff.

On December 12, 1941, five days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Marshall appointed Eisenhower to the Army's War Plans Division, where Eisenhower worked on plans to defend U.S. possessions in the Pacific. He also began charting an Allied invasion of Europe.

In March, 1942, he was promoted to Major General and became head of the Operations Division of the War Department. He drew up plans to unify all American forces in Europe under one commander. In June, he was named Commanding General of American forces in the European Theater of Operations. His plan must of have really impressed the War Department, as well as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, for he had been advanced over 366 senior officers eligible for the job.

General Eisenhower set up his headquarters in London in June, 1942, and immediately began planning to bring 2,000,000 soldiers to Britain. In July, he was promoted to Lieutenant General.

General Eisenhower spent the summer of 1942 planning Operation Torch, the first major unified American-British offensive. The operation's goal was to invade French North Africa and drive out the German and Italian armies. Eisenhower was named Commander of the Allied Invasion Forces, which landed on the coast of Algeria and Morocco on November 8, 1942. By May, 1943, the Allies had conquered North Africa.

Eisenhower became a full General in February, 1943.

Once North Africa had been secured, Eisenhower turned his attention to an Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy. The Allies occupied all Sicily on August 17, 1943. They invaded Italy in September, 1943, and Rome fell on June 4, 1944.
[left: With British military leaders, General Eisenhower leaves Tunisia meeting at which the Italian campaign was planned.]

During the Italian campaign, General Eisenhower, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain, met to plan an invasion of Europe -- Operation Overlord.

In early December, 1943, President Roosevelt named Eisenhower to command Operation Overlord. By January, 1944, Eisenhower was in London directing Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). The operation began at 6:30 a.m. on June 6, 1944, and by nightfall the Allies had a firm hold on a long area of Normandy beach. After eleven months of bloody fighting, Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945.
[Right: "You are about to embark on a great crusade," General Eisenhower told Allied troops as they prepared for the June 6, 1944, Normandy invasion.]

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