经过多年的争论和拖延，德怀特·戴维·艾森豪威尔本周正式加入其他六个国家美国前总统用附近的主要纪念碑华盛顿的国家购物中心。
向二战期间该国第34任总统、共和党偶像和盟军最高指挥官致敬的1.5亿美元将于周四完成并奉献，距离艾森豪威尔离任近60年。
“他加入了伟大的行列:华盛顿、杰斐逊，就建国而言;林肯;两个罗斯福;肯尼迪中心实际上是一座总统纪念碑，”德怀特·戴维·艾森豪威尔纪念委员会副执行主任维多利亚·蒂格韦尔说。
华盛顿州的德怀特·戴维·艾森豪威尔摄于2020年8月9日。
“通过这座纪念碑，他的遗产在美国历史上得到巩固，”她说。
纪念馆也是吸引人的比较现任共和党总统唐纳德·特朗普的领导风格和成就。
艾森豪威尔家族和纪念委员会的成员说，在流行病、经济衰退和政治分裂运动的背景下，这次揭幕式是全国反思半个世纪以来美国进步以及现在需要什么来塑造更美好的未来的机会。
世界著名建筑师弗兰克·盖里设计了华盛顿特区的德怀特·戴维·艾森豪威尔纪念馆，这是他在首都建造的第一座纪念馆。
建筑师弗兰克·盖里(Frank Gehry)在谈到他希望他的设计传达的信息时说:“如果有机会，有可能像(艾森豪威尔)这样的人和我们住在一起，他们可以应对这种情况。”“它可以来自任何地方，来自任何种族或文化。而且是突然发生的特殊情况。”
纪念碑记录了艾森豪威尔从堪萨斯州的阿比林晋升为五星级战时将军，以及后来的两届美国总统。
2020年9月4日，华盛顿的德怀特·戴维·艾森豪威尔纪念馆正在建设中。
一幅钢丝网挂毯描绘了法国诺曼底海岸，艾森豪威尔指挥下的盟军在1944年登陆日突袭了那里的海滩。
美国广播公司新闻直播提前看到了这座纪念碑，它位于华盛顿东南部的独立大道上，在美国国会大厦的视野范围内，两侧是联邦航空管理局、教育部、卫生部和公共服务部，每个部门都是在艾森豪威尔总统任期内创建的。
“这不是夸夸其谈。这里很安静，”盖里谈到这座建筑时说。
2020年8月9日，德怀特·戴维·艾森豪威尔纪念馆位于华盛顿国家航空航天博物馆以南的国家广场附近。
蒂格尔说，这座纪念碑于1999年由国会首次授权，本月在预算下完成，这是对一位以财政和个人责任为标志的总统的恰当致敬。
“如果你小心翼翼，其他的一切都会顺顺当当，”她说。
以“艾克”闻名的艾森豪威尔在1952年以压倒性优势赢得了白宫。他统治了美国八年的繁荣与和平。
虽然他的一些批评者认为他是一个“无所事事”的总统，艾森豪威尔被广泛认为是戏剧性地塑造了公共生活。他任命了美国最高法院的五名法官;大大扩展了州际公路系统;创建了美国国家航空航天局和美国联邦航空局。
安嫩伯格传播学院公共服务研究所所长大卫·艾森豪威尔是德怀特·戴维·艾森豪威尔总统的孙子。
安嫩伯格传播学院公共服务研究所主任大卫·艾森豪威尔的孙子说:“他生活在一个我们可以在正确的时间找到能够做出改变的人的社会里，他碰巧在那里。”。
艾森豪威尔在1957年监督美国军队和公立学校废除种族隔离，派遣军队到阿肯色州的小石城强制整合。他还签署了保护投票权的法律。但他的批评者说，对平等的推动本可以更强。
1953年，艾森豪威尔签署了一项行政命令，禁止美国同性恋者在美国政府任职。
孙女苏珊·艾森豪威尔在谈到总统的缺点时说:“我知道他很失望，他没能在八年后结束冷战。”。“就他个人的缺点而言，我想他肯定会说他的脾气是多年来学会控制的。”
苏珊·艾森豪威尔，德怀特·戴维·艾森豪威尔的孙女，是《艾克如何领导》的作者，该书探讨了前总统的领导风格。
纪念馆直接关注艾森豪威尔的领导和成就，在一位过去的共和党总统和现任总统之间形成了新的对比。
德怀特·艾森豪威尔甚至最近出现在2020年的总统竞选中竞选电视广告由独立的共和党团体林肯项目(Lincoln Project)制作的这份报告表明，特朗普不如艾克。
苏珊·艾森豪威尔说:“我不确定比较有多有用，但我确实认为比较是不可避免的，因为人们正在回顾过去，以展示一些路标，并理解我们是如何到达这个位置的。”
“然而，我确实认为艾森豪威尔的领导风格对这个国家更有效，”她补充说。
1999年，国会批准并资助了德怀特·戴维·艾森豪威尔纪念馆
艾森豪威尔式重视团结。本着这种精神，家庭和纪念委员会邀请特朗普和其他四位在世的前总统一起参加纪念仪式。组织者说，没有人能够出席。
“它的落成仪式原定于2020年5月8日，也就是诺曼底登陆75周年纪念日。所以我们应该庆祝过去的成就，”戴维·艾森豪威尔说。“但我们现在所处的环境确实要求我们寻找更深层次的东西。”
蒂格威尔说，她希望露天纪念馆的年轻游客能被鼓励思考他们的未来和个人潜力。
华盛顿州的德怀特·戴维·艾森豪威尔纪念馆摄于2020年8月9日。
“我希望来到这里的孩子能看到年轻艾克的雕像，也许他们会好奇这个来自堪萨斯州阿比林的孩子是怎么做到的，你知道，他在社会和经济上没有任何优势...想办法让他的生活变成现在的样子。
“因为我们都希望美国的故事是这样的:自由给你机会，”她补充道。"有了机会，你可以画自己的画布."
Dwight Eisenhower's leadership in spotlight after new memorial unveiled in DC
After years of controversy and delay, Dwight D. Eisenhower this week officially joins six otherformer American presidentswith amajor monument nearthe National Mall in Washington.
The $150 million tribute to the country's 34th president, Republican icon and supreme Allied commander during World War II will be completed and dedicated on Thursday, nearly 60 years after Eisenhower left office.
"He joins the greats: Washington, Jefferson, in terms of founding our country; Lincoln; the two Roosevelts; the Kennedy Center is actually a presidential memorial," said Victoria Tigwell, deputy executive director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington is pictured on Aug. 9, 2020.
"His legacy is cemented in American history through this memorial," she said.
The memorial is alsoinviting comparisonsin leadership style and accomplishments with the current Republican president, Donald Trump.
Members of the Eisenhower family and the memorial commission said the unveiling -- in the midst of a pandemic, recession and divisive political campaign -- is an opportunity for the nation to reflect on a half century of American progress and what's needed now to shape a better future.
World renowned architect Frank Gehry designed the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C., his first memorial constructed in the nation's capital.
"It's possible that there are people like (Eisenhower) living with us that can rise to the occasion, given the opportunities," said architect Frank Gehry of the message he hopes his design conveys. "It can come from anywhere, from any race or culture. And it's special when it happens suddenly."
The memorial charts Eisenhower's rise from Abilene, Kansas, to a five-star wartime general and, later, two-term U.S. president.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial is under construction in Washington, Sept. 4, 2020.
A steel mesh tapestry depicts the coast of Normandy, France, where Allied forces under Eisenhower's command stormed the beaches on D-Day in 1944.
ABC News Live got an early look at the memorial, situated along Independence Avenue in southeast Washington within view of the U.S. Capitol and flanked by offices of the Federal Aviation Administration and Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, each created during the Eisenhower presidency.
"It's not bombastic. It's quiet," Gehry said of the structure.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, located near the National Mall, south of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington is pictured on Aug. 9, 2020.
First authorized by Congress in 1999, the memorial was completed under budget this month -- a fitting tribute to a president for whom fiscal and personal responsibility were hallmarks, Tigwell said.
"If you look after the pennies, everything else falls in line," she said.
Eisenhower, who was popularly known as "Ike," won the White House in a landslide in 1952. He presided over eight years of prosperity and peace in America.
While some of his critics saw him as a "do-nothing" president, Eisenhower is widely credited with dramatically shaping public life. He appointed five justices to the U.S. Supreme Court; greatly expanded the Interstate Highway System; and created NASA and the FAA.
David Eisenhower, director of the Institute for Public Service at the Annenberg School for Communication, is the grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
"He was in a society where we would find people who could make a difference at the right time, and he happened to be there," said grandson David Eisenhower, director of the Institute for Public Service at the Annenberg School for Communication.
Eisenhower oversaw desegregation of the U.S. military and public schools, sending troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 toenforce integration. He also signed into law protections for voting rights. But his critics say the push for equality could have been stronger.
In 1953, Eisenhower signed an executive order banning gay and lesbian Americans from serving in the U.S. government.
"I know he was disappointed that he could not bring the Cold War to an end by the end of his eight years," granddaughter Susan Eisenhower said of the president's shortcomings. "In terms of his personal flaws, he certainly, I guess would say he had a temper which he learned to bring under control over the years."
Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of Dwight D. Eisenhower, is the author of "How Ike Led," which explores the former president's leadership style.
The memorial focuses squarely on Eisenhower's leadership and accomplishments, inviting fresh contrasts between a bygone Republican president and the current one.
Dwight Eisenhower even recently appeared in a 2020 presidentialcampaign TV adproduced by The Lincoln Project, an independent Republican group, that suggested Trump doesn't measure up to Ike.
"I'm not sure how useful comparisons are, but I do think that comparisons are inevitable because people are looking to the past to show some guideposts and to understand how we got to this position," Susan Eisenhower said.
"I do think, however, that the Eisenhower leadership style was much more effective for this country," she added.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial was authorized and funded by Congress in 1999
The Eisenhower style put a premium on unity. In that spirit, the family and memorial commission invited Trump and the four other living former presidents to come together for the memorial dedication. None were able to attend, organizers said.
"The dedication of it was originally scheduled for May 8, 2020, which would be the 75th anniversary of D-Day. So we would have been celebrating a past achievement," said David Eisenhower. "But the circumstances that we're in now really require us to look for something deeper."
Tigwell said she hopes young visitors to the open-air memorial will be prompted to reflect on their future and personal potential.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington is pictured on Aug. 9, 2020.
"I hope for a child who comes here, they'll see that statue of young Ike and maybe they'll wonder how did this kid who came from Abilene, Kansas, with, you know, no advantage socially or economically ... figure out how to make his life into what it was," Tigwell said.
"Because that is what we all hope the American story is: that freedom gives you opportunity," she added. "And with opportunity, you can paint your own canvas."
