Eisenhower's Visits to Martinsburg

Donald Trump’s campaign stop in October of 2020 was of course big news, but he was not the first president to land at the airport at Martinsburg. President Dwight D. Eisenhower made at least three trips here in the 1950s.

As the commander of the Allied forces in World War 11 and as President, Eisenhower was immensely popular. Although it’s hard to imagine in this partisan era, he was rarely, if ever, criticized by the media. He won both presidential elections, in 1952 and in 1956, by landslides.

From 1950 to 1956 his brother, Milton Eisenhower, was president of Penn State University. At the ti...