Dwight David Eisenhower

SUMMARY: This offering is a flawless official American League baseball that ws signed in 1964 in the clubhouse of the Washington Senators. Price:$7,500.00

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Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969). Ike was a General of the Army (five star general) in the United States Army and one of three Theater Commanders in WW II and then U.S. politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953–1961).

During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-45. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.He was one of three theater commanders and one of few men to achieve 5 star rank.Eisenhower was elected the 34th President as a Republican, serving for two terms. As President, he oversaw the cease-fire of the Korean War, kept up the pressure on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, made nuclear weapons a higher defense priority, launched the Space Race, enlarged the Social Security program, and began the Interstate Highway System.The breath and depth of his contributions gains more and more respect as time passes.

Eisenhower was an avid baseball fan. As a teenager in Abilene, he played center field on the high school team while brother, Milton, played first base. Ike is alleged to have told the following story as quoted in Baseball Almanac:

"When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of the summer afternoon on a river bank, 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 genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish."

Later, as a cadet at the United States Military Academy , he played on the junior varsity team, along with Omar N. Bradley, but he never made the varsity as did Douglas MacArthur. “Not making the baseball team at West Point was one of the greatest disappointments of my life,” he said, “maybe my greatest.” As President, he attended major league games as much as he could. According to Baseball Almanac, he attended 12 Senators games in Washington, D.C., and the first game of the 1956 World Series in Brooklyn during his time in office.

Historians have, as you might expect, tried to dredge up a controversy about Ike and baseball. He is alleged to have played semi-pro baseball before going to West Point where he had to attest (according to The cadet Honor Code) to the fact that he had never played sports for money to be eligible for the varsity football team.Big deal.That controversy remains unresolved.

Baseballs signed by Eisenhower are very popular and not easily found. In fact we could not find another one for sale at the time of this listing. Auction records show hammer prices for Eisenhower balls as high at $10,000. This offering is a single signed and stamped as the official Ball of the American League and with Joseph Cronin's name as President of the American League (1957-1953). This ball was signed by President Eisenhower post-presidency in 1964 for Jim Duckworth a pitcher of the Washington Senators. It is a single signed very white, undoctored ball that is signed boldly with a blue ball point pen on the side panel. The ball is in a holder and has Duckworth's baseball card attached. There is a minor degree of soiling either due to it being prepared for use in a game or from handling for 45 years.The ball is signed Dwight D, Eisenhower.The signature would grade 8-9 plus on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best. The ball comes with the original box as shown.Details of exactly how and when the ball was acquired will accompany the ball and a newspaper article documenting Ike's attendance at the game when the ball was signed.

All items sold by the History Buff, Inc. come with documentation and a certified opinion as to authenticity.

Price: $ 7,500.00