Net54baseball.com Forums - Eisenhower versus Jim Thorpe

Sorry for the repost, I felt this story needed to stand on its own.

Did you know that Jim Thorpe almost caused Eisenhower to quit the Academy?

As I comb through the contents of a recent purchase, I found it told a really fascinating story with the future General of the Army for World War II and the 34th President of the United States: Dwight D “Ike” Eisenhower. Much of this is gathered from two books: “West Point 1915: Eisenhower, Bradley, and the Class the Stars Fell On” and “Eisenhower Vol 1”

Dwight Eisenhower entered West Point in June 1911. He immediately took to the Academy's focus on tradition and requirement for physical activities. Seeing a first-class collegiate sports program, Ike tried out for the football team. Although he was very athletic and strong, his 5’11’’-152 pound frame was simply too small to compete. Missing the cut for the varsity team, Ike settled for the in-house (JV) Cullum Hall team. Although they played local clubs and other high school teams, the highlight of the team was participating in three different Thanksgiving Day football games. You see, at that time, while cadets were complete with classes, they were not allowed to go home for Thanksgiving. So they did what most families did, they organized an intersquad football tournament. This tournament pitted the Runts versus the Flankers (1 of the 3 games).

As per the West Point Traditions Homepage:
“Before 1957, the 24 Cadet Companies were sized by height; i.e., the tallest cadets were in Companies A-1 and M-2 which, when the Corps was lined up for a Brigade Parade or Review on the Plain, Company A-1 was on the right flank and Company M-2 was on the left flank. Hence the term "Flankers" for the tallest cadets. Companies M-1 and A-2 were in the middle of the formation and were made up of the smallest cadets in the Corps, hence the term "Runts" for the shortest members of the Corps. However, when lined up on the Plain in massed Cadet Battalion formation, the Corps appeared as all being of the same height to someone observing it from the other side of the Plain.”

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4301/...e2d00f73_z.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4310/...719323a9_z.jpg

Apparently this game wasn’t enough for Eisenhower and he refused to be relegated to JV status for his sophomore year. He implemented a very robust diet and exercise program and worked to transform himself into the athlete needed to compete on the varsity football field. By tryouts, Ike bulked up by 22lbs to 174lbs and was faster than when he arrived to the academy. His coaches took notice and he was admitted onto the varsity team.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4330/...33df7f8b_z.jpg

Eisenhower started the second game of the season against Rutgers but was unremarkable except for the fact that he played both offense and defense. He posted similar results with the during the following Yale Game

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4311/...7be2fea3_z.jpg

His true breakout game occurred against a strong Colgate team. Coach (Capt) Ernest Graves put Ike in the game late in the fourth quarter as Army was behind. Eisenhower immediately scored a touchdown and turned the contest of the game. Army went on to win 18-7.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4293/...db500f82_z.jpg

Eisenhower fed on the intensity of the game and was emboldened by his performance during the Colgate game. The next major game was the Carlisle Indian team coached by the legendary Glenn “Pop” Warner. The undisputed star of this team was Jim Thorpe, an incredible all-around athlete that had won gold medals in both the pentathlon and decathlon of the 1912 Summer Olympics. During the first half, stopping Thorpe proved nearly impossible. Often, Thorpe would continue to progress the ball forward with nearly half a dozen Army linemen trying to drag him down. At half-time, Eisenhower was tired of Thorpe embarrassing the Army team. He hatched a plan with fellow linebacker Charles Benedict and called for the ole’ 1-2 against Thorpe. Out of the gate Eisenhower hit Thorpe hard in the chest while Benedict took out Thorpe’s legs. The play gasped the crowd and Carlisle called a timeout. After a few moments, Thorpe stood up, shook off the hit and was trotting back to the huddle. In no time he was making easy play of Army. Eisenhower nodded at Benedict and they were going to go at him again. Ike sprinted straight for Thorpe and dove to make the tackle. What Eisenhower and Benedict didn’t count on was Thorpe’s ability to stop on a dime. As the Carlisle star stopped, Ike and Benedict slammed into each other, badly twisting Ike’s knee. Both players came out of the game, with neither to return. Carlisle, and moreso Jim Thorpe won the game 27-6.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4311/...dd5b97e7_z.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4319/...6d4e055b_z.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4318/...31bd529b_z.jpg

The following week, the cadet’s met the Tuft’s eleven. Although still battered from the Carlisle game, Eisenhower refused to sit out. He started the game with great gusto and running. It was then that a Tuft’s player grabbed his foot to drag him down. Refusing to be brought to the ground, Ike continued his momentum. And with a twist from the Tuft’s player, something popped in Ike’s knee. He had to be helped off the field and was replaced by Cadet Hocker.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4302/...5376f410_z.jpg

Eisenhower tried to nurse his injury on his own, but was unable to walk when he came down on his knee after dismounting his horse during riding class. He was immediately sent to the hospital. Although he missed the following game against Syracuse, he was optimistic he would heal quickly and told his classmates that he would play in one of the annual Thanksgiving Day games called the “Bucks vs. Corps”. This was a game comprised of the Class of 1915 and pitted the “Buck” Privates vs. the “Corp”orals. Notice this game showcased Corporal Eisenhower vs. Private Omar Bradley. Unfortunately, Corporal Eisenhower would spend this day in the hospital and was unable to play.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4309/...f3590ed6_z.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4318/...056b3850_z.jpg

In an attempt to stabilize his leg, the doctors placed him in a cast. On crutches, he watched Army lose to Navy 6-0; a humiliating 3rd loss in a row. His spirits hit rock bottom when the doctors took the cast off his leg and informed him that he would never play football again. Eisenhower plunged into a deep depression. Without football, his desire to remain at the Academy was non-existent. “Life seemed to have little meaning and the need to excel is almost gone” he later recalled. He prepared himself and the papers for resignation from the Academy; however (luckily) his roommate talked him out of it…”just give it to the end of the year.”

That summer Eisenhower returned home to a hero’s welcome. He told locals of his exploits on the football field and how he held his own against the legendary Jim Thorpe. The attention and accolades gave him the confidence he needed to return to the academy for another year. Upon his return, he could not keep away from his love for football. He found an opening as a cheer leader and it filled his need to be close to the action. It also gave him his first taste of public speaking as before each game Ike would address the entire Corps of Cadets to pump them up and practice the songs and yells the cadets would chant throughout the game.

For decades, a number of Tufts players came up to Eisenhower and apologized for this career ending injury. So many, that Eisenhower later joked that he seems to have forgot how many people were really in that game. Likewise, many years later both Eisenhower and Jim Thorpe were asked about the other as a player on the field. Eisenhower replied that “Here and there, there are some people who are supremely endowed. My memory goes back to Jim Thorpe. He never practiced in his life, and he could do anything better than any other football player I ever saw.” In the mid-1950s when Jim Thorpe was asked if he remembered playing President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1912 game, Thorpe grunted and gave a guttural “Good linebacker”.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4317/...2f457039_z.jpg

So did Thorpe almost cause Eisenhower to quit? Of course not. Thorpe was, however, a key part of Eisenhower’s development that made him into the man that would ultimately win WWII and The Presidency.