Editing Dwight D. Eisenhower (section)

=== In service of generals ===
[[File:Eisenhower in transcontinental military convoy.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Eisenhower (far right) with friends William Stuhler, Major Brett, and Paul V. Robinson in 1919, four years after graduating from the [[United States Military Academy]] at [[West Point, New York|West Point]]]]
After the war, Eisenhower reverted to his regular rank of [[Captain (U.S. Army)|captain]] and a few days later was promoted to [[Major (United States)|major]], a rank he held for 16 years.<ref name="Ambrose 1983, p. 14">{{harvnb|Ambrose|1983|p=14}}</ref> The major was assigned in 1919 to a [[1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy|transcontinental Army convoy]] to test vehicles and dramatize the need for improved roads. Indeed, the convoy averaged only {{convert|5|mph|km/h}} from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco; later the improvement of highways became a signature issue for Eisenhower as president.<ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|1983|p=69}}</ref>

He assumed duties again at [[Camp Meade]], Maryland, commanding a battalion of tanks, where he remained until 1922. His schooling continued, focused on the nature of the next war and the role of the tank. His new expertise in [[tank warfare]] was strengthened by a close collaboration with [[George S. Patton]], [[Sereno E. Brett]], and other senior tank leaders. Their leading-edge ideas of speed-oriented offensive tank warfare were strongly discouraged by superiors, who considered the new approach too radical and preferred to continue using tanks in a strictly supportive role for the infantry. Eisenhower was even threatened with [[court-martial]] for continued publication of these proposed methods of tank deployment, and he relented.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sixsmith |first1=E. K. G. |title=Eisenhower, His Life and Campaigns |year=1973 |page=6 |publisher=Conshohocken, PA Combined Publishing}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|1983|pp=70–73}}</ref>

From 1920, Eisenhower served under a succession of talented generals&nbsp;– [[Fox Conner]], [[John J. Pershing]], [[Douglas MacArthur]] and [[George Marshall]]. He first became executive officer to General Conner in the [[Panama Canal Zone]], where, joined by Mamie, he served until 1924. Under Conner's tutelage, he studied military history and theory (including [[Carl von Clausewitz]]'s ''[[On War]]''), and later cited Conner's enormous influence on his military thinking, saying in 1962 that "Fox Conner was the ablest man I ever knew." Conner's comment on Eisenhower was, "[He] is one of the most capable, efficient and loyal officers I have ever met."<ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|1983|pp=73–76}}</ref> On Conner's recommendation, in 1925–1926 he attended the [[Command and General Staff College]] at [[Fort Leavenworth]], Kansas, where he graduated first in a class of 245 officers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/bender/bender.asp |title=Watershed at Leavenworth |access-date=September 6, 2008 |last=Bender |first=Mark C. |year=1990 |publisher=U.S. Army Command and General Staff College |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029063505/http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/bender/bender.asp |archive-date=October 29, 2008 }}</ref><ref>American President: An Online Reference Resource, ''Dwight David Eisenhower (1890–1969)'', [http://millercenter.org/president/eisenhower/essays/biography/2 "Life Before the Presidency"], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605065316/http://millercenter.org/president/eisenhower/essays/biography/2 |date=June 5, 2011 }} Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia.</ref>

During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Eisenhower's career stalled somewhat, as military priorities diminished; many of his friends resigned for high-paying business jobs. He was assigned to the [[American Battle Monuments Commission]] directed by General Pershing, and with the help of his brother [[Milton Eisenhower]], then a journalist at the [[United States Department of Agriculture|Agriculture Department]], he produced a guide to American battlefields in Europe.<ref>{{cite book |first=Steven |last=Trout |title=On the Battlefield of Memory: The First World War and American Remembrance, 1919–1941 |year=2010 |pages=xv–xxxii }}</ref> He then was assigned to the [[United States Army War College|Army War College]] and graduated in 1928. After a one-year assignment in France, Eisenhower served as executive officer to General [[George Van Horn Moseley|George V. Moseley]], [[United States Assistant Secretary of War|Assistant Secretary of War]], from 1929 to February 1933.<ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|1983|p=82}}</ref> Major Eisenhower graduated from the [[Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy|Army Industrial College]] in 1933 and later served on the faculty (it was later expanded to become the Industrial College of the Armed Services and is now known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://armyhistory.org/general-of-the-army-dwight-david-eisenhower/|title=General of the Army Dwight David Eisenhower|access-date=March 16, 2016|publisher=Army Historical Foundation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324093918/https://armyhistory.org/general-of-the-army-dwight-david-eisenhower/|archive-date=March 24, 2016|url-status=live|date=January 22, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/Ike/ike.htm|title=Dwight David Eisenhower, The Centennial|access-date=March 16, 2016|year=1990|publisher=U.S. Army Center of Military History|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305142924/http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/ike/ike.htm|archive-date=March 5, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

His primary duty was planning for the next war, which proved most difficult in the midst of the [[Great Depression]].<ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|1983|p=88}}</ref> He then was posted as chief military aide to General Douglas MacArthur, Army Chief of Staff. In 1932, he participated in the clearing of the [[Bonus March]] encampment in Washington, D.C. Although he was against the actions taken against the veterans and strongly advised MacArthur against taking a public role in it, he later wrote the Army's official incident report, endorsing MacArthur's conduct.<ref name=Wukovits43>{{cite book |title=Eisenhower |last=Wukovits |first=John F. |year=2006 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan  |isbn=978-0-230-61394-2 |page=43 |url={{GBurl|id=om5ZykQFGrwC|p=43}} |access-date=June 15, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life |last=D'Este |first=Carlo |author-link=Carlo D'Este |year=2002 |publisher=Henry Holt & Co.  |isbn=0-8050-5687-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/eisenhowersoldie00dest/page/223 223] |url=https://archive.org/details/eisenhowersoldie00dest |url-access=registration |access-date=June 15, 2011 }}</ref>