Though fragile-looking, she possessed “the warm earthiness of the people of the western plains and mountains. She was restful to be with, yet her enthusiasm for life was expressed in constant movement, so that she rippled in the breeze of her own excitement.” In Mamie, Eisenhower had found a vital partner, a woman of energy, charm, and sociability who devoted herself to his career.12 Their happiness was touched by tragedy in the late winter of 1920, when their three-year-old son, Doud Dwight, whom they had nicknamed Icky, contracted scarlet fever. The young couple had been amassing armfuls of
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