Christie’s is honored to present a selection of Jewels and Watches formerly from the Dwight D. and Mamie Eisenhower Collection: Property of the John S.D. Eisenhower Trust. Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower (1890-1969) and Mamie Doud Eisenhower (1896-1979) served the United States of America as President and First Lady from 1953 to 1961.

Displaying impressive initiative and command, Eisenhower attended prestigious West Point and excelled in his early Army career, rising through the ranks to become Chief of Staff and eventually a Five-Star General. In 1952, having shown the world his impactful leadership skills as the victorious Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War II, Eisenhower ran for the presidency, and won the election in a landslide. As President, Eisenhower presided over a period of peace and prosperity for the country. He worked hard during his time in office to ease the tensions of the Cold War, end the Korean War, balance the federal budget, and desegregate Washington D.C., the military, and schools throughout the country.

Signing the Federal-Aid Highway Act in 1956, Eisenhower is credited with the birth of the modern interstate highway system, which bears his name as the “Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways.” The interstate highway system changed the American landscape and paved the way for modern, efficient transportation of goods and services, allowing invaluable economic opportunities.

Everyone, who grew up in America during the 1950s, can recall Eisenhower’s omnipresent campaign slogan “I Like Ike,” but there was someone else America was anxious to see in the White House—Mamie Eisenhower. The public went so far as to have buttons created that read “I Like Mamie” and “Mamie for First Lady.”

Mamie Geneva Doud was born in Boone, Iowa in 1896. The daughter of a wealthy meat packing industrialist, Mamie had a privileged upbringing. The family moved to Colorado when Mamie was seven years old, but they split their time between Denver and San Antonio, Texas. It was in San Antonio at the age of 18 that Mamie met a young army lieutenant, Dwight Eisenhower, on his first tour of duty. On Valentine’s Day in 1916, Dwight presented Mamie with a miniature of his West Point class ring as a formal engagement proposal. On July 1st of that year, the couple was married at the Doud home in Denver.

After marriage, Mamie assumed the role of Army wife, following the typical pattern of multiple moves through the U.S. and abroad in the name of service. She once estimated that throughout Dwight’s 37 years of service and their 53 years of marriage, she unpacked her household at least 28 times. Their first child, Doud Dwight, was born in 1917, but died only a few years later of scarlet fever. Their second child, John, was born in 1922. Despite the many moves, Mamie succeeded in creating comfortable homes wherever they lived and volunteered when she could; later in life, after President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack, she became an important advocate for the American Heart Association, assuming both local and national chairmanship of the charity’s fundraising drives. During World War II, Mamie went nearly three years without seeing her husband, as he commanded the troops in Europe. Following Dwight’s victorious return from Europe, and after his brief stints as President of Columbia University and then as Commander of NATO, Mamie was by his side throughout his presidential run.

Mamie assumed the role of First Lady with grace and humility, quickly becoming a favorite of American women, who found her to be entirely relatable and the embodiment of the priorities and values of a ‘50s woman—a great entertainer and housekeeper, a stylish feminine dresser, and devout wife. A Time magazine article from January 1953 reported: “Mamie Eisenhower is fondly expected to touch off a social renaissance and to lend a new warmth to the affairs of the presidency.” Her designer clothes, cheerful smile, positive energy, and of course her famous bangs (styled by Elizabeth Arden in Paris) quickly became Mamie’s trademarks.

Mamie earned a place in history as one of America’s most fashionable first ladies. At her husband’s inauguration in 1953, her unforgettable pink silk and rhinestone ball gown by Nettie Rosenstein, now in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, set the tone for her stylish reign as First Lady. In the late 1950s, when she took an interest in a young fashion designer named Arnold Scaasi, he was thrust into the spotlight and went on to dress first ladies and society’s elite for generations. Throughout her time in the White House, she consistently appeared on various “Best Dressed” lists and loved to attend fashion shows.

Today, Mamie is credited with numerous lasting trends in both fashion and the home. The shade of bubblegum pink that tinted everything from women’s clothes to powder room walls during the 1950s can be directly credited to her influence, as she put the color in vogue. Thanks to Mamie, women’s hats, which had seen a decline in popularity post-war, once again became a wardrobe staple. Photographs show Mamie’s preference for a wide variety of headwear accessories, including the smaller fitted hat style of the day, wider brim styled hats, and even turban styles, which returned to fashion during the late 1950s.

When the Eisenhowers left the White House in 1961, the couple moved to their farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and enjoyed a peaceful life until President Eisenhower died in 1969 due to congestive heart failure. After her husband’s death, Mamie continued to live on the farm, devoting her days to friends and family, until she passed away in 1979. Dwight D. and Mamie are buried next to each other in a small chapel on the grounds of the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas.