| Source:ACBL
Dictionary Eisenhower
had a keen interest in bridge
from the time he was a captain in
the U.S.Army through his
Presidency of the United
States(1953-1961), and even after
his retirement. Nov. 7, 1942 was
the day of the landing at
Casablanca which constituted the
first Allied invasion after the
fall of France.
During
the nerve-racking period when the
landing had begun and the first
news had not yet come back to his
headquarters, he relaxed in a
celebrated bridge game with Mark
Clark, Alex Gruenther and Harry
C. Butcher. He used bridge as a
regular recreation before the
Normandy invasion when he was
Supreme Allied Commander, while
he was NATO chief in Paris, and
during his term of office in the
White House.
After
his retirement he was host at
occasional games at his homes at
Gettysburg PA and Palm Springs
CA. Oswald Jacoby characterized
his skill as
"superior". Jacoby said
Eisenhower was capable of holding
his own in all but the most
expert club games. When
Eisenhower was asked whom he
would choose as his NATO deputy
in 1950 he said: "Al
Gruenther - he's the best bridge
player" among the generals).
When
Gruenther called him from Chicago
at 7 a.m. one day in 1960 to tell
him to read the New
York Times bridge
column of that morning because it
reported one of his hands,
Eisenhower replied: "I've
already read it."
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