As he prepared to retire, Ike was physically and mentally tired. He and Mamie dreamed of buying a ranch near a small college town where he could teach and write, but it was not to be. When he was approached, for a second time, to accept the position of president of Columbia University, Ike thought about the idea long and hard before saying, “Yes.” But first he had to schedule some time to write his memoirs of the war.

It had not been easy to convince Ike to write Crusade in Europe. There had been countless opportunities presented to him after the war, and he had turned them all down. To have served his country had been a great honor, and he refused to exploit it for personal gain. Finally, the argument that he had a duty to future generations to leave behind an accurate accounting of his experiences during the war convinced him to undertake the project.

On October 12, 1948, in a ceremony befitting a head of state, Dwight D. Eisenhower was inaugurated as president of Columbia University. Characteristically, he threw himself into his new job, determined to learn everything be could about the university and its operation. At the request of President Truman, he agreed to provide much needed leadership to the new Department of Defense as well. The work was too much and on March 21, 1949, he collapsed with a severe attack of ileitis and was hospitalized. Af there a long recovery period, Ike was relieved to wrap up his work in Washington. He was eager to focus all his energies on his work at Columbia University.

In October, 1950, when President Truman summoned Ike to the White House it was because Ike was the unanimous choice of NATO members to lead its combined military force. Truman insisted that Ike was the only one who could make it work. Would he serve? As he prepared to leave for Europe, Ike offered to resign his position at Columbia. Instead, the Board of Trustees persuaded him to take an indefinite leave of absence.

Before leaving for his new post, Ike met privately with Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, hoping to convince him to support NATO. But the meeting ended without any commitments. As Ike assumed his duties in Paris in January 1951, the threat of a Soviet attack on Western Europe seemed imminent. Ike believed that if western civilization was to survive, NATO, especially its military force, must succeed. Back home, however, sentiments for postwar isolationism were gaining momentum.