"There's not going to be any stuffy goodbye to the troops," said retiring Chief of Staff Ike Eisenhower. Accordingly, the ceremony in the Pentagon was brief. President Truman drove over from the White House. In Army Secretary Royall's unpretentious office Ike stepped forward, administered the oath of office to his friend & successor, homely, homespun General Omar Bradley. Then the President pinned a Distinguished Service Medal (his third) on Ike's chest. "I'm highly honored," said Ike. "It gives me more pleasure than you," replied Truman.
Two days earlier, at an informal lunch at Washington's Press Club, Ike had been jaunty,...
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