Truman And Eisenhower Present Gift To Secretary Of War John Patterson

Robert Patterson was a hero in World War 1 who went on to become Secretary of War in President Harry S. Truman's Cabinet. He is credited with the conversion of America's vast and sprawling  market-oriented economy into an effective war machine. As an "all-out" mobilizer, Patterson insisted that the nation put forth a maximum war effort. He was also largely responsible for the desegregation of the U.S. Army. In this photograph, rare because it's signed by a President, Harry S. Truman, and a future President, Dwight D. Eisenhower (then Army Chief of Staff) Secretary Patterson, who also signed the photograph, is shown being presented with a silver tray in honor of his retirement from government. Tragically, he was killed in a plane crash in 1952 and he is now buried in Arlington National Cemetary.