Who served as Allied commander in Europe during World War II and later became U.S. president during the civil rights era?

• A. George Patton
• B. Chester Nimitz
• C. Douglas MacArthur
• D. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Answer: (D)

Identifying the leader who directed Allied forces in Europe in World War II and later became president during the Civil Rights era.

Dwight D. Eisenhower held the role of Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe, directing the overall Allied strategy and operations that led to the invasion of Normandy and the defeat of Nazi Germany. After the war, he became the United States president in the 1950s, a period when the Civil Rights Movement was gaining momentum. As president, he took steps to enforce desegregation, most notably sending federal troops to Little Rock in 1957 to protect the integration of Central High School. This combination of leading European Allied operations and later serving as president during the Civil Rights era is what makes Eisenhower the correct answer. The other figures led in different theaters (for example, the Pacific) or did not become president, so they don’t fit both parts of the question.