John Eisenhower, military historian and son of president, dies

John S.D. Eisenhower, a military historian who graduated from West Point the day the U.S. Army his father commanded invaded Normandy, has died. The office of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Eisenhower, 91, died Saturday in Trappe, the small town on Maryland's Eastern Shore where he made his home, the New York Times reported. Eisenhower was the oldest surviving child of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie. He followed in his father's footsteps by attending the U.S. Military Academy. While Dwight Eisenhower commanded the allied forces in Europe, other generals decided his son should be kept from combat duty. John Eisenhower finally experienced combat in Korea. Eisenhower helped his father with his memoirs and wrote a number of books that were related to his father's career, starting with one about the Battle of the Bulge. In 1989, he published "So Far From God: The U.S. War With Mexico, 1846-1848," his first book that had no connection to his father. "God, it feels great," he said after the book got good reviews. Eisenhower also served as a national security adviser in his father's second term. He was ambassador to Belgium under President Richard Nixon, whose daughter, Julie, had married his son, David.