Why would a picture of a West Point freshman practicing his punts, circa 1912, with his face half-hidden and the football not even in the frame, make the countdown? Maybe the credit line will give you a hint.
That partially obscured punter is Dwight Eisenhower, Class of 1915 (“The Class the Stars Fell on“), future general, future supreme allied commander, future two-term president. But before all that, he lettered at Army in 1912. A knee injury — reportedly suffered trying to track down a halfway-decent running back out of Carlisle named Jim Thorpe — cut his career short. He became a “yell leader” for the Cadets instead, according to his biography at his foundation’s website, which also includes this graduation photo.
Check back over the weekend for more presidents — it’s convention season, after all.
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