Historical Name: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Common Name: Cottonwood
Latin Name: Populus deltoides
The President Dwight D. Eisenhower Cottonwood stands at the Denison, Texas birthplace of the nation’s 34th president. Dwight D. Eisenhower or “Ike,” as he became more popularly known, moved through the ranks of the Army, proving himself a decisive leader and military strategist before becoming a five-star general in 1945. Although he was a war hero, Eisenhower never expressed any political interest. Still, the Republican Party nominated him for president in 1952. Eisenhower was the first president to become a licensed pilot and the first to appear on color television. This tree was grown from a seed taken from the President Dwight D. Eisenhower Cottonwood, and was planted into UCNJ’s Historic Tree Grove in 1997.
In 2010 Mr. Michael Cistaro, a student in Dr. Lawrence Hogan’s Western Civilization course at UCNJ, noted the significance of this tree being #69 in the Historic Tree Grove. Mr. Cistaro had proudly served aboard the Nuclear Aircraft Carrier CVN-69 Dwight D. Eisenhower. The author was unaware of the significance of 69 to Ike when the number was assigned to this tree in 1995.
(text adapted from American Forests)