The Lois Leyda Internship at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum
Lois Leyda was a novice to politics when she joined the staff of a grassroots organization called “Citizens for Eisenhower” in 1951. She soon received a quick education in presidential politics when she worked on General Eisenhower’s 1952 presidential election campaign. Ms. Leyda served as an assistant to James Hagerty, Ike’s press secretary. There were 200-250 national and international newsmen following the Eisenhower campaign and Lois Leyda was charged with providing the media with interesting news to assist them in writing their stories. During the late summer and fall of 1952, she was an assistant to one of the candidate’s speech writers and traveled across the country with the staff on Eisenhower’s campaign train and airplane.
After Eisenhower was elected in November 1952, Ms. Leyda served as a secretary in the office of the chairman of the Republican National Committee and in 1960 was with the National Republican Congressional Committee.
According to Lois Leyda, “Working the Eisenhower campaign was one of the most exciting times of my life. It was hard work and long hours but it was fun and I gained a thorough education about American politics and our country.” As an eye-witness to presidential politics, Lois Leyda gained an appreciation for history. She is an admirer of Dwight D. Eisenhower and a strong believer in the importance of studying American history and politics. Because of this commitment she has established an endowment with the non-profit Eisenhower Foundation to fund The Lois Leyda Internship at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas.
Thanks to Lois Leyda’s generosity, future generations of college students majoring in history and political science will be able to serve a paid internship at the presidential library, working with the 26 million pages of original documents in the Eisenhower archives or the over 30,000 historical artifacts in the Eisenhower Museum. Interns will conduct research and work on projects under the supervision of professional archivists, the museum curator, or the education specialist.
