Leonard D. Dry

Leonard Daniel Dry was born on May 8, 1907 in Palestine (modern-day Lamotte Township), Illinois.¹ As a young man, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked first as a gas station attendant and then as an automobile mechanic.² His obituary noted he worked for the Chrysler Corporation for ten years.³ In 1942, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served for the duration of World War II as a chauffeur and assistant to General Dwight D. Eisenhower. After the war, Dry remained in Eisenhower’s service while the latter commanded NATO forces in Europe and when he returned to the United States to serve as president of Columbia University.⁴ 

When Eisenhower was Inaugurated as president in 1953, he invited Dry and his wife Geraldine Cecilia Forster Dry to attend the Inauguration as guests.⁵ Afterwards, President Eisenhower hired Dry to serve as his chauffeur at the White House. He remained a chauffeur for the duration of Eisenhower’s presidency, though at some point prior to 1957 he ceased serving as the president’s primary driver and instead became the driver for First Lady Mamie Eisenhower.⁶ During Eisenhower’s presidency, he and the first lady would often visit their farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Dry would drive them there and then stay with them for the duration of their trip. While at Gettysburg, Dry doubled as their “operating engineer, caring for the air conditioning, furnace, and mechanical equipment,” according to White House Cheif Usher J.B. West.⁷

In 1961, when John F. Kennedy was Inaugurated as president, Dry drove former president Eisenhower and Mamie Eisenhower from the White House to their home in Gettysburg, where they lived in retirement.⁸ Dry continued serving as chauffeur for the Eisenhowers in Gettysburg until 1962 when he retired from the Army as a master sergeant.⁹ Dry then became a driver for the Secret Service for fifteen years.¹⁰ 

Dry appears to have formed a bond with Dwight Eisenhower through his years of service to him. When Eisenhower passed away in 1969, he left Dry $500 in his will.¹¹ In his retirement, Dry remained in contact with the Eisenhower family, including Susan Eisenhower, the granddaughter of the former president.¹² Dry also belonged to the “Last Man’s Club,” composed of veterans from Company C of the 87th Quartermaster Battalion during World War II.¹³ He was one of the last members when he passed away on January 5, 2000. Leonard Dry was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.¹⁴