Career
From the beginning of their freshman year in Abilene High School (Abilene, Kansas), Eisenhower felt protective of Hazlett and quickly bestowed the nickname "Swede" on him. According to Eisenhower, "He was a big fellowship.but he was raised in a quiet atmosphere and occasionally a few people smaller than he would try to bulldoze him..I felt protective, a sort of obligation to him, and I took it upon myself to tell a few of the so-and-so"s to lay official"
With Editor already in college and receiving some help from Father and with Earl and Milton coming on in the future, I could see that if I could made it, I would take a burden off my family." Both Hazlett and Eisenhower passed the entrance examination but Eisenhower was barred from entrance because he exceeded the maximum allowable entrance age. With that, Hazlett attended the Naval Academy and Eisenhower accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New New York
While Eisenhower"s career blossomed with preparations to enter the Second World War, ill health (which would plague him the rest of his life) brought on by a heart attack ended Hazlett’s active military career in 1939.
He would later return to duty during the Second World War first as an instructor at the Naval Academy and then as the commander of the naval training program at the University of North Carolina before finally retiring in 1946. During his presidency, Eisenhower would frequently write personal and revealing letters to Hazlett even during his most busy periods.
Usually never one to openly share his feelings, Eisenhower would pour his thoughts and concerns into these letters. The letters addressed his thoughts on topics as diverse as, "Vietnam, the Middle East, civil rights, defense spending, the problem of who would succeed him as president" Thus, Eisenhower"s letters to Hazlett serve as a window into his thoughts on his own presidency.