When the NATO allies decided at the end of 1950 that the Alliance's existing military structure was inadequate and that an integrated military command structure under a supreme commander was needed, there was universal agreement that the best individual to serve as the first Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) was General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had led the allied forces in Europe during World War 2 and was highly respectedon both sides of the Atlantic.

 

As a result, on 18 December 1950 the North Atlantic Council asked U.S. President Harry S. Truman to nominate General Eisenhower as the first SACEUR. President Truman did so on the following day.