Kansas’ Eisenhower knew you can’t stop war if you don’t fight hunger | Opinion
As we celebrate President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 135th birthday on Oct. 14, it’s worth remembering what Ike saw as an even harder struggle than winning a war: winning peace.
After seeing the hunger and despair in Europe after World War II, Eisenhower said: “In many ways, the fight to win the peace will be a harder battle than any other.”
Kansas’ only president encouraged aid to war stricken nations — something we should remember today as we try to win peace in the Middle East and other regions.
Ike, as reported in The Times, urged “a sense of responsibility toward each other.”
Today, we cannot forget our responsibility for helping those who are hungry and impoverished. In war zones, it is hunger that long outlasts the fighting. We cannot abandon aid programs that save lives and give people hope of recovery from desperate situations.
Decades of war and hunger have caused massive suffering and despair in the Middle East. There is famine in Gaza because of the Israel-Hamas war, making it urgent to end the conflict to allow aid to reach everyone in need. Rebuilding food supplies in Gaza will be a massive task.
We can’t overcome that by cutting humanitarian aid, which is sadly what has happened this year. The Food for Peace program started by President Eisenhower has seen less funding, and has even been considered for elimination by the Trump administration. Food for Peace is our main tool for fighting world hunger by sending food from U.S. farms and donations to countries in need.
Eisenhower’s birthday would be a good opportunity for the American public to advocate for Food for Peace. Contact your elected officials and let them know you support feeding the hungry overseas and to increase funding for global food aid. We need Food for Peace very much given his level of war and famine taking place around the globe.
There is real hope for an end to the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, as a ceasefire has finally been announced and border crossings are open. But the enemy of hunger will fight on unless there is robust humanitarian aid.
Right now, the UN World Food Program is experiencing funding shortages as it tries to provide relief in Gaza and other nations including Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Congo. The peace process in Gaza and other nations will languish without enough food aid. Food is the foundation of reconstruction and peace building.
The World Food Program also needs funding for the largest hunger emergency in Sudan, where there is famine and massive displacement of civilians. Likewise in Africa there is severe hunger in the Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso and other nations.
If the United States has a strong and well-funded Food for Peace program, we can provide emergency rations to war victims, nutrition for infants and even help develop farmland.
Food for Peace is a major supporter of the World Food Program. Food for Peace provides funding to infant nutrition programs which feed starving children with foods such as Plumpy’Nut. This fortified peanut paste saves children from deadly malnutrition.
On Eisenhower’s birthday, contact your elected officials and urge them to support the Food for Peace programs — and to increase their funding. Tell them to make food and other humanitarian aid a top priority for winning the peace today.
William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book “Ending World Hunger.” His writings have been published by The Washington Post, Newsweek, History News Network and many other news outlets.
This story was originally published October 12, 2025 at 5:02 AM with the headline "Kansas’ Eisenhower knew you can’t stop war if you don’t fight hunger | Opinion."