History has a funny way of scrubbing out the people who don’t fit the official narrative. If you look at the grainy, black-and-white pictures of Kay Summersby, you’ll see a woman who looks like she stepped out of a classic Hollywood noir. She’s often leaning against a massive military car, wearing a sharp uniform, and sporting a grin that could light up a London blackout.
But there’s a reason those photos feel a little electric.
Kay Summersby wasn’t just any driver. She was the woman behind the wheel for General Dwight D. Eisenhower during the most intense years of World War II. For decades, historians and the Eisenhower family tried to paint her as a simple staffer—a "corresponding secretary who doubled as a driver," as Ike once coldly put it. Yet, the camera tells a different story.
Honestly, when you scan through the archives, the way they look at each other in candid shots is... telling. It’s the kind of proximity that goes beyond boss and employee.
What the Archives Really Show
Most people searching for pictures of Kay Summersby are looking for "the smoking gun." They want to see the proof of the affair that rocked the Pentagon and allegedly almost cost Eisenhower his career.
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You won’t find a photo of them kissing in a dark corner of SHAEF headquarters. What you will find are moments of intense, quiet domesticity in the middle of a global nightmare.
- The Jeep in Germany: There’s a famous shot from 1945. Kay is sitting in a Jeep between Eisenhower and General Mark Clark. They’re driving past the ruins of Hitler’s Berchtesgaden retreat. Everyone looks exhausted, but Kay is right there in the inner circle.
- The V-E Day "Erasure": This is the one that gets people. In the original photo of Ike holding the gold pens used to sign the German surrender, Kay is standing in the background. But in the versions later distributed to the public? She’s often cropped or airbrushed out. It’s like the "image burnishers" were already trying to delete her from the history books before the ink was even dry.
- Telek and the Scottie: There are dozens of photos of Kay with Telek, the black Scottish Terrier. Eisenhower bought that dog for her. In many pictures, the dog is the third wheel, a living symbol of a private life they tried to build amidst the Blitz.
Why These Photos Mattered to Mamie
You’ve gotta feel for Mamie Eisenhower. She was stuck back in the States, hearing rumors about "Ike’s Irish girl."
The photos didn't help. Newsreels and newspapers frequently featured the "attractive chauffeur." One famous shot shows Kay attaching an American flag to the General’s car. She looks capable, glamorous, and—most importantly—present. While Mamie was dealing with health issues and the loneliness of a wartime wife, Kay was sharing GI rations and "liberated" champagne with the most powerful men in the world.
The pressure was real. In 1943, Ike wrote to Mamie trying to downplay the whole thing, basically calling anyone who raised an eyebrow "banal and foolish." But his letters to Kay’s mother were much more intimate, promising to "stand by" Kay after her fiancé was killed in North Africa.
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The Mystery of the "Deathbed" Memoir
The narrative around these pictures changed forever in 1975. Kay was dying of cancer. She had already written a "safe" book in 1948 called Eisenhower Was My Boss, where she kept things strictly professional.
But with the end in sight, she released Past Forgetting.
In it, she claimed they were deeply in love. She described "stolen moments," holding hands by the fire, and a romance that was "everything but sex." Some historians, like Carlo D'Este, think the book was ghostwritten and sensationalized for a big paycheck. Others look at the photos of them together and see two people who were clearly the center of each other's universe.
Behind the Lens: A Life in Exile
After the war, the shutters stopped clicking.
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Ike went on to the White House. Kay was effectively exiled. She was the only member of his "wartime family" left behind when the staff moved to Washington. She eventually became a U.S. citizen and tried to build a life in New York, working in fashion and TV, but she never quite escaped the shadow of the General.
There’s a heartbreaking story that she once visited the White House to see him. He was gracious, but an aide later told her: Don't call again. ## How to Find Authentic Kay Summersby Images
If you’re looking to see these historical captures for yourself, don’t just stick to Google Images. Much of the best stuff is tucked away in specific archives:
- The Library of Congress: They hold the "bust portraits" of both Ike and Kay, often filed under miscellaneous presidential files.
- The Eisenhower Presidential Library: While they’ve been accused of "sanitizing" the record in the past, they hold many of the official SHAEF photos.
- Getty Images/Hulton Archive: This is where you’ll find the candid "lifestyle" shots, like Kay dining at the Stork Club in New York shortly after the war ended.
Seeing these pictures isn't just about celebrity gossip. It’s about seeing the human side of a man who held the weight of the world on his shoulders. Whether she was his mistress or just his best friend, Kay Summersby was the person who kept Dwight Eisenhower sane when it mattered most.
The next time you see a picture of Ike with that famous "V for Victory" grin, look closely at the edges of the frame. You might just see the Irish girl who was driving the car.
Take the next step in your research: Check the digital archives of the National Archives (NARA) specifically for "SHAEF personnel" records from 1944. Many of the un-cropped versions of surrender-day photos are digitized there and offer a much more honest view of the command structure than the textbooks provide.