President Dwight Eisenhower’s birthday on Oct. 14 gives us a quick break from this year’s heated presidential campaign to remember what powers America: Unity.

When Eisenhower started campaigning for president in June 1952 he visited his hometown in Abilene, Kansas. Ike stated “So long as they are faithfully observed, the energies, courage, endurance and wisdom of the American people constitute a titanic force. Measures against it, domestic problems, disasters of nature, the pretensions of tyranny shrink to difficulties of the moment. Crises may test the uttermost, but they can never conquer the spirit of a united America.”

We have to remember that all of the challenges we face today can be overcome if everyone works together. Just because Americans may differ on who should be president or on various issues, we should not let that prevent cooperation and compromise.

Hate and divisiveness have no place in America, including our politics. Eisenhower would warn us to stop the hatred in America. We should not be turning against neighbors because they have different opinions on candidates and issues. We should try to find common ground and then try to compromise on areas where they may be differences.

Angry, spiteful and chaotic people are not going to solve America’s problems.

Eisenhower accomplished a lot during his presidency, including the massive Interstate Highway System, with the cooperation of both political parties. CBS News published a survey of historians that ranked Eisenhower the sixth best president in U.S. history and top Republican president in the last 100 years.

Ike believed in unity abroad as well. Before entering the presidential race, Eisenhower worked on building the NATO alliance, which was key for preventing war with the Soviet Union. Likewise today we need to stand with Ukraine and our NATO allies to resist Russia’s aggression under Vladimir Putin. Unity shows strength and is needed to win the peace.

It was also Eisenhower’s initiative in creating unity in the fight against global hunger. Ike proposed extending our Food for Peace program into an international effort that would become the U.N. World Food Program. This unites nations in the fight against hunger and is so necessary today with wars causing extreme food shortages.

When Eisenhower left the presidency after his second term in 1961, he encouraged cooperation and a smooth transfer of power with the incoming Kennedy administration. The fact that Eisenhower was a Republican and that Kennedy was a Democrat made no difference. Unity and cooperation was more important for America. When the Cuban Missile Crisis with the Soviet Union broke out in 1962, Eisenhower spoke multiple times with President Kennedy offering support and advice.

When Kennedy was trying to achieve the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union in 1963, Eisenhower also gave his support. Eisenhower, who started the pursuit of a nuclear test ban, wrote a letter to the Senate encouraging them to ratify the treaty, which it did in 1963.

Ike and JFK’s bipartisan unity helped launch early nuclear arms control efforts. But did you know that the next step beyond a Limited Test Ban Treaty, a comprehensive nuclear test ban, has never been ratified by the Senate because of partisan politics? We could sure use more bipartisan unity on this issue and many others today.

As we celebrate Eisenhower’s birthday, let’s remember what a good presidency is all about. It’s bringing people together, not dividing them through hatred and name-calling. Eisenhower saw what a United America could do in winning World War II and through his years as president during the Cold War. The challenges America faces today will be overcome, if we are united in strength.

William Lambers is the author of the “Road to Peace” and partnered with the U.N. World Food Program on the book “Ending World Hunger.”