Topeka ? The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission said Tuesday that the former president’s library and museum in his Kansas hometown is playing a major role in the “electronic memorialization” of his military and political career that will accompany a memorial being built in Washington.

This undated handout image provided by Gehry Partners, LLP, shows the Eisenhower Memorial Pedestrian Experience. Planners of a memorial honoring Dwight D. Eisenhower respond to criticism that the Frank Gehry design puts too much emphasis on Eisenhower's rural Kansas roots and not enough on his achievements as a military hero and president. Some members of the Eisenhower family have recently voiced objections to the imagery to be depicted on large metal tapestries.

The challenge has been to develop an online memorial that adequately tells the story of a man who struggled to balance freedom and security throughout his life, said Carl Reddel, a historian and retired Air Force general who heads the commission.

“He was extremely complex. He had more depth and breadth than most people realized,” Reddel said, adding that Eisenhower was “piercingly intelligent.”

Reddel said greater understanding has come in the past few decades as more research and writing has been done by historians and journalists about the nation’s 34th president. Eisenhower was a five-star general who commanded the Allied campaign in Europe during World War II and as president lead the U.S. though the early years of the Cold War and civil rights movement.

The commission’s staff is working with curators and archivists at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, where Eisenhower grew up. Together, they will develop an online memorial that will link to millions of pages of data archived in Kansas to help explain Eisenhower’s legacy.

“His relevance today is huge,” Reddel said, noting that Eisenhower was deeply interested in science and technology, including developing peaceful uses for nuclear energy. “We hope that the electronic memorialization will lead to that understanding.”

Eisenhower, the last president born in the 19th century, also reviewed reconnaissance photos taken from satellites that he was responsible for launching.

Reddel said part of the electronic memorialization will be to create a means for telling Eisenhower’s story for future generations. Using technology and the Internet to do so is fitting, since it was during his administration that the institutions were founded that led to the creation of what is now known as the Internet, Reddel said.

“As a result of the research and evaluation, we came to the conclusion that the Eisenhower legacy was broad and deep enough that it would continue to be reinterpreted through time, much like Lincoln” he said.

Reddel said work on the physical memorial in the nation’s capital is progressing. Congress approved legislation in 1999 establishing the memorial commission, which includes Kansas Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran.

Some critics have objected to architect Frank Gehry’s proposed design of Eisenhower’s memorial in Washington over of concerns that it places too much emphasis on Eisenhower’s roots instead of his military and presidential accomplishments. But commission members have been unanimous in supporting the design, saying Gehry followed their direction and consulted with Eisenhower’s family.

“I think each of these of major memorials have had some degree of controversy,” Reddel said. “That’s understandable. You’re dealing with national identity and sense of pride.”