Dwight D. Eisenhower1953-196134th President

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Background InformationBorn Texas 1890

Grew up in Abilene, Kansas

3 of 7 sons

Excelled in sports

Graduated from West Point

Supreme Allied Commander Europe (WW2)

Planned and executed D-Day

Five Star General

Decade of 1950’s

Cold War and threat of nuclear destruction loomed over America

War in Korea

Red Scare (McCarthyism)

Domestically: prosperity, suburbs, rock-n-roll, “Happy Days” and “I Love Lucy”

Civil Rights Movement in high gear (Emmett Till, Rosa Parks, MLK Jr.)

Election of 1952Dwight Eisenhower

(Republican) Adlai Stevenson (Democrat)

Election of 1952

First time television played major role in presidential campaign

Stevenson was Governor of Illinois. Rich family. Princeton Graduate, lawyer

Republican platform: claimed Democrats were soft on communism

Called for “modern Republicanism” (moderating the New Deal)

Election of 1952

Eisenhower won with 57% of popular vote

Ended Democrat rule for past 20 years

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1952

Eisenhower’s V.P.

Richard Nixon selected as V.P. candidate

Nixon accused of benefitting from a trust fund by Calif. Businessman

Nixon gave Checker’s Speech to save his campaign

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/richardnixoncheckers.html

Eisenhower’s Leadership

“hidden-hand presidency”

Delegation of authority

Cabinet nicknamed “eight millionaires and a plumber”

Ran the presidency like a military operation; chain of command to be followed

Domestic Policies

Most lasting legacy: National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956 (constructed a nationally integrated highway system). Cost 26 billion over 10 year period. 42,000 miles of interstate highways linking all the major cities. (used fed money to build highways in name of national defense)

Authorized the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) following the launching of Sputnik in 1957. Build missiles and explore space

National Interstate Highway Act

Election of 1956

1955 Eisenhower suffered a heart attack and had major surgery

Democrats questioned his health

Four years of peace and prosperity made him very popular

Rematch with Adlai Stevenson. Won by even bigger margin than 1952

http://www.270towin.com/

Eisenhower & The Cold War

Most of Eisenhower’s attention for both terms focused on foreign policy and international crises arising from Cold War

John Foster Dulles: Sect. of State and major contributor to his foreign policy

Critical of Truman’s “Policy of Containment” (too passive)

Wanted the U.S. to push Communist powers to the “brink of war”. Believed they would back down because of our nuclear superiority

John Foster Dulles

Place greater reliance on nuclear weapons & air power; less on conventional forces

More “bang for the buck”

Policy known as “brinkmanship”

More like a policy for mutual extinction!

Third World Unrest

Colonial Empires collapsed after WW2

1947-1962 dozens of colonies in Asia and Africa gained their independence (India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Ghana)

Lacked stable political and economic institutions; looking for foreign aid—U.S. or S.U. (pawns in the Cold War)

Serious Challenges in Asia

Korea (ended in 1953)

Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam). French lost control

U.S. gave over 1 billion in economic and military aid to South Vietnam to stop communism from spreading (domino theory)

SEATO: 8 nation defense pact to prevent the fall of communism in southeast Asia

The Middle East

Difficult balancing act of maintaining friendly ties with oil-rich Arab nations and the new state of Israel (1948)

President Nasser (Egypt) asked U.S. for aid to build the Aswan Dam project on the Nile River. U.S. refused due to their treatment of Israel. Nasser turned to S.U.

July 1956 Nasser seized control of the Suez Canal (owned by France & G.B.). Transported ¾ of western oil

G.B., France, Israel launched a surprise attack against Egypt and retook the canal

Suez Canal

Eisenhower Doctrine

U.S. pledged economic and military aid to any Middle Eastern country threatened by communism

U.S. replaced G.B. and France as the leading Western influence in the Middle East

Competing with the Soviet influence

1956 new Soviet Premier: Nikita Khrushchev

Called for “peaceful coexistence” with U.S.

Nikita Khrushchev

U-2 Incident

Russians shot down a high-altitude U.S. spy plane over the Soviet Union

Gary Powers captured by Soviets

U.S. conducting regular spy flights over the Soviet territory to find out about their missile program

• Tensions once again grew!

U-2 Incident