Dwight D Eisenhower 1953 1961 34 th President

Dwight D. Eisenhower 1953 -1961 34 th President

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Background Information Born Texas 1890 Grew up in Abilene, Kansas 3 of 7 sons Excelled in sports Graduated from West Point Supreme Allied Commander Europe (WW 2) 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 (Mc. Carthyism) 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 1952 Dwight 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/richa rdnixoncheckers. 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. 270 towin. 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 WW 2 1947 -1962 dozens of colonies in Asia and Africa gained their independence (India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Ghana) Lacked stable political and economic institutions; looking 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