Eisenhower's Presidency
Encyclopedia
The presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower
1953-61 followed double defeats of Democrat Adlai Stevenson in the 1952
and 1956 elections
. Ike, as he was popularly known, ended the Korean war and presided over eight years of peace and moderate economic growth. His main legacy is the Interstate Highway System
.
ers during the war, especially Franklin D. Roosevelt
and Harry Hopkins
. Rejecting Democratic efforts to nominate him in 1948 and 1952, Eisenhower instead chose to run
for the Republican Party
nomination in 1952. His goal was to prevent Robert A. Taft's non-interventionism
—such as opposition to NATO—from becoming public policy.
On domestic issues they were in general agreement, and a compromise was reached after Eisenhower won the nomination that Taft would be dominant in domestic affairs and stay out of foreign affairs. Ike crusaded against "Korea—Communism—Corruption", identifying these as failures of the Truman administration. He electrified the country just before the election by promising to personally go to Korea and end that stalemated conflict.
Eisenhower's choice for vice-president on his ticket was Richard Nixon
. He saw Nixon's strong vocal opposition against communism
as an asset to his campaign. When Nixon's Checkers scandal
was revealed to the public, Eisenhower still kept Nixon on the ticket.
In the 1952 U.S. presidential election
, Eisenhower easily defeated Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson II and became the first career soldier since Ulysses S. Grant
to be elected President. Although many presidents have served in the military, Eisenhower was the only general to serve as President in the 20th century.
and National Security Advisor
. He expanded the role of the National Security Council and was the first president to conduct televised press conferences. Reporters of that time have said that Eisenhower was the first president to employ the "non-answer" during these events. Journalist Clark Mollenhoff said of Eisenhower's simultaneous decisions to televise press conferences and not answer questions as asked: "No President and White House of my acquaintance ever gave out at once so much and so little."
, the prolonged confrontation with the Soviet Union
which had begun during Truman
's term of office. When Joseph Stalin
died, he sought to extend an olive branch to the new Soviet regime in his "Chance for Peace speech
", but continued turmoil in Moscow prevented a meaningful response and the Cold War deepened.
In 1953 Eisenhower opened relations with Spain
under Fascist leader Francisco Franco
. Despite its undemocratic nature, Spain's strategic position in light of the Cold War and Anti-Communist position led Eisenhower to build a trade and military alliance with the Spanish through the Pact of Madrid
, ultimately bringing an end to Spain's isolation after World War II, and bringing about the Spanish Miracle
.
During his campaign, Eisenhower had promised to end the stalemated Korean War
. This promise was fulfilled on 27 July 1953 by the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement. Also, defense treaties with South Korea
and the Republic of China
were signed, and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
(SEATO) alliance in an effort to halt the spread of Communism
in Asia was formed.
Eisenhower, while accepting the doctrine of containment
originally developed by George F. Kennan
, sought to counter the Soviet Union through more active means as detailed in the State Department memorandum NSC-68
. His covert action policy was laid out in NSC 162/2
. He, along with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles
, developed the tactic of covert action
, used the Central Intelligence Agency
—directed by Allen Welsh Dulles
to interfere with suspected Communist governments abroad. An early use of covert action was against the elected Prime Minister of Iran
, Mohammed Mosaddeq. The Shah of Iran and pro-monarchy forces ejected him from power in the complex 1953 Iranian coup d'état (Operation Ajax) supported by U.S. intelligence agencies. The CIA also orchestrated a coup the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état that overthrew the democratically-elected President of Guatemala
, Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán
, in Operation PBSUCCESS.
Covert action continued throughout Eisenhower's administration. In the newly independent but chaotic Republic of Congo
, the Soviet Union
and the KGB
had intervened in favor of popularly elected Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba
. Anti-Communism had become an issue and the U.S. and CIA gave weapons and covert support to pro-Western and Democratic CIA assets Joseph Kasavubu and his subordinate, Colonel Joseph Mobutu
. The initial struggle came to a close in December 1960, after Kasavubu and Mobutu overthrew Lumumba and proceeded to turn the country (later known as Zaire
) into an autocracy
which was unstable long after the end of Eisenhower's term. Lumumba was murdered shortly after his deposition, and some allege that the CIA (Sidney Gottlieb
), collaborated with Mobutu in the assassination.
Eisenhower also increased U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia
, a process which had begun under his predecessor Truman. In 1954, he sent Dulles to Geneva
as a delegate to the Geneva Conference
, which ended the First Indochina War
and temporarily partitioned Vietnam
into a Communist northern half (under Ho Chi Minh
) and a non-Communist southern half (under Ngo Dinh Diem
). In February 1955, Eisenhower dispatched the first American soldiers to Vietnam as military advisors to Diem's army. After Diem announced the formation of the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, commonly known as South Vietnam
) in October, Eisenhower immediately recognized the new state and offered military, economic, and technical assistance.
In 1956, Eisenhower strongly disapproved of the actions of Britain, France and Israel in sending troops to Egypt
in the dispute over control of the Suez Canal
. He used the economic power of the U.S. to force his European allies to back down and withdraw from Egypt. However, he later described this decision as the greatest foreign policy mistake he made during his time in office.
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 occurred during his presidency and he has received some criticism for the lack of support from the United States for the revolutionaries during this time. On November 2, 1956, the State Department issued the statement, "The government of the United States does not look with favor upon governments unfriendly to the Soviet Union on the borders of the Soviet Union." http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-7/pongracz2.html Early in the morning on November 4, 1956 the Soviet Union counterattacked and without outside support the revolution quickly fell.
During his second term he became increasingly involved in Middle East
ern affairs, sending troops to Lebanon
in 1958, and promoting the creation of the Baghdad Pact between Iraq
, Turkey
, Pakistan
, and Iran
, as well as Britain.
Under Eisenhower's presidency the U.S. developed as a global nuclear
power. When Russia also developed their nuclear weapons, fears of mutual annihilation in a Third World War
intensified. On October 30, 1953, Eisenhower approved the security policy document NSC 162/2, which emphasized nuclear weapons above all other defense means. Nuclear weapons were seen as the most economically feasible means to deter the Soviet Union
from military action against what then was called the "Free World." Throughout his presidency, Eisenhower insisted on having plans to initiate, fight, and win a nuclear war against the Soviets, although he hoped he would never feel forced to use them. American chagrin at the Soviets' 1957 surprise launch of
Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, led to many strategic initiatives, including the creation of NASA
in 1958 and a speeded up American space program.
Eisenhower hoped that after the death of Stalin in 1953, it would be possible to come to an agreement with subsequent Russian leaders to halt the nuclear arms race
. However his efforts to reach a disarmament agreement throughout his presidency aimed mainly to gain military and diplomatic advantage over the Soviets. He never agreed to any proposal unless he thought it would yield such advantage to the U.S. Several attempts at convening a summit conference were made. The final attempt failed in 1960 when Nikita Khrushchev
withdrew following the shooting down of an American U-2 spy plane
over the Soviet Union. Eisenhower at first said that his administration had not been spying on the Soviet Union; when the Soviets produced the pilot, who had lived after his plane went down, the Americans were caught misleading the public, and the incident resulted in international embarrassment. During the Paris Summit in 1960, President Eisenhower accused Khrushchev "of sabotaging this meeting, on which so much of the hopes of the world have rested."
near zero.
There were three recessions during Eisenhower's administration — July 1953 through May 1954, August 1957 through April 1958, and April 1960 through February 1961. Real GDP growth averaged just 2.5% over those eight years. Eisenhower allowed the recessions to occur, to wring out the inflation of wartime. Under the Eisenhower administration the economy had greatly expanded, with the Dow Jones Industrials stock market index more than doubling (from 288 to 634).
The Democrats regained control in the 1954 Senate and House elections, limiting his freedom of action on domestic policy. He forged a good relationship with Congressional leaders, particularly House Speaker Sam Rayburn
.
On June 17, 1954, Eisenhower launched Operation Wetback
in response to increasing illegal immigration to the United States
. As many as three million illegal immigrants had crossed the U.S. Mexican border to work in California
, Arizona
, Texas
and other states. Eisenhower opposed this movement, believing that it lowered the wages of American workers and led to corruption. The Immigration and Naturalization Service
sent back to Mexico about 80,000 immigrants. (Press releases about one million were not verified and could have been larger or smaller.)
In 1957, he sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas
after Governor Orval Faubus
attempted to defy a federal court order calling for desegregation
of Little Rock public schools. The soldiers escorted nine African-American students, who became known as the Little Rock Nine
, to Little Rock Central High School
. He wrote legislation that would create a Civil Rights Commission in the executive branch and a civil rights department in the Justice Department
, along with protecting voting rights; Nixon stepped in to break a filibuster
in the Senate.
Democrats attacked Eisenhower for not taking a public stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy
's anti-communist campaigns. Privately he held McCarthy and his tactics in contempt, writing, "I despise [McCarthy's tactics], and even during the political campaign of '52 I not only stated publicly (and privately to him) that I disapproved of those methods, but I did so in his own State." Eisenhower worked behind the scenes to weaken McCarthy, in particular by putting together a task force headed by Herbert Brownell, Sherman Adams
, and Henry Cabot Lodge
to oversee the defense of the Army., leading to the pivotal Army-McCarthy hearings
which led to his downfall in 1954.
Eisenhower promoted the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which created the United States' Interstate Highways. It was the largest public works program in U.S. history, providing a 41,000-mile highway system. Eisenhower had been impressed during the war with the German Autobahn system, and also recalled his own involvement in a military convoy in 1919 that took 62 days to cross the U.S. Another achievement was a 20% increase in family income during his presidency, of which he was very proud.
Eisenhower retained his popularity throughout his presidency. In 1956, he was re-elected by an even wider margin than in 1952, again defeating Stevenson, and carrying such traditional Democratic states as Texas and Tennessee.
Eisenhower had mixed feelings about his Vice-President, Richard Nixon
, and only reluctantly endorsed him as the Republican candidate at the 1960 Presidential election. Nixon campaigned against Kennedy
on the great experience he had acquired in eight years as Vice President, but when Eisenhower was asked to name a decision Nixon had been responsible for in that time, he replied (intending a joke): "Give me a week and I might think of something." This was a blow to Nixon, and he blamed Eisenhower for his narrow loss to Kennedy.
in the public arena. Just before the court ruling was made, President Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren as Supreme Court Chief Justice, which he later said was the “biggest damn fool mistake” he had ever made. President Eisenhower verbally rebuked Governor Orval Faubus
of Arkansas
for his insertion of the Arkansas National Guard to override Congressional law. Further instances of lawlessness in Little Rock, Arkansas
brought about an angry response from the President and gave him little choice but to intervene. He issued Executive Order 10730 to place the Arkansas National Guard under his command, also sending in one thousand of the 101st “Screaming Eagles” Airborne Division of the US Army.
The President had a myocardial infarction
, keeping him and the nation's attention on the
8th floor of Fitzsimmons Hospital for seven weeks. In November he returned to Washington and then on to his farm in Gettysburg to recuperate. In December he considered announcing he would not run for re-election in 1956. In February 1956 the medical opinion was "his present active life satisfactorily for another five to ten years." On February 28, 1956 Eisenhower announced he would indeed seek a second term.
President Eisenhower was diagnosed with Crohn's disease
or ileitis
on May 10, 1956. On June 8, he required surgery at Walter Reed Hospital, thus the public learned of the diagnosis during the election year. He won his second term. On November 25, 1957 Eisenhower suffered a mild stroke
in the Oval Office
. This left him with a slight speech impediment. The next year Eisenhower wrote a letter of authority giving Vice President
Richard Nixon
means to assume power in the event of incapacitation of the President. The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
, ratified in 1967, formalized conveyance of authority if a living President was incapacitated.
:
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
1953-61 followed double defeats of Democrat Adlai Stevenson in the 1952
United States presidential election, 1952
The United States presidential election of 1952 took place in an era when Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union was escalating rapidly. In the United States Senate, Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin had become a national figure after chairing congressional...
and 1956 elections
United States presidential election, 1956
The United States presidential election of 1956 saw a popular Dwight D. Eisenhower successfully run for re-election. The 1956 election was a rematch of 1952, as Eisenhower's opponent in 1956 was Democrat Adlai Stevenson, whom Eisenhower had defeated four years earlier.Incumbent President Eisenhower...
. Ike, as he was popularly known, ended the Korean war and presided over eight years of peace and moderate economic growth. His main legacy is the Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
.
Election 1952
Eisenhower had been a favorite of the New DealNew Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
ers during the war, especially Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
and Harry Hopkins
Harry Hopkins
Harry Lloyd Hopkins was one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's closest advisers. He was one of the architects of the New Deal, especially the relief programs of the Works Progress Administration , which he directed and built into the largest employer in the country...
. Rejecting Democratic efforts to nominate him in 1948 and 1952, Eisenhower instead chose to run
Draft Eisenhower
The Draft Eisenhower movement was the first successful political draft of the 20th century to take a private citizen to the Oval Office. It was a widespread American grassroots political movement that eventually persuaded Dwight D. Eisenhower to run for President...
for the Republican Party
History of the United States Republican Party
The United States Republican Party is the second oldest currently existing political party in the United States after its great rival, the Democratic Party. It emerged in 1854 to combat the Kansas Nebraska Act which threatened to extend slavery into the territories, and to promote more vigorous...
nomination in 1952. His goal was to prevent Robert A. Taft's non-interventionism
Non-interventionism
Nonintervention or non-interventionism is a foreign policy which holds that political rulers should avoid alliances with other nations, but still retain diplomacy, and avoid all wars not related to direct self-defense...
—such as opposition to NATO—from becoming public policy.
On domestic issues they were in general agreement, and a compromise was reached after Eisenhower won the nomination that Taft would be dominant in domestic affairs and stay out of foreign affairs. Ike crusaded against "Korea—Communism—Corruption", identifying these as failures of the Truman administration. He electrified the country just before the election by promising to personally go to Korea and end that stalemated conflict.
Eisenhower's choice for vice-president on his ticket was Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. He saw Nixon's strong vocal opposition against communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
as an asset to his campaign. When Nixon's Checkers scandal
Checkers speech
The Checkers speech or Fund speech was an address made by Richard Nixon, the Republican vice presidential candidate and junior United States Senator from California, on television and radio on September 23, 1952. Senator Nixon had been accused of improprieties relating to a fund established by his...
was revealed to the public, Eisenhower still kept Nixon on the ticket.
In the 1952 U.S. presidential election
United States presidential election, 1952
The United States presidential election of 1952 took place in an era when Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union was escalating rapidly. In the United States Senate, Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin had become a national figure after chairing congressional...
, Eisenhower easily defeated Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson II and became the first career soldier since Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
to be elected President. Although many presidents have served in the military, Eisenhower was the only general to serve as President in the 20th century.
Presidency 1953–1961
Eisenhower created the positions of White House Chief of StaffWhite House Chief of Staff
The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The current White House Chief of Staff is Bill Daley.-History:...
and National Security Advisor
National Security Advisor (United States)
The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor , serves as the chief advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues...
. He expanded the role of the National Security Council and was the first president to conduct televised press conferences. Reporters of that time have said that Eisenhower was the first president to employ the "non-answer" during these events. Journalist Clark Mollenhoff said of Eisenhower's simultaneous decisions to televise press conferences and not answer questions as asked: "No President and White House of my acquaintance ever gave out at once so much and so little."
Foreign affairs
Eisenhower's presidency was dominated by the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the prolonged confrontation with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
which had begun during Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
's term of office. When Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
died, he sought to extend an olive branch to the new Soviet regime in his "Chance for Peace speech
Chance for Peace speech
The Chance for Peace speech was an address given by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower on April 16, 1953, shortly after the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin...
", but continued turmoil in Moscow prevented a meaningful response and the Cold War deepened.
In 1953 Eisenhower opened relations with Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
under Fascist leader Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
. Despite its undemocratic nature, Spain's strategic position in light of the Cold War and Anti-Communist position led Eisenhower to build a trade and military alliance with the Spanish through the Pact of Madrid
Pact of Madrid
The Pact of Madrid, signed in 1953 by Spain and the United States, ended a period of virtual isolation for Spain, although the other victorious allies of World War II and much of the rest of the world remained hostile to what they regarded as a fascist regime sympathetic to the Nazi cause and...
, ultimately bringing an end to Spain's isolation after World War II, and bringing about the Spanish Miracle
Spanish miracle
The Spanish miracle was the name given to a broadly based economic boom in Spain from 1959 to 1974. The international oil and stagflation crises of the 1970s ended the boom.- The pre-boom situation :...
.
During his campaign, Eisenhower had promised to end the stalemated Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. This promise was fulfilled on 27 July 1953 by the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement. Also, defense treaties with South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
and the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
were signed, and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in September 1954 in Manila, Philippines. The formal institution of SEATO was established on 19 February...
(SEATO) alliance in an effort to halt the spread of Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
in Asia was formed.
Eisenhower, while accepting the doctrine of containment
Containment
Containment was a United States policy using military, economic, and diplomatic strategies to stall the spread of communism, enhance America’s security and influence abroad, and prevent a "domino effect". A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet...
originally developed by George F. Kennan
George F. Kennan
George Frost Kennan was an American adviser, diplomat, political scientist and historian, best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War...
, sought to counter the Soviet Union through more active means as detailed in the State Department memorandum NSC-68
NSC-68
National Security Council Report 68 was a 58-page formerly-classified report issued by the United States National Security Council on April 14, 1950, during the presidency of Harry S. Truman. Written during the formative stage of the Cold War, it was top secret until the 1970s when it was made...
. His covert action policy was laid out in NSC 162/2
NSC 162/2
The United States National Security Council document NSC 162/2 of 30 October 1953 defined Cold War policy during the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration – the New Look national security policy...
. He, along with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world...
, developed the tactic of covert action
Covert operation
A covert operation is a military, intelligence or law enforcement operation that is carried clandestinely and, often, outside of official channels. Covert operations aim to fulfill their mission objectives without any parties knowing who sponsored or carried out the operation...
, used the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
—directed by Allen Welsh Dulles
Allen Welsh Dulles
Allen Welsh Dulles was an American diplomat, lawyer, banker, and public official who became the first civilian and the longest-serving Director of Central Intelligence and a member of the Warren Commission...
to interfere with suspected Communist governments abroad. An early use of covert action was against the elected Prime Minister of Iran
Prime Minister of Iran
Prime Minister of Iran was a political post in Iran that had existed during several different periods of time starting with the Qajar era until its most recent revival from 1979 to 1989 following the Iranian Revolution.-Prime Ministers of Qajar era:In the Qajar era, prime ministers were known by...
, Mohammed Mosaddeq. The Shah of Iran and pro-monarchy forces ejected him from power in the complex 1953 Iranian coup d'état (Operation Ajax) supported by U.S. intelligence agencies. The CIA also orchestrated a coup the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état that overthrew the democratically-elected President of Guatemala
President of Guatemala
The title of President of Guatemala has been the usual title of the leader of Guatemala since 1839, when that title was assumed by Mariano Rivera Paz...
, Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán
Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán
Colonel Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who served as Defense Minister of Guatemala from 1944–1951, and as President of Guatemala from 1951 to 1954....
, in Operation PBSUCCESS.
Covert action continued throughout Eisenhower's administration. In the newly independent but chaotic Republic of Congo
Congo Crisis
The Congo Crisis was a period of turmoil in the First Republic of the Congo that began with national independence from Belgium and ended with the seizing of power by Joseph Mobutu...
, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
had intervened in favor of popularly elected Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese independence leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only ten weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis...
. Anti-Communism had become an issue and the U.S. and CIA gave weapons and covert support to pro-Western and Democratic CIA assets Joseph Kasavubu and his subordinate, Colonel Joseph Mobutu
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga , commonly known as Mobutu or Mobutu Sese Seko , born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997...
. The initial struggle came to a close in December 1960, after Kasavubu and Mobutu overthrew Lumumba and proceeded to turn the country (later known as Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
) into an autocracy
Autocracy
An autocracy is a form of government in which one person is the supreme power within the state. It is derived from the Greek : and , and may be translated as "one who rules by himself". It is distinct from oligarchy and democracy...
which was unstable long after the end of Eisenhower's term. Lumumba was murdered shortly after his deposition, and some allege that the CIA (Sidney Gottlieb
Sidney Gottlieb
Sidney Gottlieb was an American chemist probably best known for his involvement with the Central Intelligence Agency's mind control program MKULTRA.-Life:...
), collaborated with Mobutu in the assassination.
Eisenhower also increased U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, a process which had begun under his predecessor Truman. In 1954, he sent Dulles to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
as a delegate to the Geneva Conference
Geneva Conference (1954)
The Geneva Conference was a conference which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, whose purpose was to attempt to find a way to unify Korea and discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina...
, which ended the First Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
and temporarily partitioned Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
into a Communist northern half (under Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
) and a non-Communist southern half (under Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
). In February 1955, Eisenhower dispatched the first American soldiers to Vietnam as military advisors to Diem's army. After Diem announced the formation of the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, commonly known as South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
) in October, Eisenhower immediately recognized the new state and offered military, economic, and technical assistance.
In 1956, Eisenhower strongly disapproved of the actions of Britain, France and Israel in sending troops to Egypt
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
in the dispute over control of the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
. He used the economic power of the U.S. to force his European allies to back down and withdraw from Egypt. However, he later described this decision as the greatest foreign policy mistake he made during his time in office.
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 occurred during his presidency and he has received some criticism for the lack of support from the United States for the revolutionaries during this time. On November 2, 1956, the State Department issued the statement, "The government of the United States does not look with favor upon governments unfriendly to the Soviet Union on the borders of the Soviet Union." http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-7/pongracz2.html Early in the morning on November 4, 1956 the Soviet Union counterattacked and without outside support the revolution quickly fell.
During his second term he became increasingly involved in Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
ern affairs, sending troops to Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
in 1958, and promoting the creation of the Baghdad Pact between Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, as well as Britain.
Under Eisenhower's presidency the U.S. developed as a global nuclear
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
power. When Russia also developed their nuclear weapons, fears of mutual annihilation in a Third World War
World War III
World War III denotes a successor to World War II that would be on a global scale, with common speculation that it would be likely nuclear and devastating in nature....
intensified. On October 30, 1953, Eisenhower approved the security policy document NSC 162/2, which emphasized nuclear weapons above all other defense means. Nuclear weapons were seen as the most economically feasible means to deter the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
from military action against what then was called the "Free World." Throughout his presidency, Eisenhower insisted on having plans to initiate, fight, and win a nuclear war against the Soviets, although he hoped he would never feel forced to use them. American chagrin at the Soviets' 1957 surprise launch of
Sputnik crisis
The Sputnik crisis is the name for the American reaction to the success of the Sputnik program. It was a key event during the Cold War that began on October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite....
Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, led to many strategic initiatives, including the creation of NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
in 1958 and a speeded up American space program.
Eisenhower hoped that after the death of Stalin in 1953, it would be possible to come to an agreement with subsequent Russian leaders to halt the nuclear arms race
Nuclear arms race
The nuclear arms race was a competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War...
. However his efforts to reach a disarmament agreement throughout his presidency aimed mainly to gain military and diplomatic advantage over the Soviets. He never agreed to any proposal unless he thought it would yield such advantage to the U.S. Several attempts at convening a summit conference were made. The final attempt failed in 1960 when Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
withdrew following the shooting down of an American U-2 spy plane
U-2 Crisis of 1960
The 1960 U-2 incident occurred during the Cold War on May 1, 1960, during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower and during the leadership of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, when a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down over the airspace of the Soviet Union.The United States government at...
over the Soviet Union. Eisenhower at first said that his administration had not been spying on the Soviet Union; when the Soviets produced the pilot, who had lived after his plane went down, the Americans were caught misleading the public, and the incident resulted in international embarrassment. During the Paris Summit in 1960, President Eisenhower accused Khrushchev "of sabotaging this meeting, on which so much of the hopes of the world have rested."
Domestic affairs
Eisenhower appointed a Cabinet of nine "businessmen and a plumber," and gave them wide latitude in handling domestic affairs. He allowed them to take credit for domestic policy and allow him to concentrate on foreign affairs. Eisenhower was a conservative whose policy views were close to Taft; they agreed that a free enterprise economy should run itself. He did not attempt to roll back the New Deal--he expanded Social Security. His major project was building the interstate highway system using federal gasoline taxes. While his 1952 landslide gave the Republicans control of both houses of the Congress, Eisenhower believed that taxes could not be cut until the budget was balanced. "We cannot afford to reduce taxes, [and] reduce income," he said, "until we have in sight a program of expenditure that shows that the factors of income and outgo will be balanced." Eisenhower kept the national debt low and inflationInflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
near zero.
There were three recessions during Eisenhower's administration — July 1953 through May 1954, August 1957 through April 1958, and April 1960 through February 1961. Real GDP growth averaged just 2.5% over those eight years. Eisenhower allowed the recessions to occur, to wring out the inflation of wartime. Under the Eisenhower administration the economy had greatly expanded, with the Dow Jones Industrials stock market index more than doubling (from 288 to 634).
The Democrats regained control in the 1954 Senate and House elections, limiting his freedom of action on domestic policy. He forged a good relationship with Congressional leaders, particularly House Speaker Sam Rayburn
Sam Rayburn
Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn , often called "Mr. Sam," or "Mr. Democrat," was a Democratic lawmaker from Bonham, Texas, who served as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for seventeen years, the longest tenure in U.S. history.- Background :Rayburn was born in Roane County, Tennessee, and...
.
Operation Wetback
Operation Wetback was a 1954 operation by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service to remove illegal immigrants, mostly Mexican nationals from the southwestern United States.-History:...
in response to increasing illegal immigration to the United States
Illegal immigration to the United States
An illegal immigrant in the United States is an alien who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa....
. As many as three million illegal immigrants had crossed the U.S. Mexican border to work in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and other states. Eisenhower opposed this movement, believing that it lowered the wages of American workers and led to corruption. The Immigration and Naturalization Service
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
sent back to Mexico about 80,000 immigrants. (Press releases about one million were not verified and could have been larger or smaller.)
In 1957, he sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
after Governor Orval Faubus
Orval Faubus
Orval Eugene Faubus was the 36th Governor of Arkansas, serving from 1955 to 1967. He is best known for his 1957 stand against the desegregation of Little Rock public schools during the Little Rock Crisis, in which he defied a unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court by ordering the...
attempted to defy a federal court order calling for desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
of Little Rock public schools. The soldiers escorted nine African-American students, who became known as the Little Rock Nine
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine was a group of African-American students who were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The ensuing Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, and then...
, to Little Rock Central High School
Central High School (Little Rock)
Little Rock Central High School is a high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. Central High School was the site of forced school desegregation during the American Civil Rights Movement.Central is located at the intersection of Daisy L...
. He wrote legislation that would create a Civil Rights Commission in the executive branch and a civil rights department in the Justice Department
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
, along with protecting voting rights; Nixon stepped in to break a filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
in the Senate.
Democrats attacked Eisenhower for not taking a public stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
's anti-communist campaigns. Privately he held McCarthy and his tactics in contempt, writing, "I despise [McCarthy's tactics], and even during the political campaign of '52 I not only stated publicly (and privately to him) that I disapproved of those methods, but I did so in his own State." Eisenhower worked behind the scenes to weaken McCarthy, in particular by putting together a task force headed by Herbert Brownell, Sherman Adams
Sherman Adams
Llewelyn Sherman Adams was an American politician, best known as White House Chief of Staff for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the culmination of a relatively short political career that also included a stint as Governor of New Hampshire...
, and Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot "Slim" Lodge was an American Republican Senator and historian from Massachusetts. He had the role of Senate Majority leader. He is best known for his positions on Meek policy, especially his battle with President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 over the Treaty of Versailles...
to oversee the defense of the Army., leading to the pivotal Army-McCarthy hearings
Army-McCarthy Hearings
The Army–McCarthy hearings were a series of hearings held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations between April 1954 and June 1954. The hearings were held for the purpose of investigating conflicting accusations between the United States Army and Senator Joseph McCarthy...
which led to his downfall in 1954.
Eisenhower promoted the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which created the United States' Interstate Highways. It was the largest public works program in U.S. history, providing a 41,000-mile highway system. Eisenhower had been impressed during the war with the German Autobahn system, and also recalled his own involvement in a military convoy in 1919 that took 62 days to cross the U.S. Another achievement was a 20% increase in family income during his presidency, of which he was very proud.
Eisenhower retained his popularity throughout his presidency. In 1956, he was re-elected by an even wider margin than in 1952, again defeating Stevenson, and carrying such traditional Democratic states as Texas and Tennessee.
Eisenhower had mixed feelings about his Vice-President, Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, and only reluctantly endorsed him as the Republican candidate at the 1960 Presidential election. Nixon campaigned against Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
on the great experience he had acquired in eight years as Vice President, but when Eisenhower was asked to name a decision Nixon had been responsible for in that time, he replied (intending a joke): "Give me a week and I might think of something." This was a blow to Nixon, and he blamed Eisenhower for his narrow loss to Kennedy.
Little Rock Crisis
During the early stages of the Civil Rights Movement, President Eisenhower denied backing with strong opinion the Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of EducationBrown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
in the public arena. Just before the court ruling was made, President Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren as Supreme Court Chief Justice, which he later said was the “biggest damn fool mistake” he had ever made. President Eisenhower verbally rebuked Governor Orval Faubus
Orval Faubus
Orval Eugene Faubus was the 36th Governor of Arkansas, serving from 1955 to 1967. He is best known for his 1957 stand against the desegregation of Little Rock public schools during the Little Rock Crisis, in which he defied a unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court by ordering the...
of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
for his insertion of the Arkansas National Guard to override Congressional law. Further instances of lawlessness in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
brought about an angry response from the President and gave him little choice but to intervene. He issued Executive Order 10730 to place the Arkansas National Guard under his command, also sending in one thousand of the 101st “Screaming Eagles” Airborne Division of the US Army.
Medical events
In 1949 General Eisenhower quit his 4-pack a day cigarette habit. In 1955, the President took a vacation in Denver and complained of stomach pains following a golf game. That night after dinner with his wife and doctor he had more complaints. The doctor had left the dinner unconcerned. Eisenhower's distress became worse, and his wife Mamie drove him by car to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital after 2 AM, September 24, 1955.The President had a myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, keeping him and the nation's attention on the
8th floor of Fitzsimmons Hospital for seven weeks. In November he returned to Washington and then on to his farm in Gettysburg to recuperate. In December he considered announcing he would not run for re-election in 1956. In February 1956 the medical opinion was "his present active life satisfactorily for another five to ten years." On February 28, 1956 Eisenhower announced he would indeed seek a second term.
President Eisenhower was diagnosed with Crohn's disease
Crohn's disease
Crohn's disease, also known as regional enteritis, is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus, causing a wide variety of symptoms...
or ileitis
Ileitis
Ileitis is an inflammation of the ileum, a portion of the small intestine. Crohn's ileitis is a type of Crohn's disease affecting the ileum. Ileitis is caused by the bacteria Lawsonia intracellularis....
on May 10, 1956. On June 8, he required surgery at Walter Reed Hospital, thus the public learned of the diagnosis during the election year. He won his second term. On November 25, 1957 Eisenhower suffered a mild stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in the Oval Office
Oval Office
The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end...
. This left him with a slight speech impediment. The next year Eisenhower wrote a letter of authority giving Vice President
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
means to assume power in the event of incapacitation of the President. The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution deals with succession to the Presidency and establishes procedures both for filling a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, as well as responding to Presidential disabilities...
, ratified in 1967, formalized conveyance of authority if a living President was incapacitated.
Administration and Cabinet
| OFFICE | NAME | TERM |
| President President of the United States The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.... |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | 1953–1961 |
| Vice President Vice President of the United States The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term... |
Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under... |
1953–1961 |
| State United States Secretary of State The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence... |
John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world... |
1953–1959 |
| Christian A. Herter Christian Herter Christian Archibald Herter was an American politician and statesman; 59th governor of Massachusetts from 1953 to 1957, and United States Secretary of State from 1959 to 1961.-Early life:... |
1959–1961 | |
| Treasury United States Secretary of the Treasury The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United... |
George M. Humphrey George M. Humphrey George Magoffin Humphrey was an American lawyer, businessman and Cabinet secretary.Raised in Edenbronx, Humphrey received both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Michigan. After practicing law in his hometown for five years with his father's farm, he accepted a position with... |
1953–1957 |
| Robert B. Anderson | 1957–1961 | |
| Defense United States Secretary of Defense The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries... |
Charles E. Wilson Charles Erwin Wilson Charles Erwin Wilson , American businessman and politician, was United States Secretary of Defense from 1953 to 1957 under President Eisenhower. Known as "Engine Charlie", he previously worked as CEO for General Motors. In the wake of the Korean War, he cut the defense budget significantly.-Early... |
1953–1957 |
| Neil H. McElroy Neil H. McElroy Neil Hosler McElroy was United States Secretary of Defense from 1957 to 1959 under President Eisenhower. He had been president of Procter & Gamble.- Early life :... |
1957–1959 | |
| Thomas S. Gates, Jr. | 1959–1961 | |
| Justice | Herbert Brownell, Jr. Herbert Brownell, Jr. Herbert Brownell, Jr. was the Attorney General of the United States in President Eisenhower's cabinet from 1953 to 1957.-Early life:... |
1953–1957 |
| William P. Rogers William P. Rogers William Pierce Rogers was an American politician, who served as a Cabinet officer in the administrations of two U.S. Presidents in the third quarter of the 20th century.-Early Life :... |
1957–1961 | |
| Postmaster General | Arthur E. Summerfield | 1953–1961 |
| Interior United States Secretary of the Interior The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries... |
Douglas McKay Douglas McKay James Douglas McKay was an American businessman and politician from Oregon. A native of the state, he served in World War I before he became a successful businessman, mainly as a car dealership owner in the capital city of Salem. A Republican, he served as a city councilor and mayor of Salem... |
1953–1956 |
| Fred A. Seaton | 1956–1961 | |
| Agriculture United States Secretary of Agriculture The United States Secretary of Agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on 20 January 2009. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other... |
Ezra Taft Benson Ezra Taft Benson Ezra Taft Benson was the thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death and was United States Secretary of Agriculture for both terms of the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower.-Biography:Born on a farm in Whitney, Idaho, Benson was the oldest of... |
1953–1961 |
| Commerce United States Secretary of Commerce The United States Secretary of Commerce is the head of the United States Department of Commerce concerned with business and industry; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce"... |
Sinclair Weeks Sinclair Weeks Charles Sinclair Weeks , better known as Sinclair Weeks, was United States Secretary of Commerce from January 21, 1953 to November 10, 1958 under Dwight D. Eisenhower... |
1953–1958 |
| Lewis L. Strauss | 1958–1959 | |
| Frederick H. Mueller | 1959–1961 | |
| Labor United States Secretary of Labor The United States Secretary of Labor is the head of the Department of Labor who exercises control over the department and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all other issues involving any form of business-person controversies.... |
Martin P. Durkin | 1953 |
| James P. Mitchell James P. Mitchell James Paul Mitchell was an American politician from New Jersey. Nicknamed "the social conscience of the Republican Party," he served as United States Secretary of Labor from 1953 to 1961 in the Eisenhower Administration. Mitchell was considered a potential running mate for the 1960 Republican... |
1953–1961 | |
| HEW | Oveta Culp Hobby Oveta Culp Hobby Oveta Culp Hobby was the first secretary of the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, first commanding officer of the Women's Army Corps, and chairman of the board of the Houston Post.... |
1953–1955 |
| Marion B. Folsom | 1955–1958 | |
| Arthur S. Flemming | 1958–1961 |
White House staff and advisors
- Emmet John HughesEmmet John HughesEmmett John Hughes was a foreign bureau chief for and article editor for Time-Life and an aide and speechwriter for U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower...
- Sherman AdamsSherman AdamsLlewelyn Sherman Adams was an American politician, best known as White House Chief of Staff for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the culmination of a relatively short political career that also included a stint as Governor of New Hampshire...
- James C. HagertyJames C. HagertyJames Campbell Hagerty served as the only White House Press Secretary from 1953 to 1961 during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower.Hagerty attended Evander Childs High School in the Bronx, and was a graduate of Blair Academy, which he attended for his last two years in high school...
- Andrew J. Goodpaster
Supreme Court appointments
Eisenhower appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United StatesSupreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
:
- Earl WarrenEarl WarrenEarl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...
(Chief JusticeChief Justice of the United StatesThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
) – 1953 - John Marshall Harlan IIJohn Marshall Harlan IIJohn Marshall Harlan was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. His namesake was his grandfather John Marshall Harlan, another associate justice who served from 1877 to 1911.Harlan was a student at Upper Canada College and Appleby College and...
– 1955 - William J. Brennan – 1956
- Charles Evans WhittakerCharles Evans WhittakerCharles Evans Whittaker was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1957 to 1962.-Early years:...
– 1957 - Potter StewartPotter StewartPotter Stewart was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. During his tenure, he made, among other areas, major contributions to criminal justice reform, civil rights, access to the courts, and Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.-Education:Stewart was born in Jackson, Michigan,...
– 1958
See also
- Military career of Dwight D. EisenhowerMilitary career of Dwight D. EisenhowerThe military career of Dwight D. Eisenhower encompassed over forty years of active service.-Early military career:Eisenhower enrolled at the United States Military Academy at West Point in June 1911. His parents were against militarism, but did not object to his entering West Point because they...
- Chance for Peace speechChance for Peace speechThe Chance for Peace speech was an address given by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower on April 16, 1953, shortly after the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin...
- 1960 U-2 incident
- Eisenhower's farewell addressEisenhower's farewell addressEisenhower's farewell address was the final public speech of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President of the United States, delivered in a television broadcast on January 17, 1961...
Secondary sources
- Albertson, Dean. ed. Eisenhower as President (1963)
- Alexander, Charles C. Holding the Line: The Eisenhower Era, 1952-1961 (1975)
- Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower. The President (1984); Eisenhower: Soldier and President (2003) one volume version. standard biography
- Anderson J. W. Eisenhower, Brownell, and the Congress: The Tangled Origins of the Civil Rights Bill of 1956-1957. University of Alabama Press, 1964.
- Bean Louis, Influences in the 1954 Mid-Term Elections. Washington: Public Affairs Institute, 1954
- Brands, Henry W. Cold Warriors: Eisenhower's Generation and American Foreign Policy Columbia University Press, 1988.
- Broadwater; Jeff. Eisenhower & the Anti-Communist Crusade University of North Carolina Press 1992.
- Burns James MacGregor, The Deadlock of Democracy. Prentice-Hall, 1963
- Caridi Ronald J., The Korean War and American Politics. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1968.
- Chernus, Ira. Apocalypse Management: Eisenhower and the Discourse of National Insecurity. Stanford University Press, 2008.
- Corwin Edward S., and Koenig Louis W., The Presidency Today. New York University Press, 1956.
- Damms, Richard V. The Eisenhower Presidency, 1953-1961 (2002)
- David Paul T. (ed.), Presidential Nominating Politics in 1952. 5 vols., Johns Hopkins Press, 1954.
- Divine, Robert A. Eisenhower and the Cold War (1981)
- Divine, Robert A. Foreign Policy and U.S. Presidential Elections, 1952-1960 1974.
- Eulau Heinz, Class and Party in the Eisenhower Years. Free Press, 1962. voting behavior
- Greenstein, Fred I. The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader (1991)
- Harris, Douglas B. "Dwight Eisenhower and the New Deal: The Politics of Preemption" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997.
- Harris, Seymour E. The Economics of the Political Parties, with Special Attention to Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy (1962)
- Krieg, Joann P. ed. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Soldier, President, Statesman (1987). 24 essays by scholars
- McAuliffe, Mary S. "Eisenhower, the President," Journal of American History 68 (1981): 625-632 in JSTOR
- Mayer, Michael S. The Eisenhower Years (2009), 1024pp; short biographies by experts of 500 prominent figures, with some primary sources
- Medhurst; Martin J. Dwight D. Eisenhower: Strategic Communicator Greenwood Press, 1993
- Olson, James S. Historical Dictionary of the 1950s (2000)
- Osgood, Kenneth. Total Cold War : Eisenhower's Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad. University of Kansas Press, 2006
- Pach, Chester J. And Elmo Richardson. Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower (1991), standard scholarly survey
- Parmet; Herbert S. Eisenhower and the American Crusades (1972). Scholarly biography of post 1945 years.
Primary sources
- Adams, Sherman. Firsthand Report: The Story of the Eisenhower Administration. 1961. by Ike's chief of staff
- Ezra Taft Benson; Cross Fire: The Eight Years with Eisenhower 1962 Secretary of Agriculture
- Peter G. Boyle, ed. The Churchill-Eisenhower Correspondence, 1953-1955 University of North Carolina Press, 1990
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. Mandate for Change, 1953-1956 (1963)
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. The White House Years: Waging Peace 1956-1961, Doubleday and Co., 1965
- Eisenhower Papers 21 volume scholarly edition; complete for 1940-61. University of Virginia, Miller Center of Public Affairs.
- Eisenhower, Milton S. The President Is Calling 1974. by Ike's influential brother
- Gallup, George H., ed. The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1935-1971. 3 vols. Random House, 1972. press releases summarizing all their polls
- Hagerty, James C. The Diary of James C. Hagerty: Eisenhower in Mid-Course, 1954-1955 . Edited by Robert H. Ferrell. Indiana University Press, 1983. by the press secretary
- Hughes, Emmet John. The Ordeal of Power: A Political Memoir of the Eisenhower Years. 1963. Ike's speechwriter
- Lodge, Henry Cabot. As It Was: An Inside View of Politics and Power in the '50s and '60s 1976, ambassador to UN
- Martin, Joe. My First Fifty Years in Politics 1960. House GOP leader
- Nixon, Richard M. The Memoirs of Richard Nixon 1978.
- Howard Nathaniel R. (ed.), The Basic Papers of George M. Humphrey as Secretary of the Treasury, 1913-1957 The Western Reserve Historical Society, 1965