Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969), American soldier and politician, was the 34th President of the United States (1953–1961) and Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II, with the rank of General of the Army.

Eisenhower's Presidency

After his many wartime successes, General Eisenhower returned to the U.S. a great hero. It would not be long before many supporters were pressuring him to run for public office.

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Eisenhower was generally considered a political moderate, and it was not immediately clear which party he would choose to join. Eventually he settled on the Republican Party, and in 1952 he was nominated as the party's star candidate in the 1952 U.S. presidential election. Eisenhower easily defeated Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson and became the first war general since Ulysses S. Grant to be elected President. He would be the only professional soldier to serve as President in the 20th century.

Related Topics:
Republican Party - 1952 - 1952 U.S. presidential election - Adlai Stevenson - Ulysses S. Grant

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Foreign affairs

Eisenhower's presidency was dominated by the Cold War, the prolonged confrontation with the Soviet Union which had begun during Truman's term of office.

Related Topics:
Cold War - Soviet Union - Truman

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During his campaign, Eisenhower had promised to end the stalemated Korean War, and indeed a cease-fire was signed in July 1953. He signed defense treaties with South Korea and the Republic of China, and formed an anti-Communist alliance with Asian and Pacific countries, SEATO, to halt the spread of Communism in Asia.

Related Topics:
Korean War - 1953 - South Korea - Republic of China - SEATO - Communism

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Eisenhower, while accepting the doctrine of containment originally developed by George Kennan, sought to fight the USSR through more active means as detailed in the State Department memorandum NSC-68. He, along with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, developed the tactic of covert action, taking advantage of the newly created CIA to interfere with suspected Communist governments abroad. The first major use of covert action was against the parlimentarian and suspected pro-Soviet, Iranian prime minister Mossadeq in 1953. Eisenhower ejected him from power and replaced him with Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, an authoritarian.

Related Topics:
Containment - George Kennan - USSR - NSC-68 - John Foster Dulles - Covert action - CIA - Iranian - Mossadeq - 1953 - Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

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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. Mobutu assassinated Lumumba shortly after his overthrow, and some allege that the CIA (Sidney Gottlieb), collaborated with Mobutu in the assassination.

Related Topics:
Congo - Soviet Union - KGB - Patrice Lumumba - CIA - Joseph Kasavubu - Joseph Mobutu - 1960 - Zaire - Autocracy - Assassinated - Sidney Gottlieb

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In 1956, Eisenhower strongly disapproved of the actions of Britain and France in sending troops to Egypt in the dispute over control of the Suez Canal (see Suez crisis). He used the economic power of the U.S. to force his European allies to back down and withdraw from Egypt.

Related Topics:
1956 - Britain - France - Egypt - Suez Canal - Suez crisis

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During his second term he became increasingly involved in Middle Eastern affairs, sending troops to Lebanon in 1957.

Related Topics:
Middle Eastern - Lebanon - 1957

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Under Eisenhower's presidency the U.S. became the world's first global nuclear power, and the world lived in fear of a Third World War which might involve nuclear weapons. 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. 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. Several attempts at such summit conference were made. The last attempt failed in 1960 when Nikita Khrushchev withdrew following the shooting down of an American U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union.

Related Topics:
Nuclear - Third World War - Nuclear weapons - 1957 - Sputnik - Strategic initiatives - NASA - 1958 - Stalin - 1953 - Nuclear arms race - 1960 - Nikita Khrushchev - U-2

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Domestic affairs

Like most Republican presidents, Eisenhower believed that a free enterprise economy should run itself, and he took little interest in domestic policy. Although 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, 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." 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.

Related Topics:
Free enterprise - 1952 - 1954 - Senate - House elections - Sam Rayburn

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Eisenhower appointed a Cabinet full of businessmen 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. With respect to the emerging civil rights movement, he has been criticized by liberals for being reluctant to exercise leadership unless forced to. In 1957, however, he sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas after Governor Orval Faubus attempted to defy a Supreme Court ruling that ordered the desegregation of all public schools.

Related Topics:
Civil rights movement - Liberal - 1957 - Little Rock, Arkansas - Orval Faubus - Supreme Court - Desegregation

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Eisenhower was also criticized for not taking a public stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist campaigns. Privately he held McCarthy in contempt for the senator's attacks on his friend and World War II colleague, General George Marshall, Secretary of State under Truman. He stated "I just won't get down in the gutter with that man". This was little comfort to the many people whose reputations were ruined by McCarthy's allegations of Communist conspiracies. Later, it was revealed that Eisenhower worked behind the scenes to bring McCarthy down. Yet, in a speech delivered in Milwaukee on October 3, 1952, just after being chosen as the Republican nominee, Eisenhower opted not to make any statement defending Marshall. A full paragraph in the sixth draft of that speech was written for that purpose, but Eisenhower decided to drop the paragraph.

Related Topics:
Joseph McCarthy - George Marshall - Milwaukee - October 3 - 1952

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Eisenhower endorsed 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. He added a tenth cabinet position, creating the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and achieved a balanced budget in three of the years that he was President.

Related Topics:
Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 - Interstate Highway - Public works - Autobahn - 1919 - Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

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Eisenhower retained his popularity throughout his presidency. In 1956 he was re-elected by an even wider margin than in 1952, where he employed John Arthur Garber, Sr.'s advertising portfolio for his re-election, again defeating Stevenson, and carrying such traditional Democratic states as Texas and Tennessee.

Related Topics:
1956 - 1952 - John Arthur Garber, Sr. - Texas - Tennessee

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However, 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 percent over those eight years.

Related Topics:
Recessions - 1953 - 1954 - 1957 - 1958 - 1960 - 1961 - GDP

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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 severe blow to Nixon, and he blamed Eisenhower for his narrow loss to Kennedy.

Related Topics:
Richard Nixon - 1960 Presidential election - Kennedy

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