Eisenhower
1953-1961
Election
- Eisenhower ran as a Republican in 1952 to counter the non-interventionism of Robert Taft.
- Nixon was his vice president.
- He won by a landslide defeating Adlai Stevenson.
- In his 2nd election in 1956 he defeated Stevenson easily again.
Foreign Policy (Cold War and Vietnam)
- Cold War - a struggle with U.S. and U.S.S.R. for ideological dominance
- Eisenhower promoted nuclear deterrence over the use of conventional forces to fight Communism.
- He used the threat of nuclear weapons to quickly draw an end to the war in Korea, dividing it at the 38th parallel.
- He fought against illegal immigration from Mexico in Operation Wetback.
- He supported building super bombers to be able to attack China and Russia with nuclear weapons.
- Eisenhower failed to make peace with Khrushchev. He helped depose the leader of Iran in a coup.
- The Formosa Resolution established U.S. defense of Taiwan. He stopped the invasion of Egypt by Britain, France, and Israel.
- He stated the Domino Theory, where if some countries fell to communism, others would begin to fall to communism too.
- A major failure was Cuba's fall to communism, where Dr. Fidel Castro took over
- Vietnam War - a war to stop the spread of Communism
- The French got out of Vietnam after the battle of Dien Bien Phu
- North Vietnam eventually attacks South Vietnam, which the U.S. defends
Domestic Policy (Space Race, Republican Policies, desegregation & McCarthy)
- Eisenhower covertly opposed McCarthyism.
- McCarthyism - Joseph McCarthy created fear that Communists had infiltrated the government
- He launched the Interstate Highway System, DARPA (internet), NASA (to race against Sputnik), and the National Defense Education Act to improve America to fight communism.
- When Sputnik, a satellite, was launched by the Soviets, Americans feared that the Soviets had surpassed the U.S. technologically
- NASA was used to compete with the Soviets' space program
- He continued New Deal programs and expanded Social Security.
- The Eisenhower era was a time of desegregation.
- Civil Rights Act of 1957 ensured (tried to ) all Americans could vote
- Brown v. Board of Education allowed him to enforce civil rights
- He desegregated the Armed Forces and enforced desegregation with federal troops in Arkansas.
- In Birmingham, blacks boycotted segregationist busses
- This was important as Communists used desegregation as a point of propaganda.
- In this time of economic growth, America became more white-collar and technologically oriented.