Eisenhower
Election of 1952 and 1956
1956- Eisenhower vs. Stevenson. 457 to 72.
Cold War during Eisenhower Administration
Dwight D. Eisenhower's policy during the Cold War was the "New Look". The main elements of the New Look included maintaining the health of the U.S. economy while still building enough strength to engage if necessary in the Cold War, relying on nuclear weapons to deter Communist aggression, using the CIA to carry out secret missions against governments or leaders "directly or indirectly responsive to Soviet control", and strengthening allies and friendships of nonaligned governments.
Joseph McCarthy : McCarthyism
Eisenhower and Desegregation
Eisenhower backed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. In Little Rock, Arkansas in the fall of 1957, Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prevent African American students from enrolling at Central High School, an all white school. The 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Topeka made segregation in public schools illegal. Governor Faubus defied this decision. He also defied a 1955 ruling (Brown II), that public schools be desegregated with all deliberate speed. President Eisenhower placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and sent 1,000 U.S. Army paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division to assist them in restoring order in Little Rock.
Eisenhower's Republican Policies
Eisenhower and Vietnam
Eisenhower was the first president to go head first into the Vietnam conflicts. He did not support the Geneva Accords signed by France and Vietnam in 1954. The Accord made the 17th parallel dividing the country to north and south sections until two years when they would hold a free election for the whole country. Eisenhower believed that the agreement gave the communists too much power in the north. Instead he decided to create the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) to stop any more communist influence in Southeast Asia. Using the SEATO as a cover, Eisenhower started to help build a new nation in South Vietnam. In 1955 the government of the republic of Vietnam was formed.
Soon after the country was under attack from communists. In 1957 the Vietnam War began. From 1956-1960, North Vietnam tried to put political pressure on Diem’s regime by gathering followers in the south to overthrow him.