Chapter 37:
“The Eisenhower Era”
1952 – 1960
I.
Election of 1952 i.
Democrat: Adlai E. Stevenson – gov. of
Illinois ii.
Republicans: Eisenhower and Nixon
1.
Nixon was chosen because of his strong anti-communist record a.
Nixon was the one who did the mudslinging: they attacked Stevenson for being soft on communism…GASP! b.
Also said he was too intellectual
2.
Eisenhower promised to end the war in
Korea by going over there himself to help with negotiations
3.
Slogans a.
K1C2: Korea 1 st , Communism and
Corruption b.
I Like Ike c.
First use of TV political ads for an election http://livingroomcandidate.movingimage.us/election/index.ph
p?nav_action=election&nav_subaction=R&campaign_id=165

2.
Nixon almost got dropped from the campaign when he was accused of taking $18,000 from an election fund to finance personal items i.
Delivered his famous “Checkers Speech” named after his dog, in which he denied receiving any gifts with exception to his cocker spaniel
"I'm not going to break that little girl's heart by taking away that dog."
1.
The nation loved the “ Checker Speech a.
Showed the power of TV in an election b.
Saved Nixon’s political career, at least temporarily c.
American’s were literally brought to tears by his honest account of his finances d.
Everyone loves cute puppies!!!!!!!
3.
Eisenhower won 442 to 89 i.
First republican president in 20 years!

ii.
He did go to Korea to negotiate but failed until he threatened to end it himself with Nukes…
II.
Eisenhower’s political style:
1.
Ike’s domestic agenda i.
He didn’t want to legislate social change,
1.
big change from democrats – all about social change
2.
Relationship with Congress: “ I don’t feel I should nag them.” ii.
Ike called his plan of action “Modern
Republicanism” or “Dynamic Conservativism”
1.
Budget cutting
2.
Support for business
3.
Giving state and local governments more power
4.
Appeasing Americans who had grown to depend on some types of government support a.
Social security b.
Unemployment
5.
This has helped greatly to shape the viewpoints of our modern republican party iii.
Eisenhower's choice of cabinet members demonstrated his support for big business.

1.
Eight of the nine members of Eisenhower's cabinet were millionaire corporate executives.
"The New Dealers have all left Washington to make way for the car dealers."
Eisenhower was a staunch opponent of deficit spending and he vetoed the following legislation:

Two public housing measures

Two anti-recession public works projects

Anti-pollution legislation
To be fair, Eisenhower's term did see a rise in o Social Security coverage o introduction of a higher minimum wage o and expanded unemployment insurance coverage
Although he wanted to balance the federal budget, there were two obstacles to Eisenhower's attempts to reduce federal spending:
1.
Growing demand for military and foreign aid
2.
Negative effects on economy when the federal government reduced spending

2.
Eisenhower and McCarthy i.
He was not fond of McCarthy
1.
but it seemed to be gaining the republican party some recognition
2.
tolerated until he accused Sec of State
Acheson and the Army of being communist
3.
McCarthyism would have even more negative consequences: the State Dept. was purged of many experts on Asia who could have helped our failed Vietnam policy
III.
Eisenhower’s Foreign policy:
1.
Secretary of State John Foster Dulles: containment isn’t sufficient we must roll-back communism i.
However when the Hungarians hear this and try to revolt the US does not come to their support
– Ike’s justification Massive Retaliation: Nukes or nothing ii.
Must create a fleet of super bombers that could launch a nuclear attack at anytime –increased military spending
2.
Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev met in 1955 at the
Geneva Summit i.
Idea of summit was to ease tensions

ii.
Ike proposed “Open Skies”: basically an aerial monitoring system that would allow countries to openly spy on each other - didn’t go over well!
3.
Ike and the Middle East i.
Iran ii.
Operation Ajax- planned by Kermit Roosevelt
(Grandson of TR) iii.
In 1953 Mohammed Reza Pahlevi became ruler of
Iran after a CIA and MI6 planned coup to overthrow the democratically elected PM Mohammed
Mosaddeq
1.
Mosaddeq wanted to nationalize oil (country would own it not private British companies)
2.
American resentment will eventually lead to
Iranian hostage crisis in 1979
3.
First time the CIA overthrows a government iv.
Egypt v.
President Nasser , was seeking funding to build a dam from both the US and the Soviets. When S.O.S.
Dulles found out about this he withdrew American funding. vi.
Because he could no longer get enough funding he
‘nationalized’ the Suez Canal – basically took it from
France and Great Britain. vii.
Late in October 1956, Britain, France, and Israel suddenly attacked Egypt, thinking that the U.S. would supply them with needed oil, as had been the case in
WWII, but Eisenhower did not, and the attackers had to withdraw. viii.
This didn’t fit in with Massive Retaliation… Nukes or nothing

ix.
1960: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, and
Venezuela joined to form the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC – this would change the oil market forever
IV.
Election of 1956
1.
In 1956, Eisenhower again ran against Stevenson and won by a landslide.
2.
The GOP called itself the “party of peace” while the
Democrats assaulted Ike’s health, since he had had a heart attack in 1955 and a major abdominal operation in ’56. i.
However, the Democrats did win the House and Senate.
The Race with the Soviets to Space
3.
On October 4, 1957, the Russians launched
into space, and a month later, they launched
i.
Demoralized Americans ii.
Spread fear: can Soviets launch nukes from space?!?
4.
Four months after
, the U.S. sent its own satellite (weighing only 2.5 lbs) into space
5.
sparked concerns over U.S. education i.
The 1958 National Defense and Education Act
(NDEA) gave $887 million in loans to college students

ii.
Started standardized testing
V.
The Continuing Cold War i.
Fear of health problems pushed the government to stop “dirty testing” in 1958, Soviets stopped too
2.
However, in 1959, Khrushchev was invited by Ike to
America for talks, and when he arrived in New York, he immediately talked about disarmament but gave no means of how to do it. i.
Later, at Camp David, talks did show upward signs, as the Soviet premier said that his ultimatum for the evacuation of Berlin would be extended indefinitely.
3.
However, at the Paris conference, Khrushchev came in angry that the U.S. had flown a spy plane over Soviet territory (the plane had been shot down and
Eisenhower had taken personal responsibility), and tensions immediately tightened again.

VI.
Kennedy Challenges Nixon for the Presidency
1.
The Republicans chose Richard Nixon, gifted party leader to some, ruthless opportunist to others, in 1960 with Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. as his running mate; while
John F. Kennedy surprisingly won for the Democrats and had Lyndon B. Johnson as his running mate.
VII.
The Presidential Issues of 1960
1.
Kennedy was attacked because he was a Catholic presidential candidate, but defended himself and encouraged Catholics to vote for him, and if he lost votes from the South due to his religion, he got them back from the North due to the bitter Catholics there. i.
In four nationally televised debates, JFK held his own and looked more charismatic, perhaps helping him to win the election by a comfortable margin, becoming the youngest president elected (but not served) ever.
VIII.
An Old General Fades Away
1.
Eisenhower had his critics, but he was appreciated more and more for ending one war and keeping the
U.S. out of others.
2.
Even though the 1951-passed 22 nd Amendment had limited him to two terms as president, Ike displayed more vigor and controlled Congress more during his second term.
3.
In 1959, Alaska and Hawaii became the 49 th and 50 th states to join the Union.

4.
Perhaps Eisenhower’s greatest weakness was his ignorance of social problems of the time, preferring to smile them away rather than deal with them, even though he was no bigot.
IX.
Changing Economic Patterns
1.
The economy really sprouted during the 50s, and the invention of the transistor exploded the electronics

field, especially in computers, helping such companies as International Business Machines (IBM) expand and prosper.
2.
Aerospace industries progressed, as the Boeing company made the first passenger-jet airplane (adapted from the superbombers of the Strategic Air
Command), the 707.
3.
In 1956, “white-collar” workers outnumbered “blue collar” workers for the first time, meaning that the industrial era was passing on. i.
As this occurred, labor unions also labored, since most of their members were industrial workers. ii.
Women appeared more and more in the workplace, despite the stereotypical role of women as housewives that was being portrayed on TV shows such as “Ozzie and Harriet” and
“Leave It to Beaver.” a.
More than 40 million new jobs were created.
4.
Women’s expansion into the workplace shocked some, but really wasn’t surprising if one observed the trends in history, and now, they were both housewives and workers. i.
Betty Friedan’s 1963 book
was a best-seller and a classic of modern feminine protest literature.