Eisenhower and Kennedy
Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy are often held up as
symbols of two radically different eras: the tranquil,
prosperous '50s and the tumultuous '60s. Nonetheless,
Kennedy himself was a product of the Eisenhower years and
his politics, when scrutinized, are not always as
progressive as the Kennedy Myth maintains. These notes
examine the domestic policies of Dwight D. Eisenhower and
John F. Kennedy as well as America's move away from the
politics of tranquility.
Some questions:
1) Why did America "like Ike?"
2) Compare and contrast the public image of Adlai
Stevenson and Harry S Truman.
3) What was "dynamic" about Eisenhower's
"conservatism?"
4) Who was a more "dynamic" president: Ike or JFK?
The Campaign of 1952
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969), known as "Ike," was
President of the United States from 1953-1961. During World
War II, he had been supreme commander of the Allied forces,
directing the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 and
overseeing the final defeat of the Nazis. He later
organized the military forces of NATO.
At war's end, Americans were weary of strife, war, economic
depression, and politics. Ike seemed untainted and his
popularity was so high, that in 1948, both the Democrats
and the Republicans wanted him for a presidential
candidate. At the time, he refused both offers, saying that
he did not find it appropriate for a general to involve
himself in the political arena. However, he changed his
mind in 1952, accepting the Republican nomination.
Eisenhower made opposition of U.S. military involvement in
Korea the center of his campaign, although he had supported
President Truman's decision to enter Korea. Eisenhower also
attacked the Truman administration for its soft stance on
Communism and its alleged corruption. He developed a
formula to describe his plan of action: K1C2. By this, Ike
indicated that he intended to take care of Korea first,
Communism and Corruption second. Eisenhower promised "I
shall go to Korea" and, although he never said what he
would do once he got there, it sounded like a sound plan to
the American public. If General Eisenhower promised to go
to Korea, the war would soon be over.
The Democratic party drafted Adlai E. Stevenson, governor
of Illinois, to run against Eisenhower in 1952 and again in
1956. Stevenson, a reluctant candidate, appealed to upper
crust intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals, but could not
compete with Ike's immense popularity. Eisenhower's broad
appeal was echoed in the simple slogan of his campaign
buttons and posters: "I Like Ike!"
Eisenhower's running mate was Senator Richard Nixon of
California. A scandal regarding Nixon's campaign fund
briefly threatened his candidacy. It was charged that a
millionaire's slush fund was being diverted to Nixon's
personal bank account. Nixon saved his place on the ticket
by making an impassioned televised speech. He denied
accepting any money under the table, but admitted that his
family had accepted two unsolicited gifts. His wife, Pat,
had been given a "plain Republican cloth coat," and his
daughter had accepted a black and white cocker spaniel
puppy she had named Checkers. Full of emotion, Nixon said
to the American people:
"I'm not going to break that little girl's heart by taking
away that dog."
Eisenhower defeated Stevenson easily in 1952, receiving
over 55% of the popular vote. It soon became clear that
Ike's view of the presidency was quite different from that
of his immediate predecessors. Ike didn't believe that the
President should be an agent of social reform, as had been
the case with the New Deal and the Fair Deal. When asked
why he wasn't sending more bills to Congress, Eisenhower
replied,
"I don't feel like I should nag them."
"Dynamic Conservatism"
Instead, Ike advertised his program as "Dynamic
Conservatism," also known as "modern Republicanism." By
dynamic conservatism, Eisenhower meant:
1. Budget cutting
2. Support of big business
3. Returning federal functions back to state and local
levels
Stated Ike:
"I will be a conservative when it comes to money matters
and a liberal when it comes to human beings."
Eisenhower's choice of cabinet members demonstrated his
support of big business. Eight of the nine members of
Eisenhower's cabinet were millionaire corporate executives.
Three men -- Charles E. Wilson, Arthur Summerfield, and
Douglas McKay -- had ties to General Motors, which prompted
Adlai Stevenson to say,
"The New Dealers have all left Washington to make way for
the car dealers."
Ike was a staunch opponent of deficit spending, and vetoed
the following legislation:
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Two public housing measures
Two anti-recession public works projects
Anti-pollution legislation
Area redevelopment proposal
To be fair, Eisenhower's term did see a rise in Social
Security coverage, a higher minimum wage, and expanded
unemployment insurance coverage. Although he desired to
balance the budget, there were four obstacles to
Eisenhower's attempts to reduce federal spending:
1. Growing demand for military and foreign aid
2. Negative effects on economy when reductions were made
3. Unacceptable political costs
As a result, the end of the Eisenhower administration saw
the highest peacetime deficit to that time. It had grown
from $266 billion in 1953 to $286 billion in 1959.
The Call for an Active Presidency
By 1959-1960, the final two years of Eisenhower's term, a
great debate was brewing in American society about the
present and future of the United States. This debate
centered around two major focal points: 1) America's
spiritual and cultural malaise and 2) Cold War politics.
Many looked forward to the 1960 presidential election as
the beginning of a new direction for America under new
leadership. As it turned out, both candidates -- Republican
Richard Nixon and Democrat John F. Kennedy -- were
identified with McCarthyism and the politics of
tranquility.
The 1960 campaign
Thanks to his experience in Congress and his eight years as
Eisenhower's vice president, Nixon was highly qualified to
be President, especially in the realm of foreign affairs.
However, he had a reputation as a hatchet man and a redbaiter from his role in the Alger Hiss trial. When Ike had
a heart attack in 1956 and people began to express
apprehension that Nixon was next in the chain of command,
the Republicans unveiled a "New Nixon." This "New Nixon,"
although slightly less menacing than the old version, still
exemplified the hollow man of a homogenized society.
On the other side of the aisle stood John F. Kennedy, who
seemed to many like a Democratic incarnation of Nixon.
Kennedy, then a senator from Massachusetts, had been the
lone Democrat to support Joe McCarthy when the Senate voted
to censure him. In another demonstration of questionable
ethics, Kennedy plagiarized the book Profiles in Courage,
merely rewriting and signing his name to a work which his
research assistants had written for him. Practically since
birth, JFK had been groomed to become President some day.
His father, Joe Kennedy, although striking it rich in
Hollywood, still felt shunned by elite society because his
family was Irish Catholic.
Religion did play a part in the campaign, if only briefly.
Before Kennedy, no U.S. President had been Roman Catholic.
The only other serious Catholic contender for the
presidency was Al Smith, who lost to Herbert Hoover in
1928. JFK managed to defuse the Catholic issue when he won
the Democratic presidential primary in West Virginia, a
largely Protestant state.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963)
Kennedy won the election, but only by a popular margin of
about 120,000. Once in office, Kennedy proposed his new
plan for America, which he dubbed the "New Frontier."
Overall, this New Frontier had three main points:
1. A more sophisticated sense of economics
2. An emphasis on social welfare programs
3. Cold War policies and the space program
Specifically, Kennedy had eight goals in his New Frontier,
most of which were defeated in Congress.
1. Increased federal aid for education. Defeated.
2. Medical care for the elderly. Defeated during the
Kennedy administration, but eventually enacted as Medicare
and Medicaid.
3. Increase in minimum wage. Passed.
4. Urban reforms. Modest success.
5. Civil rights. None. Despite the lingering myth that
JFK was a strong proponent of civil rights, his
administration saw no major civil rights legislation. It
was actually brother Robert Kennedy, JFK's attorney
general, who was passionately committed to civil rights.
JFK, afraid of losing the always tenuous support of
Southern Democrats, put civil rights on the back burner
once he was in office.
6. End to poverty. No.
7. Major tax cuts. Defeated.
8. Cold War goals. Yes, Kennedy's term saw both
increased expenditures on defense and money for the new
space program.
Kennedy proved to be a man of much rhetoric and little
action. Frequently appearing on television to promote the
New Frontier, Kennedy actually accomplished little in the
way of legislation. To his credit, Kennedy did demonstrate
growth in his understanding of economics. Having come to
the White House as a fiscal conservative, he grew to
understand the complexities of the economy. Kennedy and his
advisors dubbed his economic plans a "New Economics,"
although they weren't much different from Keynesian
economics. They advocated:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Moderate increase in federal spending
Trade Expansion Act
Stabilize interest rates
Major tax cuts
Unfortunately, these ideas were received either lukewarmly
or negatively in Congress and the American public. Many of
Kennedy's economic ideas were eventually proven true, but
only after his term in office, which was cut short on
November 22, 1963. The assassination of John F. Kennedy
caused a great many myths to spring up around the memory of
the President. One myth regards Kennedy's alleged devotion
to civil rights for black Americans.