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The Eisenhower Era . 1952-1960. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ike projected an image of a "non-political" president Immensely popular grandfather figure. McCarthy Hearings. McCarthy begins hearings into the existence of Communists in the Army George Marshall denounced. Army-McCarthy Hearings.
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The Eisenhower Era 1952-1960
Dwight D. Eisenhower • Ike projected an image of a "non-political" president • Immensely popular grandfather figure
McCarthy Hearings • McCarthy begins hearings into the existence of Communists in the Army • George Marshall denounced
Eisenhower allows McCarthy to dictate State Department personnel policy & does not condemn him • McCarthy later censured by the Senate -- many Asia experts will be fired as communist sympathizers
Eisenhower Republicanism • Eisenhower pledges a philosophy of “Dynamic Conservatism” • Balance the Federal budget & halt “creeping socialism”
Halted the growth of the TVA & condemned free polio vaccines as “socialized medicine” • Called a halt to massive military build-up
Many New Deal programs were actually extended such as Social Security • 1954: Interstate Highway system • Eisenhower also called for its creation leading to increased suburbanization
Only 3 of his 8 years will see balanced budgets & he will incur the largest peacetime budget deficit until the Reagan administration
Economic troubles will lead to the Democrats regaining Congress in 1954 • 1955: CIO merged with the AFL to form the AFL-CIO
Civil Rights in the 1950s • Congress & President refused to move on civil rights • Earl Warren’s court took initiative
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954 • Case reversed the “separate but equal” doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson • Segregated schools are “inherently unequal”
Southern schools refused to desegregate putting up “massive resistance” • Eisenhower did not endorse the decision
Civil Rights Confrontations • Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56) • Dec 1955: Rosa Parks refuses to move to back of bus in Montgomery, AL • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. organizes bus boycott
Rosa Parks “Thank you Sister Rosa. You are the spark that started our freedom movement. Thank you sister Rosa Parks.” -Neville Bros.
Martin Luther King, Jr. • Leader for Black Civil Rights • End Jim Crow Laws • Promote integration • Increase voting rights • Bring about a true democracy • Rights deprived since Civil War
Little Rock Crisis (1957) • Gov. Orval Faubus mobilized the Arkansas National Guard to stop 9 black children from attending Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas • Eisenhower sent troops to escort the children
1957 Civil Rights Act set up a Civil Rights Commission to investigate civil rights violations
The Cold War Wanes • Armistice in Korea • Cease-fire declared at Panmunjom • Short of victory
March 1953: Stalin dies • 1955: Khrushchev gains power in USSR • Denounces Stalin & seeks peaceful coexistence De-Stalinization Program
Brinkmanship • Sec. of State John Foster Dulles vows to "roll back" Communism • Vows massive retaliation • Follows policy of “brinkmanship”
“New Look” Military • Called for more use of airforce & nuclear weapons • “More bang for the buck” would deter the spread of communism
Vietnam (1954) • French lose Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam to Communists under Ho Chi Minh • Geneva Conference divides country at 17th parallel
Elections fall through & US backs Ngo Dinh Diem in the south • US forms SEATO treaty • Domino Theory established • Military advisors sent over
Geneva Summit (1955) • Brinkmanship, West Germany in NATO, creation of the Warsaw Pact were leading to increases in tension • Eisenhower sought direct discussion with Soviets • Soviets agree to withdraw from Austria
Warsaw Pact (1955) • U. S. S. R. • Albania • Bulgaria • Czechoslovakia • East Germany • Hungary • Poland • Rumania
Hungarian Revolt (1956) • Demonstration in Hungary leads to open revolt • Soviets invade & crush rebellion • American lack of reaction points out the problems with the “New Look” military
Suez Crisis (1956) • Israel, France, & Britain invade Egypt to take back canal • US denounces attack • Soviets side with US • Egypt given canal
Election of 1956 • Democrats returned to Adlai Stevenson who attacked “Ike,” his conservatism, & the dubious moral character of “Tricky Dick” Nixon
Republicans re-nominate Eisenhower & Nixon • Leadership of president overrides concerns of poor health (heart attack & abdominal surgery) • Ike wins 457 - 73
Ike’s Second Term • 1959: John Foster Dulles dies of cancer • Presidential assistant Sherman Adams resigns in scandal • Eisenhower begins taking a more active role in last 2 years
Teamster Troubles • Senates investigates corruption in Jimmy Hoffa’s Teamsters Union • Teamsters expelled from AFL-CIO • 1959: Passes the Landrum-Griffin Act to end corruption in unions
The Space Race • Oct. 1957: Soviets launch Sputnik satellite • Eisenhower declares the little basketball should not cause “one iota” of concern • It does!! • “Space Race” begins
The Space Race Race to Beat the Russians
Effects of Sputnik on the US • Worries emerge over a “missile gap” • First American attempts to launch missiles end in disaster - “Kaputniks” • 1958: Explorer I launched
National Defense & Education Act • Loans to students & spending on science education • 1958: NASA established
Other Effects of Sputnik on the US • Atomic Anxieties: • “Duck-and-Cover Generation” • Atomic Testing: • Between July 16, 1945 and Sept. 23, 1992, the United States conducted 1,054 official nuclear tests, most of them at the Nevada Test Site. Americans began building underground bomb shelters and cities had underground fallout shelters.
Eisenhower Doctrine • 1957: Congress agrees that US will send troops to Middle East to halt communist aggression • 1958: US sends troops to Lebanon to keep peace in Civil War
Berlin Crisis (1958) • Soviets give 6 month deadline for western powers to leave Berlin • Eisenhower refuses to budge & Krushchev backs down
Dulles says “we looked Russia right in the eye & they blinked”
Goodwill Diplomacy • Eisenhower goes on “Goodwill Tour” of Europe, India, & later Latin America • Krushchev comes to America & meets Ike at Camp David
Paris Summit (1960) • Paris “Summit Conference” called for May • American U2 spy plane shot down over Russia on the eve of Paris Summit
U-2 Incident What’s so funny?