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{{PresidentOfficeholder|imagename=Yte7567.jpgDwight Eisenhower|seqimage=34|term_start=January 20, 1953|term_end=January 20, 1961<ref>http://homeEisenhower by Stephens.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>jpg|party=[[Republican|vp=Richard Nixon|previous=Harry S. Truman|next=John F. Kennedy|birth_date=October 14, 1890|birth_place=Denison, Texas|death_date=March 28, 1969 |death_place=Washington, D.C.]]

General of the Army '''Dwight David ("Ike") Eisenhower''' (1890-1969) was a an esteemed career soldier who was the top Allied commander in Europe in [[World War II]], rose to the rank of [[Five Star General]] and who later served as the 34th [[President of the United States of America]]. (1953-1961).<ref>[http://www.history.army.mil/faq/faq-5star.htm "General of the Army," a peculiarly the highest American military rank, is a 5-star general, comparable in rank to field marshal; there have been only four five in history. ]</ref> He first commanded Allied (British and American) troops invading North Africa in 1942 and Italy 1943, then became the Supreme Allied Commander of the forces that invaded Normandy on [[D-Day]], June 6, 1944, and defeated the Germans in the West. As the great American hero of the war, both parties wanted him as a presidential candidate. He kept out of politics until 1952, but was increasing hostile to the liberalism and corruption of the [[Harry S. Truman|Truman Administration]]. In 1952 Ike argued for a vigorous [[anti-Communist]] foreign policy in defeating the isolationist Senator [[Robert A. Taft]] for the [[Republican Party|Republican nomination]] and was elected by a landslide. As president he followed conservative economic policies recommended by Taft, but continued what was left of the [[New Deal]] and expanded [[Social Security]]. In foreign policy he kept the containment policy in the [[Cold War]] and ended the [[Korean War]]. Eisenhower sponsored the [[Highway#U.S. Interstate Highway System|Interstate Highway System]], signed the first civil rights bill in 82 years, and promoted domestic policies known as "dynamic conservatism". He repeatedly warned against deficit spending but launched no great moral crusade, nor did he engage in an idealistic pursuit of some overriding national goal. Critics led by Democrat [[John F. Kennedy]] charged that Eisenhower was quite content to preside over a fat, happy, satisfied nation that devoted itself to the good life. Eisenhower largely ignored partisan politics, leaving that to his Vice President [[Richard Nixon]], who was defeated in 1960 by Kennedy when he tried to run on the achievements of the Eisenhower administration.

Eisenhower was born David Dwight Eisenhower in Denison, Texas, on Oct. 14, 1890 of Pennsylvania Dutch heritage. The name his parents gave him at that time was David Dwight Eisenhower - a name that wasn't switched to its more familiar form until the time of Eisenhower's enrollment at West Point. His father, David Jacob Eisenhower, was of Bavarian Mennonite descent; his mother, Ida Elizabeth (Stover) Eisenhower, was of Swiss descent. The families of both parents came to America prior to 1750. Three hundred "River Brethren," including his father, moved to farms in Kansas in the 1880s. His parents were college educated, but lost their inheritance and lived poor working class lives in Abilene (apart from a short stay in Texas where Ike was born). Ike maintained close ties with Abilene his entire life. There he grew up in an environment of strong family religious traditions; his father was distant, known only as a harsh disciplinarian, but his mother had a level of activism and a sparkle in her eye that Ike inherited. In the 1890s his parents left the Mennonites to join the [[Jehovah Witness]] religion, a highly controversial group because of its refusal to salute the flag. His mother was a leader of the Witnesses but Eisenhower was never a member.<ref>Gerald Bergman, "The Influence of Religion on President Eisenhower's Upbringing" ''Journal of American & Comparative Cultures'' (2000) 23(4): 89-107. Issn: 1537-4726 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]; As President Eisenhower was baptized into the Presbyterian church--the only president to be baptized while in office. [http://www.classroomhelp.com/lessons/Presidents/eisenhower.html see source]</ref> Eisenhower had six brothers; they all had successful careers. The oldest, Arthur, became a banker; Edgar a lawyer; Roy a pharmacist; Earl an electrical engineer; and Milton a [[New Deal]] official, became president the Johns Hopkins University and a close adviser to Ike.

After the war, Eisenhower reverted to the permanent rank of major--one major—one he was to hold for 16 years. In spring 1919, took part in the army's Transcontinental Convoy designed to demonstrate the need for better roads and a transcontinental highway system. The entourage left from Washington and followed a route that approximated the planned Lincoln Highway. The "truck train," as Ike called it, consisted of 81 military vehicles, 37 officers, several hundred enlisted personnel, and numerous civilian vehicles. The army vehicles included one small tank, which was the responsibility of Eisenhower and his friend, Major Sereno Brett. An estimated 3.5 million people viewed the convoy, which arrived in San Francisco in September. Among the lessons learned by the military was that they needed more durable vehicles and better maintenance procedures; it also gave him the idea for a national highway system that would facilitate troop movements.

After commanding several units in the fledgling Tank Corps, the Corps was disbanded and Eisenhower was told that his theorizing about the use of armor in future wars would jeopardize his career as an infantry officer, so he stopped. In 1922 he became executive officer of the 20th Infantry Brigade in the Panama Canal Zone, where he had many in-depth conversations with his first mentor General Fox Connor, an intellectual who had been a top aide to General [[John J. Pershing]]. Eisenhower recalled the experience as his "graduate school of military affairs." In 1924 Eisenhower graduated first in his class of 275 from the Army Command and General Staff School, a signal that he was among the half-dozen most promising young officers in the army. He also graduated from the Army War College. Assigned to Pershing's Battle Monuments Commission, he went to France twice and wrote a guidebook to the French battlefields, and added Pershing's mentorship. In late 1929 he was assigned to the office of the assistant secretary of war. He served three years in this critical position. A specialist on logistics and supply, he largely wrote the Army's "Industrial Mobilization Plan of 1930." (It was not, however, used when the war came.<ref> Kerry E. Irish, "Apt Pupil: Dwight Eisenhower and the 1930 Industrial Mobilization Plan" ''The Journal of Military History''70#1 (January 2006), pp. 31-61 in [[Project Muse]]- </ref>) Eisenhower moved up to the office of Chief of Staff, becoming an assistant to General [[Douglas MacArthur]], a mentor whom he greatly admired at the time. When MacArthur was sent to the Philippines in 1935, Eisenhower accompanied him as assistant. There Eisenhower helped create the Philippine Army, specializing in its air force. He earned pilot's wings and a lieutenant colonelcy.

After a survey trip to Britain, Eisenhower was appointed commander of U.S. troops in Europe. Now a lieutenant general with three stars, he took charge of "[[Operation Torch,]]" the Allied invasion of French North Africa. The landings there on November 8, 1942, met with merely temporary resistance from the French, and agreements with French Vichy leaders soon brought about Allied control of French North Africa. Eisenhower had been too cautious and landed too far west, which prolonged the campaign. After an unexpected defeat at Kasserine Pass, Eisenhower's forces crushed the Germans and Italians from the west while British General [[Bernard Montgomery]] mauled them from the east; the enemy surrendered in May 1943. Eisenhower next supervised the Allied invasion of Sicily (July, 1943), in which the enemy escaped with all their soldiers and supplies. Eisenhower then led the invasions of mainland Italy (September 1943), which quickly bogged down. Despite numerous strategic mistakes, Eisenhower was learning, and he was pushing the Germans back. He tended to run his command through committees and distanced himself from day-to-day decisions, delegating responsibility to subordinates and rarely interfering. His genius was in understanding how to make coalition warfare work in both the military and political spheres. Eisenhower proved adept at dealing with the British and French, while wary of a possible German counterattack through Spain (which never happened).

His tactical military successes, and especially his ability to lead and coordinate the efforts of all the Allied forces and to smooth over inter-Allied rivalries, led to Eisenhower's appointment in December 1943 as commander of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe (SHAEF). This was the command charged with leading the largest, climactic Allied push of the war--the war—the invasion of France. Marshall himself wanted the job, but President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] insisted on Eisenhower.<ref> FDR told Marshall he was essential at home, thus allowing Marshall to save face. FDR felt Eisenhower was the better planner and diplomat.</ref>

Eisenhower molded the giant force that on June 6, 1944, landed on the beaches of Normandy. Although meeting fierce German resistance, his command of the air meant the Germans were immobile and could not be resupplied. Eisenhower's the forces broke through at St. Lo (July 18, 1944), and landed also in southern France (August 15, 1944). The Germans rapidly retreated to Germany, many escaping through the Failaise Gap that the American field commander, General Omar Bradley, had failed to close. The liberation of Paris on August 25, 1944, seemed to herald a quick end to the war. But a German counterattack, called the "Battle of the Bulge" in the Ardennes in mid-December 1944, caught the Allies by complete surprise. This time bad weather grounded the Allied air forces, but the Germans were stunned to discover that Allied artillery used proximity fuzes that made its barrages much more effective. Eisenhower had fought the Pentagon to get those fuzes (which Washington feared would be reverse engineered by the Germans and so should not be used.) The Battle of the Bulge was won when the skies cleared, but cost 77,000 casualties, the highest toll in U.S. military history. Finally on March 6, 1945, the Allied forces crossed the Rhine. They cleared the Ruhr Valley region and reached and bridged the Elbe River. Eisenhower declined to advance on the political target of Berlin, because the casualties would be too high and the Soviets had been assigned that task. He instead focused on destroying Nazi forces in central and southern Germany. This decision was controversial, but led to a quick collapse of Nazi Germany, which surrendered on May 8, 1945.<ref>Donald E. Shepardson, “The Fall of Berlin and the Rise of a Myth” ''Journal of Military History'' (1998) 62(1): 135-153. Issn: 0899-3718 Fulltext: [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0899-3718(199801)62%3A1%3C135%3ATFOBAT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L in JSTOR] </ref>

[[Image:Eisenhower, Patton, Truman.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Eisenhower (left) with General [[George Patton]] and President Truman, 1945]]Following the breakthrough in France in August 1944 an argument broke out between the Eisenhower, and the Commanding General of the 21st British Army Group, General Sir [[Bernard L. Montgomery]]. Montgomery argued that a concentrated attack, which he would lead, on the northern line of advance was preferable to Eisenhower's two-pronged broad-front advance. When Eisenhower decided that as of 1 September 1944 he would assume command of the ground troops from Montgomery, the temporary ground forces commander, the debate widened to include command. Except for Operation MARKET-GARDEN, Eisenhower did not take seriously Montgomery's single-thrust proposals.<ref> Chester Wilmot's ''Struggle for Europe'' (1952) told Montgomery's side of the story but focused the debate narrowly on strategy, virtually excluding the arguments over command. Montgomery did not show Wilmot his papers concerning command, only strategy, so Wilmot wrote about what he knew. Politics influenced Churchill's history of the war, published in 1953, which omitted Churchill's reservations over Eisenhower's exercise of ground command, owing to the fact that Eisenhower was now President. See G. E. Patrick Murray, ''Eisenhower versus Montgomery: The Continuing Debate'' (1996)</ref>

Eisenhower entered the war ignorant of the intricacies of intelligence gathering; by 1944 he was a highly sophisticated and effective user of massive amounts of secret information from American and British sources. Throughout the European campaign he had almost as good a grasp of German order of battle as Hitler's staff, and sometimes better. He learned from Ultra and other deciphering of German messages; he was also informed by anti-Nazi Europeans outside Germany (although he did not have spies inside Germany). He relied too much on signal intelligence gathered by Ultra's monitoring German radio messages, and thereby was taken by surprise by the Battle of the Bulge, because the Germans used land lines for telephone and telegraph messages. Eisenhower became skilled in deceiving the Germans about Allied strength and possible landing sites. He pretended that the Normandy landing was a feint and that Pas de Calais and Norway were the real invasion sites, and the Germans bought the deception and misdirected their forces. Eisenhower used well the covert operations of the French Resistance.<ref>Stephen E. Ambrose, "Eisenhower and the Intelligence Community in World War II". ''Journal of Contemporary History'' (1981) 16(1): 153-166. Issn: 0022-0094 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-0094(198101)16%3A1%3C153%3AEATICI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M in Jstor] </ref>

After duty in charge of the American zone in Germany, and a tour as chief of staff of the Army (Nov. 1945- Feb 1948), Eisenhower retired from the service. His war memoir, ''Crusade in Europe'' (1948) was a financial and critical success. He became president of Columbia University in New York (1948-501948–50), but his heart was in world affairs, not academia.

[[Image:Eisenhower Nehru.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehru]] of India receives an honorary degree while Eisenhower was President of Columbia University]]The 1951 appointment of Eisenhower as NATO's first supreme allied commander, Europe (SACEUR) was crucial to the alliance's success. Eisenhower was the only individual with sufficient military and political stature to persuade Western Europe to rearm in the face of the Soviet threat. While not completely successful - NATO's combat strength did not reach the desired totals - Eisenhower spent 18 months visiting member countries and organizing available military forces. When he left NATO in 1952 to run for president, the organization was planning an ambitious expansion, including the entry of Greece and Turkey into the alliance and the rearming of the Federal Republic of Germany.<ref> See Bielakowski (2004)</ref>

Eisenhower was convinced that America's own security depended on its commitment to NATO. He was therefore outraged by the isolationism of the leader of the GOP in Congress, Ohio Senator [[Robert Taft]]. [[Image:I-like-ike.jpg|thumb|175px]] In February 1951, Eisenhower met privately with Taft, seeking the senator's assurance that he would support America's commitment to European collective security. Taft refused, and the die was cast for Eisenhower's entry into the 1952 presidential contest to stop Taft and guarantee an internationalist commitment. Numerous Republican politicians in the Northeast, led by New York Governor [[Tom Dewey]] and Massachusetts Senator [[Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.]], along with media leaders, urged Ike to run, and set up Ike Clubs that sounded a drumbeat of popular demand. Taft was adding delegates; he had about 450 of the 604 needed for the nomination, but Eisenhower delegates were also being elected in the primary, despite the leader's indecision. Finally, with his reorganization of NATO accomplished, Eisenhower entered the race in Abilene on June 4, intending, as he always did, to win. <Refref> Ambrose 1: ch 25-26</ref> He stood for internationalism in foreign affairs--basically affairs—basically a continuation of the Roosevelt-Truman policies. On domestic affairs he was conservative and pro-business, though he did not attack labor unions the way Taft did. Most of all he stood for new leadership and for a level of competence the nation had been missing for eight years. After ousting some Taft delegates the convention nominated Eisenhower, who chose young Senator [[Richard M. Nixon]] as his aggressive running mate. Eisenhower and Taft came to terms, and the GOP ran a united campaign.

Eisenhower crusaded against the multiple failures of the Truman administration at home and abroad, summed up as "Communism, Korea and Corruption." His campaign made heavy use of the catchy slogan "I Like Ike"; it became an animated TV commercial produced by [[Roy Disney]] and the Citizens for Eisenhower-Nixon .<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archive.org/details/Eisenhow1952|title=Internet archive, Eisenhower Campaign Spots|accessdate=2007-09-11|date=1952}}</ref>.

===Organizer===Journalists in the 1950s depicted Eisenhower as a laid-back "chairman of the board" who let his subordinates run the government. The opening of Eisenhower's papers surprised scholars, who discovered that behind the scenes Eisenhower was a hands-on leader. He ran the show in his White House, not Sherman Adams or John Foster Dulles. He was well informed, on top of the issues, and possessed of an impressively analytic mind and a formidable capacity for clear, incisive expression in literate prose that is worlds apart from his opaque press conference locutions. He emphatically was the engine of his presidency who watched details and made all the major decisions. As a consequence Eisenhower's ratings by historians and political scientists rose from 22nd place in the 1962 Schlesinger poll to 12th place in the 1981 David Porter poll to 9th in Steve Neal's 1996 poll.<ref> Fred I. Greenstein, "The Hidden-hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader. A 1994 Perspective." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' (1994) 24(2): 233-241; Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. "Rating the Presidents: Washington to Clinton." ''Political Science Quarterly'' 1997 112(2): 179-190. Issn: 0032-3195 Fulltext: [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0032-3195(199722)112%3A2%3C179%3ARTPWTC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4 in Jstor]</ref> Truman, bitterly unhappy with his own White House staff, joked that when Ike became president he would push a button and nothing will happen. Truman was wrong, for Eisenhower was the best organizer in the Army, and he redesigned the White House staff and the executive departments so he had clear control at all times, and brought on board talented senior staff to oversee the process, such as former New Hampshire governor Sherman Adams, his chief assistant from 1953 to 1958.<ref>Alfred D. Sander, ''Eisenhower's Executive Office'' (1999); Charles Walcott and Karen M. Hult, "White House Organization as a Problem of Governance: the Eisenhower System." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' (1994) 24(2): 327-339. Issn: 0360-4918</ref>===New Deal===Eisenhower did not have the votes in Congress to dismantle the New Deal. In general he did stop their expansion. He expanded [[Social Security]]coverage, allowing Republicans to claim some credit for a very popular program. ===Civil rights===Civil rights for blacks had appeared on the national agenda, but Eisenhower did not give enthusiastic support to the [[Warren Court]] decision in the Brown case in 1954 which outlawed school segregation. Eisenhower did approve a weak Civil Rights bill in 1957. When Governor Orval Faubus defied a federal court order regarding school integration in Little Rock in 1957, Eisenhower nationalized the state National Guard and sent in elite Army combat troops to enforce the court orders. Eisenhower successfully integrated the military during his first term (a process begun by Truman in 1948), and integrated the public schools in the District of Columbia.<ref>David A. Nichols, ''A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution'' (2007)</ref> Eisenhower tried to privatize federally provided electric power, which he viewed as inefficient and as a form of 'creeping socialism.' Eisenhower, however, had a difficult time dismantling public energy services due to the New Deal legacies of the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] (TVA) and the [[Rural Electrification Administration]] (REA), which provided cheap power to millions of people and had bipartisan support. Eisenhower did not completely destroy public energy utilities; rather, he contained them, limiting the geographical expansion and funding of the TVA and allowing private investors access to new sources of hydroelectric power, as well as the development of nuclear power.<ref>Wyatt Wells, "Public Power in the Eisenhower Administration" ''Journal of Policy History'' 2008 20(2): 227-262 in [[EBSCO]] </ref>

Republican Senator [[Joe McCarthy]] transformed the national discourse to a focus on internal treason by charging in 1950 that Roosevelt had allowed Soviet spies into the government (such as [[Alger Hiss]]), and that by protecting them Truman was guilty of "20 years of treason." When Eisenhower was elected McCarthy turned his attention to Eisenhower's administration and hinted at "21 years of treason." His main case was a reserve dentist who was recalled to active duty and promoted to major, even though he was a member of the Communist party. "Who promoted Major Peress??" he shouted. Eisenhower would not tolerate government employees who failed loyalty or security standards, but stressed his support for civil liberties and proper procedures. He succeeded in using behind-the-scenes tactics to undermine McCarthy, particularly after January 1954 when the senator took on the US Army. Eisenhower's shrewd plan included making political speeches about what his administration had done to remove Communists from the executive branch. Among other things, the president denied McCarthy access to certain White House documents, supported anti-McCarthy Republicans in the Senate, and publicly denounced McCarthy's methods without naming the senator. In October, 1954, the Senate censured McCarthy for bringing disgrace on that body, and he disappeared from the scene.<ref> Michael J. Birkner, "Eisenhower and the Red Menace." ''Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration'' (2001) 33(3): 196-207. Issn: 0033-1031 </ref> 

[[Image:Eisenhower family.jpeg|right|thumb|350px|Eisenhower, his wife Mamie, his son John and his daughter-in-law Barbara at the second inauguration in 1957]]Viewing the limited war in [[Korea ]] as a mistake, Eisenhower believed that American national security and containment of Communist expansion could best be achieved through nuclear deterrence and the utilization of other assets, such as negotiations, psychological warfare and economic aid. Eisenhower worried that excessive defense spending would weaken the economy in the long-run, and thus be counterproductive. His "New Look" strategy economized by cutting back on Army divisions (much to the chagrin of the soldiers), and emphasizing instead nuclear weapons, which gave "more bang for the buck."<ref>Saki Dockrill, "Dealing with Soviet Power and Influence: Eisenhower's Management of U.S. National Security." ''Diplomatic History'' (2000) 24(2): 345-352. Issn: 0145-2096 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]</ref>

Between 1953 and 1955 Army leaders, headed by Chief of Staff General [[Matthew B. Ridgway]], attempted to overturn Eisenhower's New Look. Ridgway believed that the new policies were militarily unsound and ultimately rendered military professionalism unnecessary by eliminating the political utility of force. Determined to salvage the military profession, Ridgway tried to undermine the [[credibility ]] of Eisenhower's policies. Eisenhower, however, had much greater military and political prestige and replaced him in 1955.<ref> A. J. Bacevich, "The Paradox of Professionalism: Eisenhower, Ridgway, and the Challenge to Civilian Control, 1953-1955" ''Journal of Military History'' (1997) 61(2): 303-333. Issn: 0899-3718 Fulltext: [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0899-3718(199704)61%3A2%3C303%3ATPOPER%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S in Jstor] </ref> Eisenhower likewise rejected criticism from his next Army chief of staff [[Maxwell Taylor]]. Taylor wanted more more money to achieve more flexibility, but Eisenhower got his way.<ref> Taylor retired and counterattacked, writing that Eisenhower's policy "offers no alternative other than reciprocal suicide or retreat in the face of the superiority of Soviet forces." [Taylor, ''The Uncertain Trumpet'' (1959) p. 137] President John F Kennedy greatly admired Taylor’s ideas and brought him back as chairman of the Joint Chiefs in 1962.</ref> Eisenhower had a triad of nuclear delivery systems (the B-52 bomber, submarines, and missiles), added an early warning radar system in Canada, and tried to add a civil defense system for cities in case deterrence failed, but the public was completely uninterested in his bomb shelters.

He strengthened the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the expense of the traditional service chiefs.<ref> Gerard Clarfield, ''Security and Solvency: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Shaping of the American Military Establishment.'' (1999)</ref>

Much of Eisenhower's energy in 1953-54 was devoted to defeating the "Bricker Amendment," a constitutional amendment proposed in 1951 by Republican Senator John W. Bricker of Ohio. It would restrict the president's role in entering into treaties, threatening both presidential authority and America's new internationalist role in foreign affairs. Eisenhower was annoyed that the core of legislative support came from within the Taft wing of the GOP. The Bricker Amendment grew out of opposition to the perceived threat of [[United Nations]] intervention into domestic social, economic, and political affairs - the UN's "global socialism." Through strong personal lobbying and rescinding support for human rights treaties, Eisenhower and his congressional allies narrowly defeated the Bricker Amendment, and this effectively eliminated the strength of isolationism in the postwar period.<ref>Cathal J. Nolan, "The Last Hurrah of Conservative Isolationism: Eisenhower, Congress, and the Bricker Amendment" ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1992 22(2): 337-349. </ref>

Concerned over Communist [[subversion]], Eisenhower created the '''Eisenhower Doctrine''' to support pro-Western Arab governments. At first the United States did not distinguish between Communism and radical Arab nationalism, perceiving Egyptian president [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] as linked to Soviet encroachment. The political situation grew complex as radicals challenged the Lebanese and Jordanian governments, and the ruler of Iraq was brutally overthrown. In 1958 Eisenhower sent Marines to Lebanon to support the government but balked at British plans for greater military intervention.<ref> Douglas Little, "His Finest Hour? Eisenhower, Lebanon, and the 1958 Middle East Crisis." ''Diplomatic History'' (1996) 20(1): 27-54. Issn: 0145-2096 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]</ref> Eisenhower and Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]] eventually focused their strategy by distinguishing between Communism and Arab nationalism. The United States was able to limit its goals, accommodate itself to Nasser, and display a greater flexibility than the Eisenhower Doctrine originally offered. At the same time relations with Israel were greatly strengthened, which annoyed America's Arab allies.<ref> Jeffrey M. Nadaner, "Strife among Friends and Foes: the 1958 Anglo-American Military Interventions in the Middle East." ''UCLA Historical Journal'' (1997) 17: 82-123. Issn: 0276-864x </ref>

====NicaraguaGuatemala====Scholars have spent a half century debating why the Eisenhower administration helped the Guatemalan army overthrow the Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán left-wing anti-American government in Guatemala in 1954. They have disagreed on the influence of the United Fruit Company, the potential role of Soviet influence, and the degree to which American officials simply misinterpreted social reform for Soviet backing. Newly declassified [[Central Intelligence Agency]] documents show the United Fruit Company played no major role, that Soviet influence was minimal, and that the Eisenhower administration did not need to be forced into the action by any lobby groups.<ref>Stephen M. Streeter, "Interpreting the 1954 U.S. Intervention in Guatemala: Realist, Revisionist, and Postrevisionist Perspectives." ''History Teacher'' (2000) 34(1): 61-74. Issn: 0018-2745 Fulltext: [[History Cooperative]] and [[http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0018-2745(200011)34%3A1%3C61%3AIT1UII%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T Jstor]</ref> Arbenz was elected without a secret ballot. He considered himself a communist and joined the [[Communist Party] ] in 1957. His land reform, designed by the Communist Party, was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, which he then purged. His regime openly praised Stalin, relied on the communists for key decisions, and received arms from the Sovietbloc.<ref>Piero Gleijeses, Shattered Hope: The Guatemalan Revolution and the United States, 1944-1954(Princeton University Press, 1991), pp84, 147, 145, 155, 181-2, a virtual hagiography of Arbenz.</ref>He killed hundreds of his opponents.<ref>“Antecedentes Inmediatos (1944-1961): El derrocamiento de Arbenz y la intervención militar de1954,” in Comisión para el Esclaracimiento Histórico (CEH), Guatemala: Memoria Del Silencio(Guatemala, 1999), Capítulo primero (findings of Guatemala's independent truth commission after the restoration of civilian rule and democracy)</ref> The CIA intervened because it feared that a communist dictatorship would become a Soviet beachhead in the Western Hemisphere.<ref>Nicholas Cullather, Secret History: The CIA’s Classified Account of its Operation in Guatemala,1952-1954 (Stanford University Press, 1999) pp24-7, based on the CIA archives</ref> The Truman administration began developing contingency plans to remove Arbenz in 1952, in the event that he became a threat to American interests in the region. In the face of widespread popular discontent in Guatemala and mass protests organized by the Catholic Church, the CIA used black propaganda to spread panic among the population. In the midst of a low-level internal civil war, the Eisenhower administration mobilized disaffected Guatemalan exiles to invade the country from neighboring [[Honduras]]. Arbenz, a fighter until the end, donned his colonel's uniform and prepared himself for war with the United States. Ultimately, however, there was very little fighting at all; the military failed to support Arbenz due to its own concerns over his perceived radicalism. The US-armed rebellion quickly took over the country, to the surprise of the CIA, which had expected much fiercer resistance. With the army promptly joining the revolt, Arbenz fled the country in a panic. He was allowed exile by the new regime. Vice-President [[Richard Nixon]] praised the new elections held by the military regime, declaring that Guatemala represented "the first time in history that a Communist government has ever been overthrown and replaced by a free one." However, Guatemala would be plagued with instability for decades. A series of military coups rocked the country, as Soviet and Cuban support for Communist violence caused bloody civil strife. After a 1982 coup, Guatemala was placed under a US arms embargo imposed on human rights grounds. A vicious genocide reminiscent of the mass killing of the Hmong in [[Laos]] was then carried out against the Mayan Indians, in which scores of thousands were massacred. [[Che Guevara]], an Argentine citizen living in Guatemala, was outraged by the coup. He vowed to fight for Marxist revolution elsewhere in Latin America. Arbenz, a disillusioned radical, moved initially to [[Mexico]] and then to [[Cuba]], where he celebrated the Castro "revolution" and cheered on Communist guerillas throughout the continent.

Eisenhower suffered a heart attack in 1955. In response he learned to control his hot temper, maintain his proper weight; stop smoking cigarettes; measure his blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels; manage anxiety, depression, and fear; and handle worry and stress. He learned to recognize skipped heart beats, too rapid pulses, and the need for the occasional use of nitroglycerin.<ref> Clarence G. Lasby, ''Eisenhower's Heart Attack: How Ike Beat Heart Disease and Held on to the Presidency.'' (1997)</ref>

At the beginning of the campaign, two-thirds of the voters approved of Eisenhower's performance in office. Eisenhower's high standing was based on peace and prosperity--securing prosperity—securing an armistice in the Korean War, meeting with Soviet leaders at Geneva in 1955 in the first East-West summit conference since 1945, avoiding war in Vietnam, and presiding over a robust economy and a complacent society. Eisenhower was eager to run on this record; his campaign slogan was "Peace, Prosperity, and Progress."

World crises erupted in the Suez and Hungary in the final days of the campaign. When Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, Britain, France, and Israel launched a coordinated, surprise military attack to seize the canal, without consulting Washington. Eisenhower insisted on a cease-fire that humiliated the British and French. Meanwhile , the Soviets sent 200,000 troops to break the Hungarian freedom movement. Eisenhower condemned the Soviet invasion, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. Stevenson, with scant experience in world affairs had no alternative policy, as the nation rallied behind the world leader in the White House.<ref> John Barlow Martin, ''Adlai Stevenson and the World'' (1977)</ref>

The surprise launch of Sputnik, the the first satellite around the earth by the Soviets in 1957 caused a major crisis and a rethinking of national goals in missile technology and science education generally. Eisenhower set up a civilian agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), to carry out a highly publicized program of space exploration that would counteract the Soviet success. Five interest groups pressed Eisenhower for more aggressive action: a loose federation of physicists and astronomers interested in advancing basic research; the Pentagon, which wanted to use NASA's scientific discoveries to understand Soviet threats; engineering corporations who foresaw a large aerospace industry; space flight enthusiasts eager to pursue exploration beyond atmosphere; and politicians who wanted to restore national prestige.<ref>Roger D. Launius, "Eisenhower, Sputnik, and the Creation of NASA." ''Prologue'' (1996) 28(2): 126-143. Issn: 0033-1031 </ref> It should be noted that Sputnik being launched first was due to a conscious decision on the part of Eisenhower earlier, as he worried that America launching a spy satellite first, due to it technically contradicting some aspects of international law, would result in several Soviet-orchestrated international protests in response.<ref>''The Politically Incorrect Guide to the 1960s'', pp 118-9.</ref> The Air Force reacted to Sputnik by developing a series of new bomber systems to keep pace with new missile systems, notably air-to-surface missiles, the B-52, and the B-70. Eisenhower vacillated on the B-70, and John F. Kennedy later canceled the program because it was technically questionable and too expensive.<ref>Peter J. Roman, "Strategic Bombers over the Missile Horizon, 1957-1963." ''Journal of Strategic Studies'' (1995) 18(1): 198-236. Issn: 0140-2390</ref>

Eisenhower proposed a federal highway system in 1955, but Congress rejected it because of financing issues. The multiple interests groups came together in 1956 to pass the Federal Interstate Defense Highway Act, also known as the National Highway Act.<ref> The "defense" part was essential to get funding. It provided for fast military movement and allowed the evacuation of cities after an attack or natural disaster. Mark H. Rose, ''Interstate: Express Highway Politics 1941-1956'' (1979) </ref> The federal government paid 90% of the cost, which was passed along to users as the new Highway Trust Fund collected new taxes on fuels, tires, and vehicles to achieve pay-as-you-go funding. The 42,000-mile interstate highway system, largely completed in 25 years, integrated the nation into a single transportation system. Truckers saved enormous amounts on fuel and travel time, which reduced shipping costs and led to large-scale productivity gains, while driving another nail in the railroad coffin. Passenger traffic soared, opening up new horizons for vacations and job searches, and new ways for extended families to come together. Much of the traffic was short-distance, as the interstates opened up the outer suburbs around all major cities. The U.S. already had the world's best road system; the interstates made another quantum leap in the most modern transportation system in the world. Eisenhower is given the credit for the Interstate Highway System.<ref>[http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/interstate.html see source]</ref>. 

Eisenhower's farewell address on 17 January 1961 warned the nation against depending on an economy that was based on a military-industrial complex. Written by political scientist Malcolm Moos with help from brother Milton Eisenhower, the speech echoed the president's conviction that wars must be made obsolete. While he believed that the Soviet threat was being exaggerated, President Eisenhower argued for sufficiency, not superiority. The "military [[Military-industrial complex]]" became a slogan used by the New Left in the 1960s to attack American capitalism, and became a standard ingredient of Soviet propaganda. Most Americans, however, ignored it.<ref>Douglas Brinkley, "Eisenhower the Dove." ''American Heritage'' (2001) 52(6): 58-63, 65. Issn: 0002-8738 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]] </ref>

Eisenhower's legacy was victory in wartime, prosperity and peace afterwards. He was totally committed to the [[Republicanism, U.S.|core republican values]] of civic duty and common sacrifice. Throughout the war he called for voluntary self-restraint and obedience to duty, which he called the first tenet of his religion. His apocalyptic view of World War II was based on a dualism that pitted the selfish against the selfless. He saw the war largely as a spiritual struggle within the Allied camp between these two forces. Civilians as well as soldiers were exhorted to sacrifice personal interests for the sake of total mobilization, which meant exercising the virtue of selflessness. He interpreted fascism as a manifestation of selfishness and social disorder. As a soldier, his legacy includes common sense, caution, exhaustive planning, collaboration with allies, superb diplomatic timing, avoidance of casualties, and respect for the common soldier. As president his legacy was moderation, a sense of inclusiveness, a rejection of fear and paranoia, dedication to selecting the best experts, a disdain for partisanship, a commitment to entrepreneurial freedom, an abhorrence for war, a love of democracy. and a long-term sense of national greatness. <ref>: Ira Chernus, "Eisenhower's Ideology in World War II," ''Armed Forces & Society'' (1997) 23(4): 595-613; Stephen E. Ambrose, "Eisenhower's Legacy," ''Prologue'' (1994) 26 (Special Issue): 160-167. ISSN: 0033-1031 </ref>

* Greenstein, Fred I. "Ronald Reagan. Another Hidden-Hand Ike?" ''PS: Political Science and Politics,'' Vol. 23, No. 1. (Mar., 1990), pp. 7-13&nbsp;7–13. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1049-0965%28199003%2923%3A1%3C7%3ARRAHI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0 in JSTOR]

* Stoler, Mark A. "Dwight D. Eisenhower: Architect of Victory" in Theodore A. Wilson, ed. ''D-Day 1944'' (1994), pp 298-317298–317

* Chernus, Ira. "Eisenhower's Ideology in World War II," ''Armed Forces & Society'' 1997 23(4): 595-613. Issn: 0095-327x Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]

* Stoler, Mark A. "Dwight D. Eisenhower: Architect of Victory" in Theodore A. Wilson, ed. ''D-Day 1944'' (1994), pp 298-317298–317

* Greenstein, Fred I. "Ronald Reagan. Another Hidden-Hand Ike?" ''PS: Political Science and Politics,'' Vol. 23, No. 1. (Mar., 1990), pp. 7-13&nbsp;7–13. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1049-0965%28199003%2923%3A1%3C7%3ARRAHI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0 in JSTOR]* Griffith, Robert. "Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Corporate Commonwealth" ''The American Historical Review'', Vol. 87, No. 1 (Feb., 1982), pp. 87-122 &nbsp;87–122 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-8762(198202)87%3A1%3C87%3ADDEATC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G in JSTOR]

* May, Ann Mari. "President Eisenhower, Economic Policy, and the 1960 Presidential Election." ''Journal of Economic History'' (1990) 50(2): 417-427. Issn: 0022-0507 Fulltext: [http://www.jstor.org.proxy.cc.uic.edu/view/00220507/di975691/97p02343/0 in Jstor]]

Journal of Cold War Studies'' 1#3 (1999), pp. 67-110 &nbsp;67–110 in [[Project Muse]]

* Brands, H. W. "The Age of Vulnerability: Eisenhower and the National Insecurity State." ''American Historical Review'' 1989 94(4): 963-989. Issn: 0002-8762 Fulltext: [http://www.jstor.org.proxy.cc.uic.edu/view/00028762/di957298/95p00067/0 in Jstor]]* Carter, Donald Alan, "Eisenhower Versus the Generals," ''The Journal of Military History'' 71 #4 (October 2007) pp 1169-12001169–1200.

* Coleman, David G. "Eisenhower and the Berlin Problem, 1953-1954," ''Journal of Cold War Studies'' 2#1 (2000), pp. 3-34 &nbsp;3–34 in [[Project Muse]]

* Marsh, Steve. "Continuity and Change: Reinterpreting the Policies of the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations toward Iran, 1950-1954," ''Journal of Cold War Studies'' 7#3 (2005), pp. 79-123 &nbsp;79–123 in [[Project Muse]]

** Johns, Andrew L. "Fighting Words," ''Reviews in American History'' 35#2 (2007) pp. 273-283 &nbsp;273–283 review of Tuda

===Primary Sources===

 ==See also =Notes=* [[Gallery of American Heroes]]* [[World War II]]* [[Anti-Communist]] == References ==<references{{reflist|2}} ==External links==* [https://librivox.org/author/>11301 Works by Dwight D. Eisenhower - text and free audio] - [[LibriVox]]

[[Category:Republican PartyRepublicans]]