IV.

Eisenhower as President

Although he had previously rejected numerous overtures from members of both parties to run for the presidency, Eisenhower yielded to the appeal of liberal Republicans in 1952. As a war hero of enormous popularity, he appealed to many Democrats as well, and he easily defeated Adlai Stevenson by more than 6.6 million votes. When he ran again in 1956, the margin was 9.5 million.

A.

Domestic Policy

Although his Cabinet featured prominent businessmen, and his own desire was for less government involvement in society and the economy, Eisenhower pursued a moderate course in domestic affairs to the evident satisfaction of most Americans. Throughout all but the first two years of his administration, his power was limited by the Democrats' control of Congress. He did trim some government activities but also expanded the Social Security programme, aid to education, and the Interstate Highway System, and in his farewell address, delivered a strong warning against the “military-industrial complex”—an industrial base grown too reliant on arms manufacture. During his administration, critics pointed out his failure to oppose the smear tactics of Senator Joseph McCarthy against alleged subversives in government and his lack of support for the emerging civil rights movement. McCarthyism soon collapsed without presidential intervention, however, and Eisenhower did send federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce school integration in 1957.

B.

Foreign Policy

As was natural for a man of his background, Eisenhower took particular interest in military and diplomatic affairs. This led him to invigorate the National Security Council, bring a quick end (July 27, 1953) to the stalemated Korean War, and reduce the strength of the conventional forces. His emphasis on airpower, then the means of delivering nuclear weapons—a strategy of massive retaliation rather than response tailored to the specific situation—evoked strongly dissent from army leaders. Despite temporary thaws, the cold war with the Soviet Union continued throughout his presidency. Eisenhower supported the strongly moralistic, anti-Communist stance of his secretary of state, John Foster Dulles. Although Dulles talked of “going to the brink” of war to gain diplomatic ends, his rhetoric outstripped the administration's actions. Eisenhower did not intervene militarily in Vietnam to save the French (1954) or in Eastern Europe to aid German and Hungarian revolts against Soviet domination (1953 and 1956). He did, however, despatch a small expedition to Lebanon in 1958, and he built up alliances with developing nations. Soviet threats, as well as such technological and psychological coups as the launching of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, in October 1957, drew a typically cautious response from him. In the spring of 1960, his acceptance of responsibility for a U-2 plane's spy flight over the USSR brought a temporary end to hopes for harmonious relations with the Soviet Union. In retirement, the former president wrote several volumes of memoirs and enjoyed his hobbies of golf and painting. Both presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson consulted the still popular elder statesman. He died on March 28, 1969, in Washington, D.C.