Eisenhower's Democratic Program

Election of 1952.
Republican Nominee: Dwight D. Eisenhower.
GOP Grand Old Party: Nickname of Rep. Party.
Democratic Nominee: Adlai E. Stevenson.
Eisenhower won easily.

Eisenhower's Farm Problem

Farm Problem: Surplus Farm Production.
Eisenhower admin. Discouraged overproduction.
Soil Bank Paid farmers for not planting their crops.

Combating Communism at Home

Many believed that there was a strong communist conspiracy to take over the
U.S.
Truman - Issued an Executive Order to go after suspected communists.
FBI and Civil Service Commission checked the loyalty of all
Federal employees; many were dismissed.

Mccarthyism and its Demise

Senator Joseph McCarthy Felt Communists had taken over many govt.
positions.
Accused many individuals of Communist activities.
TV exposed and defeated McCarthy Influence rapidly declined.

Election of 1956
Rep. Nominee Ike
Demo. Nominee Stevenson
Eisenhower wins his second term easily.

Alaskan and Hawaiian Statehood

49th State- Alaska- Jan. 1959
50th State- Hawaii- Aug. 1959

Eisenhower and foreign affairs

 Brinkmanship
Eisenhowers Sec. Of State - John Foster Dulles
Dulles threatened massive retaliation against the Soviet Union or Communist
China if they attacked any country.
Brinkmanship Necessary to go to the brink of war to preserve the peace of
the world.

Crisis in Indochina
Following WWII Communist Ho Chi Minh liberated Vietnam.
The French tried to regain control and set up a puppet govt.

US Aid to the French

US aided the French because we felt they were helping us contain
Communism.
1950 US helped the French with money and arms.
1954 US paid for 80% of the cost of the war.

Dien Bien Phu

Communist Viet Minh troops had trapped a large French force.
Should the US assist the French? Decided against it.
French were defeated.

Geneva Agreement
Vietnam would be divided in two.
North: Communist;
South: A free govt.

S.E.A.T.O.
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
Special attention/support to Non-Communist nations an attempt to keep
Communism from spreading.

Hungarian Revolution, 1956

Hungarian people revolted against Communism.
Crushed by Soviet tanks and troops.
 US could not provide much help.

Eisenhower Doctrine
March 1957 US would help any Middle East country that requested aid to resist
military aggression from a Communist country.
Came about as a result of the Suez Crisis.

Sputnik and the Space Race

1. Rocket development became very important.
2. Operation Paperclip Project to rescue German rocket engineers from WWII.
3. Worked on rocket and space travel for the US.
4. Oct. 4, 1957 Russians sent up the first man-made earth satellite Sputnik
5. Feb. 1958 US launches its first satellite Explorer I Space Race is on!
6. 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Admin. (NASA)

Scheduled Summit Conference

U-2 Incident:
May 5, 1960 Soviet forces shot down an American U-2 spy plane.
Khrushchev demanded an apology; Ike refused.
Wreck of summit hopes:
The chance of a summit was now gone.

Rise of Castro in Cuba

1958 Forces led by Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban Govt.
Set up Communist Govt. supported by the Soviets.

Eisenhower steps down

Farewell address warned of a military-industrial complex.
He and others were concerned with the new relationship formed between the
military establishment and the defense industry.
Many did not see a lasting peace in future years, and feared spending on
defense.