34. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (I Got dem Eisenhower Blues)
Born: October 14, 1890, Denison, Texas
Died: March 28, 1969, Washington, DC
Term: January 20, 1953- January 20, 1961
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Richard Nixon
First Lady: Mamie Doud Eisenhower
Before the Presidency: Dwight Eisenhower grew up in a farming community in Kansas. His mother was a religious pacifist who opposed war making it interesting that young Dwight was considering a military career from a very young age.
He joined the West Point Academy in 1911 where he played football until a knee injury ended his career. Known as a prankster, he didn’t really distinguish himself and graduated in the middle of his class.
Eisenhower’s lot improved over the years though as he began to take things more seriously. After various stints at a number of camps, mostly as a Second Lieutenant, he met George Patton at Camp Meade, Maryland. He and Patton both wrote articles advocating better use of tanks as an alternative to trench warfare. The Army responded with a threat of a court-martial (How dare he question the Army?).
At least Eisenhower wasn’t alone. He was transferred to the Panama Canal Zone in the 1920s where he worked under General Fox Conner. Conner was impressed with Eisenhower’s critical thinking, and he agreed with Eisenhower that the Army wasn’t using its resources to the best of its ability. Conner mentored Eisenhower and arranged for his schooling at the General and Command Staff College in Leavenworth, Kansas. Eisenhower was a prankster no more, and he graduated number one in his class. He subsequently would work for famous Generals John Pershing and Douglas MacArthur.
The years with MacArthur were stormy to say the least. The junior Officer certainly had a different approach to things than MacArthur (he of the Bonus Army massacre). Indeed, though he opposed it, Eisenhower’s loyalty came first, and he helped implement the evacuation of the Bonus Marchers in 1932. Despite the bad taste in his mouth, Eisenhower would stay with MacArthur when he was transferred to the Philippines in 1935.
Eisenhower returned to the United States in 1939 just as World War II was breaking out in Europe. While training troops in Louisiana, Eisenhower’s strategic skills were noticed, and he earned a promotion to Brigadier General. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Eisenhower was transferred to Washington, DC, to work on war plans. Eisenhower caught the eye of General George Marshall, and the General was promoted yet again. By November 1942, he was commanding Allied troops in North Africa under Operation Torch. With more successes, Eisenhower was appointed as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe in 1943.
Eisenhower was well liked as Supreme Commander. He knew how to build coalitions within the Allied ranks, and it made for great leadership as the Allies successfully invaded Italy in particular.
Of course, General Eisenhower’s finest moment was the D-Day invasion of Normandy in 1944. It wasn’t an easy decision; poor weather was predicted for that day and, indeed, if you see the film clips, you can tell it was kind of a nasty day. Eisenhower, though, knew time was of the essence (the Germans knew they were coming; they just didn’t know where exactly). So, he simply said, “Okay, let’s go.” The rest, of course, is history.
After Germany surrendered, Eisenhower received a hero’s welcome all over Europe, and in Washington DC. He was, perhaps, the most celebrated person in America and was now on the same level as other historic Generals like Washington and Grant. Eisenhower was appointed Commander of US Occupation Forces in Germany. There he had to make some difficult decisions such as firing his friend, George Patton, for basically being politically incorrect (not that hiring former Nazis on your staff was exactly smart). He also had to send Soviet citizens in the US occupation zone back to the USSR, even those that didn’t want to go.
Eisenhower also wasn’t without his own opinions, especially when it came to military matters. He was against the use of the atomic bomb worried that it would tarnish the US image at a time when the image was at an all-time high.
Eisenhower returned to Washington as Chief of Staff of the Army. For the next two years, he prepared the Army for what would likely be a long cold war. Afterwards, he left the command to become President of Columbia University, only to return as Supreme Commander of NATO of Europe in 1951.
Of course, there was a lot of political interest in the immensely popular Eisenhower as well. President Truman wasn’t very popular as the 1948 election rolled around, and he tried to convince Eisenhower to run for President with Truman on the ticket. Eisenhower was no doubt flattered but he turned the offer down. He was a military man, after all, not a politician, in fact, he had never even voted. He also turned down offers from the Republicans as well.
Things would change in 1952 as the US was now mired in the Korean War and McCarthyism was now running amok. Truman wisely decided not to run again, but there had to be a voice that could steady the nation yet again.
Summary of offices held:
1915-1953: United States Army
1943-1945: Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (World War II)
1945: Military Governor, US Occupation Zone in Germany
1945-1948: Chief of Staff, US Army
1948-1953: President, Columbia University
1951-1952: Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
What was going on: The Cold war, Civil Rights movement, Elvis Presley and Rock n Roll, Army- McCarthy hearings, Suez Canal crisis, Interstate Highway system
Scandals within the administration: Richard Nixon Checkers speech, Sherman Adams scandal
Why he was a good President: He had a very calming influence. Even with the Cold War seemingly running amok, he had a way of letting people know things were going to be okay. He also started the space program, helped to enforce the civil rights legislation that existed at the time, and helped to keep the world safe for democracy. Most importantly, he was a very decent man.
Why he was a bad President: Yes, Eisenhower was a decent man, but he is also responsible for jacking up the nuclear arms race, supported less than noble means of influencing third world governments through the CIA, and avoiding the civil rights issue until he no longer could. Basically, when it came to foreign policy at least, Eisenhower was fairly secretive.
What could have saved his Presidency: A stronger Civil Rights platform. He could have been LBJ without the Vietnam War if he had played his cards right. He also should have kept his nose out of the Middle East and especially the Latin American countries.
What could have destroyed his Presidency: War with China over Formosa, Heavier involvement in Vietnam, the war that destroyed LBJ’s Presidency. If the nuclear arms race had proved disastrous.
Election of 1952: Both parties again tried to entice Eisenhower to run, and Eisenhower was now in a different state of mind. He was obviously being drafted and he realized he was being called to service again. But with what party?
Eisenhower, by now, was rather disappointed with Truman, particularly with the war in Korea. Eisenhower wanted to find a way out, so he ultimately went with the Republicans.
Of course, it was assumed that 1952 would be Robert Taft’s year as he came in as the frontrunner. However, Taft was an isolationist at a time when the Cold War was getting hot. Republicans, therefore, were looking for someone popular who would still be active in defending the world against Communism and especially the Soviet Union. And there was only one man that could fit the bill.
It was Henry Cabot Lodge who initiated the draft Eisenhower movement in the GOP and Eisenhower finally threw his in his hat in January 1952.
Eisenhower won the New Hampshire primary easily and it was obvious the Republican voters wanted him as well, but there were still few primaries (the first truly full blown primary season wouldn’t be until 1972) and it would ultimately be up to the delegates as to who they would go with, thus Taft still appeared the front runner.
But there were disputed delegates, and the Eisenhower camp was able to get them all. In the end, Eisenhower would win on the first ballot. Eisenhower would choose Senator Richard Nixon of California as his running mate (and boy are we going to have a field day with him in a few chapters). The young senator had already made his mark as an anti-Communist crusader and seemed like a good pick for the ticket.
With Truman out of the way, the Democrats went with the witty and articulate Adlai Stevenson of Illinois. By now, the Northern liberals were taking over the party and Stevenson’s liberal cred pushed all the right buttons. This figured to be an interesting contest.
In the end though, Stevenson never really had a chance. Eisenhower campaigned almost flawlessly, surviving even a mini- Nixon scandal (we’ll talk about that in his profile). He oozed assurance and voters truly felt comfortable with him. Stevenson, of course, wasn’t a bad guy either and is still considered as one of the great statesmen in history. But how do get out from under the unpopularity of Truman, who Eisenhower chose to attack rather than Stevenson?
So, in the end, Eisenhower won in a landslide and Adlai Stevenson would join William Jennings Bryan as one of the Democrats’ what ifs.
First term: President-Elect Eisenhower pledged to go to Korea during the election campaign and, indeed, he did go to Korea, even before he was inaugurated. Still, it didn’t look there was a clear way out and there were certainly still some hawks that thought the US could win this war.
But Eisenhower wanted out and he secretly muscled China with threats of invasion and the use of nuclear weapons. The Soviets also wanted to end the war and Stalin’s death strengthened their resolve even more.
So, Eisenhower got what Nixon never really did get with Vietnam, peace with honor. The two Koreas signed an armistice that more or less kept the borders the same as they had been before. It didn’t end tensions between the two countries (even today, they technically remain at a state of war), but they do have an uneasy peace and the American troops were able to come home.
The Red Scare was still front and center on the domestic front as Senator McCarthy was swinging wildly accusing everyone of being a Communist and scaring the average American to death. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, meanwhile, became a cause celebre as they were convicted of spying and sentenced to death. Many people thought they were innocent (Ethel actually was, Julius, not so much). When they were executed, the public outrage was quite evident.
As for McCarthy, Eisenhower, for the most part, stay tight lipped despite his utter disgust of the man. For political reasons, he had to hold his tongue during a campaign stop in Wisconsin when McCarthy trashed his friend, George Marshall. Later, as President, Eisenhower remained quiet as McCarthy’s popularity was reaching an all-time high.
Then came the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954. Now McCarthy was going after the United States Army; Eisenhower had enough. He instructed his staff to find information that would discredit McCarthy and it wasn’t hard to find. Another way to thwart McCarthy was to invoke Executive privilege so his aides wouldn’t be forced to testify in the McCarthy circus. And, while Eisenhower invoked it for all the right reasons, it would be abused by Presidents in the future, especially with Nixon and Trump.
Even with all the maneuverings in the Eisenhower White House, they weren’t able to take McCarthy down, nor was respected newsman Edward R. Murrow able to eliminate this great scourge. No, as it turned out, the man who took McCarthy down would be a somewhat meek older lawyer named Joseph A. Welch. After McCarthy accused one of Welch’s aides of having ties to a Communist organization. Welch was taken aback, but calmy responded with the famous words, “Have you no decency?” The Red Scare was over, and McCarthy was forever disgraced.
Now that people could live their lives with a booming economy and an increase in consumerism, Eisenhower could concentrate on other things. In 1953, he made what he thought might have been his biggest mistake when he appointed Earl Warren as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Warren, a Republican, would prove to be one of the most liberal justices in history, arguably even an activist, and it was he who authored and engineered the unanimous decision in Brown v Board of Education which declared the segregation of schools unconstitutional. That combined with the Montgomery Bus Boycott that launched Martin Luther King, Jr. into prominence sparked the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.
Eisenhower didn’t really have a problem with that decision (it would be future Warren decisions that would get his goat), but he would have likely preferred to have things go on as usual. Nevertheless, he would act when the time came.
Eisenhower’s forte, of course, was in foreign affairs and he had to deal with at least one major one when the Chinese Nationalists, led by Chang Kai-Shek, occupied the island of Formosa. Red China threated war over the island, and it would take a diplomatic tightrope (Eisenhower was willing to go to war as well) to prevent a full blown war from erupting. Formosa is now the independent nation of Taiwan and Red China still has designs on the island, only the threat of US intervention preventing the Chinese from an all-out attack.
On other matters, Eisenhower enhanced the power of covert tactics by the CIA and ramped up the production of nuclear weapons to deter would be attackers. He was a firm believer that it was preferable over conventional warfare as, by the nuclear bombs’ destructive nature, there would be fewer wars to begin with. It’s possible he would come to regret the nuclear arms race he helped to instigate later.
Health would become an issue for President Eisenhower as he would suffer the first of many heart attacks. He would survive, of course, but it did raise questions on whether he would run for a second term.
When he returned to the White House he also had to deal with another international crisis, this one involving Gamel Abdel Nasser of Egypt. He had a bit of a feud going with France, Britain, and Israel and he responded by closing the Suez Canal, an important waterway for trade through the Middle East. Israel responded by attacking the Sinai Peninsula. Eisenhower was furious as he though the attack would glorify Nasser. He urged the three nations to stand down and Nasser would eventually reopen the canal in 1957.
Eisenhower had one last domestic gem to introduce in his first term and it is probably the most important thing in his legacy. He had long been an advocate of an uninterrupted highway system that would make it easier to transport military equipment in times of war. With automobile travel being by now the easiest form of transportation, it made sense that the highway system could be used for civilian use as well.
So, on June 29, 1956, President Eisenhower signed the Federal Highway Act which created the vast Interstate System that we have today. Indeed, parts of Interstate 70 (which happens to start in Baltimore) is known as the Eisenhower Interstate Highway.
So, even though it was the not very eventful fifties for the average American, it was an eventful time for President Eisenhower.
And even more was yet to come.
Election of 1956: Because Eisenhower was very adept at keeping things behind the scenes, letting Americans enjoy their television and tv dinners and the like, he was an immensely popular President by 1956 and his re-election seemed be to a foregone conclusion.
Of course, after his heart attack in 1955, there was speculation that he wouldn’t even run again but he allayed the fears when he announced his intention to run in February 1956.
The real issue was then who would be Eisenhower’s running mate. Nixon proved very capable running things during Eisenhower’s convalescence, but he was also seen as partisan. Also, Eisenhower didn’t like him very much.
So, Eisenhower tried to tempt him to take a cabinet post. Nixon twice refused. Eisenhower wouldn’t dump him, however, as the party regulars liked him, so it would be Eisenhower-Nixon again at the August convention.
The Democrats knew they probably had a snowball’s chance in Hell, so they went with Adlai Stevenson again with the esteemed Senator Estes Kefauver as his running mate. Kefauver beat out a young Senator John Kennedy for the VP slot.
Just as in 1952, Stevenson never really had a chance. He did score points with the concern that Nixon could be President if something happened to Eisenhower. But he sealed his fate when he proposed a nuclear test ban, something Soviet Premier Bulganin supported. This gave Eisenhower and Nixon the opportunity to gang up on Stevenson in a nation terrified of the Soviets.
Of course, in the end, none of it really mattered of course as Eisenhower would win in another landslide.