Chapter 13 Section 4: Eisenhower’s Policies

  1. Eisenhower’s New Look
  2. “More Bang for the Buck”
  3. Truman decided not to run for reelection at the end of 1952 because of criticism of foreign policy and uncertainty to win.
  4. Soviets had the Atomic bomb and China had fallen to communism.
  5. Democrats nominated Adlai Stevenson, governor of Illinois
  6. Republicans nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower, General who organized D-day invasion at Normandy.
  7. America voted for the War hero because they were looking for a leader they could trust.
  8. Eisenhower believed the key to victory was not military might but also a strong economy.
  9. Free enterprise produced a prosperous society and would prevent Communist support in the US.
  10. Understanding conventional war, Eisenhower knew the US could not afford a large-scale conventional war so he took a “New Look” at the defense policy.
  11. He cut the large and expensive army and invested in Nuclear weapons.
  12. He said it gave “more bang for the buck.”
  13. Massive Retaliation
  14. Korean War showed Eisenhower that the US could not contain communism by fighting a series of small wars.
  15. Small wars are unpopular and too expensive.
  16. Eisenhower proposed a new policy call ‘massive retaliation’ in which the US prevented Communist with Nuclear weapons if they tried to seize territories by force.
  17. He cut spending from $50 billion to $34 billion
  18. Increased the nuclear arsenal from 1,000 bombs in 1953 to 18,000 in 1961.
  19. The Sputnik Crisis
  20. In 1955, the air forced unveiled the huge B-52 bomber which could deliver these weapons and fly across continents.
  21. Eisenhower also began development of the intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) which could also deliver nuclear weapons from anywhere in the world.
  22. Submarines were also being built to house and launch nuclear weapons.
  23. During this time, The Soviets launched the Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth.
  24. It was believed that the US was falling behind the Russians and gave the USSR capabilities to launch from space.
  25. Following Sputnik, congress created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to coordinate research in rocket science and space exploration.
  26. Congress then passed the National Defense Act (NDEA), which provided funds for education and training in science, math, and foreign languages.
  27. Brinkmanship in Action
  28. Korean War Ends
  29. Many were worried that Eisenhower threatening nuclear war to maintain peace was a heavy gamble and criticized him for being to dangerous.
  30. Critics called this brinkmanship – the willingness to go to war to force the other side to back down.
  31. Eisenhower promised to end the Korean war and weeks after his election, on December 4, 1952, he went to Korea to talk about the cease fire.
  32. Eisenhower quietly threatened nuclear war to the Chinese so the Chinese accepted the armistice.
  33. They established the “demilitarized zone” (DMZ) separating North and South Korea.
  34. This was no victory, but communism was stopped from entering South Korea and American troops were stationed there to help Korea defend its borders.
  35. The Taiwan Crisis
  36. Fall of 1954, Chinese threatened to seize two of the islands Nationalist controlled besides Taiwan.
  37. China began shelling these islands so Eisenhower asked congress to authorize the use of force to defend Taiwan.
  38. Once again, Eisenhower told the Chinese that American naval forces would stop an invasion but also hinted of a nuclear attack to stop the invasion as well.
  39. Chinese was again backed down.
  40. The Suez Crisis
  41. Like in Asia, Eisenhower’s goals in the Middle East was to keep any nations from aligning with the Soviet Union.
  42. John Dulles, secretary of state, offered to help Egypt finance the construction of a dam on the Nile River if they did not accept support from the USSR.
  43. Congress found a problem when they discovered Egypt purchased weapons from Communist Czechoslovakia.
  44. Dulles then withdrew his offer.
  45. A week later, Egyptians seized control of the Suez Canal from the Anglo-French Company.
  46. Egyptians wanted to use the canal’s profits to pay for the dam promised by the US.
  47. In response, the British and French in October 1956 invaded Egypt.
  48. The Soviet Union threated rocket attacks on Britain and France and send troops to Egypt.
  49. Eisenhower then put American nuclear forces on alert.
  50. Under American pressure, Britain and France called off their invasion, the Soviet Union won a victory by supporting Egypt, and now other Arab nations began accepting Soviet aid.
  51. Fighting Communism Covertly
  52. Containment in Developing Nations
  53. Since brinkmanship could not work to stop revolution, he decided to use covert operations conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
  54. In developing nations, these nations looked to the Soviet Union as a model to industrialize rather than European/US because they blamed the West for Imperialism.
  55. One way to stop developing nations from moving into the communist sphere was to provide financial aid as seen in Egypt.
  56. When the threat was more severe, they used covert operations to overthrow anti-American leaders and replace them with pro-American leaders.
  57. Iran and Guatemala
  58. In 1953 Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh had nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and was ready to deal with the Soviets.
  59. Mossadegh moved against the pro-American Shah of Iran who was then exiled.
  60. Dulles sends agents to organize street riots and arrange a coup.
  61. Mossadegh was ousted and the Shah returned.
  62. 1951 Jacobo Arbenz Guzman won election as President of Guatemala with Communist support.
  63. His land reforms took over large estates including American owned United Fruit Company.
  64. May 1954 Communist Czech delivered arms to Guatemala.
  65. CIA responded by arming the Guatemalan opposition and training them in secret camps in Nicaragua and Honduras.
  66. CIA trained forces invaded Guatemala and Guzman left office.
  67. Uprising in Hungary
  68. New Leadership in the USSR
  69. With Stalin’s death in 1953, several high-ranking officials worked together as a joint leadership.
  70. By 1956 this joint leadership was dismantled and Nikita Khrushchev emerged as the leader of the USSR.
  71. Secretly, Khrushchev sent a message to soviet leaders attacking Stalin’s policies and insisted that there were many ways to build a Communist Society.
  72. This message was obtained by the CIA and they broadcasted it throughout Eastern Europe to undermine Communist rule.
  73. Hearing the message by Khrushchev, this lit a fuse in Hungary and other Eastern European nations.
  74. In June 1956, riots erupted in Eastern Europe.
  75. October 1956, a full scale uprising begun in Hungary
  76. Soon after the uprising, tanks rolled into Budapest and crushed the rebellion.
  77. Khrushchev later commented that he was willing to tolerate greater freedom in Eastern Europe but never meant an end to communism.
  78. Continuing Tensions
  79. New Cold War
  80. After the uprising, Khrushchev accused the West in starting a arms race and told the West than their “grandchildren will live under communism.”
  81. Late 1958, Khrushchev demanded the West to withdraw their troops from West Berlin.
  82. Dullies rejected this threat and said NATO would respond and hint of nuclear attack.
  83. Khrushchev backed down.
  84. To improve relations, Eisenhower hosted Khrushchev in 1959 and agreed to hold a summit in Paris in 1960 to have leaders from every county to discuss important issues.
  85. Shortly before this summit, the soviet shot down the American U-2 spy plan piloted by Francis Gary Powers.
  86. Eisenhower first stated it was a weather plan that strayed off course, but then Khrushchev showed the pilot to the world.
  87. Eisenhower refused to apologize stating that it was to protect American security.
  88. Khrushchev then broke up the summit.
  89. When leaving office in January 1961, Eisenhower spoke of a new relationship between military establishment and the defense industry and warned Americans to be on guard against the immense influence of this military industrial complex in a democracy.
  90. Although communism was contained and war was avoided, he admitted that lasting peace had not been obtained.