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Eisenhower's Presidency: 1953-61 :red_circle: - Coggle Diagram
Eisenhower's Presidency: 1953-61 :red_circle:
Background
Grew up in small midwestern town of abilene, where there was few taxes to pay for a fed gov that did little for americans- local authority took care of schools but not the sick poor or elderly.
Born to a very poor family
his family was conservative + most of his village of 4000 voted republican
Was a commander in world war 2
had an engaging smile + personality made him popular and helped him win the presidency
His VP was Nixon, who has strong anti-communist stance
Conservative voters liked his opposition to fed budget deficits, high taxes, gov bureaucracy and socialised medicine- gov funded medical care. Also said he would end Korean War
He won 55% of the popular vote
Overall, presidency changed dramatically= depended on personality and polices of each president + political enviroment
Dynamic conservatism and New deal Ideas
He believed in self sufficency; he did not approve of the New Deal but recognised it would be political suicide to dismantle it; he defined himself as a liberal or progresssive republican
He considered a balenced Budget essential to national security; he was horrified that defense expenditure rised by 300% in truman's 30 months
under him, social security benefits were increased and coverage extended to 10mil more americans in 1954 + the minium wage was raised from 75 cents to 1$p/hr in 1955
He introduced principle of direct fed aid to education, especially for subjects useful in the codl war like languages, maths and science. The interstate highway system was a larger scale public works program than anything Roosevelt did- millions were employed in the construction nationwide
Eisenhower's Presidential Leadership style
he believed in the dignity of the presidency suffered under truman and he wanted to restore it. He was charasmatic and knew how to dominate a room, expressed Good humour, magnetism and dependability.
wanted to bring greater dignity and civility to politics. He had a good relationship with leading congressional democrats like Lyndon Johnson. He used his VP Nixon to attack the democrats, but he monitored these attacks
He exercised unpresidented presidential power, he asked congress for a free hand to use military force to protect Taiwan from communist china; congress succeeded, override his authority to declare war
Had a dislike of fed gov interventionism and his focus on foreign policy to maintain peace and national security were less high profile than his domestic activism
Impact of war on domestic policies
The cold war increased the power of the presidency, dominated republican/democrat clashes, generated the red scare, caused US involment in hot war in Korea and affected american society and the economy
Eisenhower feared the impact of the cold and korean war on the fed budget- believed military expenditure under truman at $50bil per annum would lead to economic ruin
He considered McCarthy an embarrasment to the administration and correctly anticipated that McCarthy's extremism would loose him support. He denied McCarthy access to administration personel and records on national security grounds= rendered hearings meaningless and reduced McCarthy to blustering and bullying