President Eisenhower

Who was President Eisenhower?

Dwight D Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States.

When was Eisenhower president?

Eisenhower was President of the United States from 1953 until 1961.

What was President Eisenhower's background?

President Eisenhower's background included the following:

• ❖ Eisenhower was a member of the US armed forces throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
• ❖ He was a general in the army during the Second World War and was in charge of the D-Day landings in 1944.
• ❖ He became the supreme commander of NATO in December 1950.
• ❖ His war record helped him secure the presidency.

What were the key events of Eisenhower's presidency?

Some of the key events of Eisenhower's presidency included:

• ❖ In 1953 he helped negotiate an armistice that brought peace to Korea.
• ❖ He committed the USA to protecting South Vietnam from communism in 1953.
• ❖ He was in power during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by Rosa Parks, which lasted for 12 months between 1955 and 1956.
• ❖ In 1957 he signed the Civil Rights Act and set up a permanent Civil Rights Commission.

What were Eisenhower's beliefs about the Cold War?

Eisenhower was anti-communist and committed to the policy of containment. He articulated the concept of the 'Domino Theory'.

What uprising was Eisenhower involved in?

Eisenhower managed to increase tensions between the East and the West when he refused to send US troops to help the Hungarian Uprisings. This led to Eastern Bloc countries realising the West would not support them.

Did Eisenhower send a spy to the USSR?

In 1960, Khrushchev walked out of a meeting after Eisenhower refused to apologise for sending a U2 spy plane to spy on the Soviet Union.

What actions did Eisenhower take on civil rights?

Eisenhower took 3 key actions related to civil rights:

• ❖ He introduced the Civil Rights Act of 1957 that sought to ensure all African Americans could register to vote.
• ❖ Following the ruling in the case of Brown v Board of Education, Eisenhower did not want to use his powers to support the rapid desegregation of schools as he believed it should proceed slowly.
• ❖ He sent federal troops to Little Rock to protect the African American students and enforce integration.