III. Eisenhower Republicanism at Home -- "dynamic conservatism"
     A. In effect, Ike maintained New Deal programs
        1. Social Security benefits extended and minimum wage raised to $1.00/hr
        2. Sought middle-of-the-road approach to gov't policy in the face of the New Deal, WWII,
            & Fair Deal.
        3. Interstate Highway system (1954) created modern interstate freeway system
            a. $27 billion plan built 42,000 miles of freeways.
                -- Countless jobs on construction speeded suburbanization of America.
            b. Federal gov’t paid 90% of cost and states 10%
            c. The railroad industry suffered significantly in the face of increased
                competition from automobiles and better transportation by airplane.
        4. Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare created in 1953 to oversee some
            of FDR’s New Deal programs.
    B. Strove to balance the federal budget; succeeded only 3 times in 8 years.
        1. Ike aimed to guard against "creeping socialism"
        2. Reduced defense spending down to 10% of GNP from 13%
        3. Eisenhower administration ttried unsuccessfully to reduce price supports
            to farmers but ended up spending more money than any previous sec. of agriculture.
        4. By 1959, Ike accrued the highest peacetime deficit in US History.
            -- 1954, Ike lowered tax rates for corporations & individuals with high incomes.
    C. Favored privatizing large government holdings
        1. Supported transfer of offshore oilfields from federal gov’t to states
        2. Encouraged private power companies to compete with TVA
    D. Labor Unions grow in power
        1. AFL and CIO merged in 1955 in the wake of unemployment jitters due to several
            business recessions in the 1950s: AFL-CIO
        2. AFL-CIO expelled Teamster union in late 1950s when high Teamster officials resorted
            to gangsterism to achieve their political ends.
            a. Jimmy Hoffa, head of the Teamsters, became one of the most powerful
                union bosses in U.S. history; influenced politicians with hard-ball tactics.
            b. Hoffa's ascension triggered the split of the Teamsters and the AFL-CIO
            c. Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959 (further buttressed the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947)
                i. Ike’s response to Jimmy Hoffa threatening to defeat for reelection any
                    Congressman who supported a tough labor bill.
                ii. Bill designed to clamp down on illegal financial activities by unions and to
                    prevent union strong-arm tactics by imposing penalties.
    E. Republican lost both houses in 1954 due to economic troubles at home.
    F. Alaska admitted as 49th state in 1958; Hawaii becomes 50th state in 1959

IV. Civil Rights during the 1950s -- NAACP achieves desegregation
    A. Eisenhower did not intend to be a "civil rights" president.
        -- Yet he was president during some of the most significant civil rights gains in U.S. history.
    B. 1940s -- NAACP began to attack "separate but equal" by suing segregated colleges and
        universities; African Americans gained entrance into Southern universities.
        -- Elementary and secondary schools remained segregated.
    C. Earl Warren appointed by Eisenhower as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in1953
        -- Although viewed as a conservative, Warren would become the most significant Chief
            Justice of the 20th century and lead most liberal court of the 20^th century.
    D. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954
        1. NAACP filed suit on behalf of Linda Brown, a black elementary school student.
            a. Topeka school board had denied Brown admission to an all-white school.
            b. Case reached Supreme Court in 1954
        2. Thurgood Marshallrepresented Linda Brown
            i. Charged that public school segregation violated the "equal protection"
                clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
            ii. Segregation deprived blacks an equal educational opportunity.
            iii. Separate could not be equal because segregation in itself lowered
                the morale and motivation of black students.
        3. Chief Justice Earl Warren persuaded fellow justices to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson.
            a. "Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. It has no place in public
                education.
            b. One year later, Court ordered school integration "with all deliberate speed."
    C. Response to Brown v. Board of Education
        1. Southern officials considered ruling a threat to state and local authority.
            a. Eisenhower felt gov’t should not try to force segregation.
                -- Called appointment of Warren "my biggest mistake."
            b. 80% of southern whites opposed Brown decision.
            c. Some white students, encouraged by parents, refused to attend integrated
                schools.
            d. KKK reemerged in a much more violent incarnation than in 1920s.
        2. Southern state legislatures passed more than 450 laws and resolutions
            aimed at preventing enforcement of Brown decision.
            a. "Massive Resistance" -- 1956, Virginia state legislature passed a massive
                resistance measure cutting off state aid to desegregated schools.
            b. By 1962, only one-half of one percent of non-white school children in the South
                were in integrated schools.
        3. Crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957
            a. Gov. Orval Faubus ordered National Guard to surround Central High School to
                prevent nine black students ("Little Rock Nine")from entering the school.
            b. Federal court ordered removal of National Guard and allowed students to enter.
                -- Riots erupted and forced Eisenhower to act.
            c. Eisenhower reluctantly ordered 1000 federal troops into Little Rock and nationalized
              the Arkansas National Guard, this time protecting students.
                -- First time since Reconstruction a president had sent federal troops into South to
                    enforce the Constitution.
            d. Next year, Little Rock public schools closed entirely.
                i. White attended private schools or outside city schools.
                ii. Most blacks had no school to attend.
            e. August 1959, Little Rock school board gave in to integration after
                another Supreme Court ruling.
    D. Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56)
         1. December 11, 1955, Rosa Parks arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, after refusing to
           give her bus seat to a white man; she was ordered to sit at the back of the bus.
            -- Found guilty and fined $14; over 150 others arrested and charged as well for
                boycotting buses during the following months.
        2. Immediate calls for boycott ensued; nearly 80% of bus users were African Americans.
            -- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, became a
             leader of the boycott; emerged as leader of civil rights movement.
        3. Montgomery bus boycott lasted nearly 400 days.
            a. King’s house was bombed.
            b. 88 other African American leaders were arrested and fined for conspiring to boycott.
        4. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on Montgomery buses was unconstitutional.
            -- On December 20, 1956, segregationists gave up.
    E. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
        1. Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) -- King president in Jan. 1957
        2. Nonviolent resistance
            a. King urged followers not to fight with authorities even if provoked.
            b. King’s nonviolent tactics similar to Mohandas Gandhi (both were inspired by
                Henry David Thoreau’s On Civil Disobedience)
                i. Use of moral arguments to changed minds of oppressors.
                ii. King linked nonviolence to Christianity: "Love one’s enemy."
            c. Sit-ins became effective new strategy of nonviolence.
                i. Students in universities and colleges all over U.S. vowed to integrate lunch counters,
                    hotels, and entertainment facilities.
                ii. Greensboro sit-in (Feb. 1960): First sit-in by 4 North Carolina college freshmen
                    at a Woolworth lunch counter for student being refused service.
                    -- After thousands participated in the sit-in merchants in Greensboro gave in 6
                        months later
                iii. A wave of sit-ins occurred throughout the country.
                    -- Targets were southern stores of national chains.
                iv. Variations of sit-ins emerged: "kneel-ins" for churches; "read-ins" in libraries;
                    "wade-ins" at beaches; "sleep-ins" in motel lobbies.
        3. Student movement
            a. Nonviolence of students provoked increasingly hostile actions from those
                who opposed them.
                -- Some blacks were beaten, and harassed by white teen-agers.
            b. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee created by SCLC to
                better organize the movement. (SNCC pronounced "snick")
                i. "Jail not Bail" became the popular slogan.
                ii. Students adopted civil disobedience when confronted with jail.
    F. End of "Massive Resistance"
        -- 1959, federal and state courts nullified Virginia laws which prevented state funds from
            going to integrated schools.

V. Cold War Politics
    A. Sec. of State John Foster Dulles initiates new policy of massive retaliation
        1. Two major principals:
            a. Encourage liberation of the captive peoples in E. Europe by widespread use of political
              pressure and propaganda.
                -- Radio broadcasts to E. European countries by the Voice of America and Radio
                    Free Europe urged people to overthrow gov’t.
            b. Massive retaliation
                i. Soviet or Chinese aggression would be countered with nuclear weapons directly on
                    USSR and China.
                ii. Brinksmanship -- the art of never backing down from a crisis, even if it meant
                    pushing the nation to the brink of war.
        2. Rejects containment policy because it tolerated Soviet power where it already existed
            -- US foreign policy should be to destroy communism; communism was "immoral"
        3. US & USSR begin arms race to accumulate sophisticated nuclear arsenals.
            -- preemptive strike capabilities emphasized: destroy the other side before they can
                destroy you.
        4. Eisenhower was able to appear as a moderate when compared to Dulles.
            -- Dulles was a mechanism to deter Soviets while deflecting attention from Ike.
        5. Americans began preparing for the contingencies in case of nuclear war.
    B. "New Look Military"
        1. Eisenhower sought to reduce the military budget by scaling back the army and navy
            while building up an air fleet of superbombers with nuclear weapons.
        2. Nuclear force would cost less than huge conventional force -- "more bang for the
            buck."
            -- Nuclear force = "overkill"; US unable to respond to minor crisis (e.g. Hungary)
        3. In reality, military costs soared due to expensive aerial & atomic hardware.
        4. Eisenhower’s "Farewell Address" (1961) : warned Americans of the dangerous
           growth of the military-industrial-complex.
            a. Vast, interwoven military establishment and arms industry.
            b. Power was enormous (largely in National Security Council) and had potential to effect
                democracy itself.
            c. His own policies had nurtured its growth
            d. "In the councils of gov’t we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted
                influence...by the military-industrial-complex. The potential for the disastrous rise
                of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this
                combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.
    C. Vietnam
        1. Ho Chi Minh, a Communist, began fighting for the liberation of Indochina
            from French colonial rule days after the end of World War II.
        2. Communists defeated French at Dien Bien Phu in March 1954; last major outpost
            a. U.S. had given much aid to France to prevent communist expansion.
            b. Dulles wanted US bombers to aid French (use of nuclear weapons)
            c. Eisenhower refused fearing British non-support
        3. Multinational conference at Geneva split Vietnam in half at the 17th parallel.
            a. Ho Chin Minh accepted based on assurance that Vietnam-wide elections
                would occur within two years.
            b. In the south, pro-western gov't under Ngo Dinh Diem took control in
                Saigon.
        4. Diem’s failure to hold elections seriously divided the country.
            a. Communist guerrillas in the south increased campaign against Diem.
            b. China continued to support North Vietnam
        5. Dulles created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in order to
           prop up Diem's regime; Britain & France included.
            a. Supposed to be a "NATO" in Southeast Asia.
                -- Only Philippine Republic, Thailand, and Pakistan signed in Sept. 1954
            b. US pledged to prevent communist expansion in Asia (Vietnam and China)
            c. Sent in military advisors to train S. Vietnamese forces
        6. Domino Theory -- If one country becomes communist, neighboring countries will also
           fall like dominoes (included Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, maybe India)
            -- This idea got U.S. involved in Vietnam War in 1960s
    D. Warsaw Pact
        1. West Germany welcomed into NATO in 1955 with half million troops
        2. 1955, Soviets sign Warsaw Pact in response new NATO strength in west.
            -- Countries include all the E. European satellite countries controlled by Moscow.
    E. Easing of the Cold War tensions occurred after Stalin’s death in 1953.
        1. After 2 year power struggle, Stalin is succeeded by Nikita Krushchev in 1955.
            a. New leadership offered opportunity to reduce tension.
                -- Publicly denounced bloody excesses of the Stalin regime
            b. Set out to improve living conditions in USSR
            c. "Peaceful coexistence" with the western democracies.
            d. Khrushchev hoped to impress nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America with
                superiority of communism as an economic system.
                -- To the West: "We will bury you" (economically)
            e. War between USSR & West now seen as unnecessary. -- Peaceful competition will
                demonstrate superiority of Soviet system
        2. U.S.S.R. agrees to leave Austria in May 1955.
        3. Eisenhower moves to relax tensions 4. Geneva Summit -- 1955 (July)
            a. US meets with USSR, Britain, & France to begin discussions on European security and
                disarmament.
                -- No agreements made
            b. USSR resists idea of reunited Germany, especially West’s ally.
            c. Both sides agreed to necessity of nuclear disarmament.
                -- US & USSR voluntarily suspend atmospheric testing in October, 1958
    F. Souring of relations occurred in the wake of Hungarian Uprising
        1. E. Europeans, inspired by Krushchev’s words, begin to seek more freedom in 1956.
            -- Polish workers riot against Soviets & gain greater control over own gov’t.
        2. Hungarian Uprising -- 1956
            a. Hungarian nationalists staged huge demonstrations demanding democracy and
                independence.
            b. Hungarians inspired by U.S. position to free people from communist control.
            c. Soviet tanks & soldiers quickly moved in to crush uprising.
                -- Americans never showed up; Ike didn't want a world war over Hungary.
            d. World watched as Budapest became a slaughterhouse
            e. US unable to help -- nuclear force too much "overkill"
                -- US-Soviet relations sour again.
            f. Many see Dulles’ "liberation" of E. Europe as impractical.
                i. Eisenhower unwilling to use "massive retaliation" over Hungary.
                ii. Proved Eisenhower was more moderate vis-à-vis the Cold War.
        3. Sputnik, 1957
            a. 1957, Soviets launch first ever unmanned artificial satellite in orbit.
            b. Americans are horrified at the thought of Soviet technology being capable of
              transporting nuclear weapons.
                i. Public demands "missile gap" be eliminated
                ii. America’s manned bombers still a powerful deterrent.
            c. National Defense Education Act (NDEA): Eisenhower orders rigorous education
              program to match Soviet technology.
                i. 1/3 of all University scientists & engineers went into full-time weapons research.
                ii. Special emphasis placed on math, science, & foreign languages.
            d. 1958, US successfully launches its satellite into orbit, Explorer I.
            e. 1958, NASA (National Aeronautics Space Agency) is launched by Ike
            f. US conducts massive arms buildup: more B-52’s, nuclear subs, short-range
                missiles in Europe.
        4. Krushchev issues ultimatum on Berlin in November 1958.
            a. Gave Western powers 6 months to vacate West Berlin.
            b. Eisenhower and Dulles refused to yield; world held its breath
            c. Visitations ease the conflict
                i. Vice president Nixon visited the Soviet Union in 1959 and entered the "Kitchen
                    Debates" with Khrushchev over which economic system was better.
                ii. Sept. of 1959, Krushchev makes two-week trip to US.
                iii. Ike and Khrushchev agree to hold summit next year
                iv. Krushchev states Berlin ultimatum extended indefinitely.
        5. U-2 Incident results in worst U.S.-Soviet relations since Stalin
            a. May 1, 1960 -- U-2 spy plane shot down deep in Soviet territory
                -- Pilot Francis Gary Powers captured by Soviets
            b. Incident occurred 10 days before planned Paris Summit.
            c. Eisenhower admits he authorized U-2 flights for national security.
            d. Ike suspends further flights but Krushchev demands an apology at Paris.
            e. Ike refuses and Krushchev angrily calls off Paris summit conference.

V. Other foreign policy challenges in the 1950s
    A. Middle East
        1. Iran
            a. CIA engineered coup in Iran in 1953 that installed the Shah as dictator
                i. Nationalist leader Moussadegh wanted foreign oil holdings turned
                    over to Iranian gov't.
                ii. US felt Moussadegh was dangerous to its interests
            b. In 1979, the Iranian Revolution overthrew the Shah and exacted revenge against the
                U.S. by holding 50 Americans hostage for 444 days.
        2. Suez Crisis
            a. Egypt -- Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes president (Arab nationalist)
                i. Opposed existence of Israel (U.S. had supported Israel’s creation in
                    1948, at the expense of the Palestinians)
                ii. Sought funding for Aswan Dam on upper Nile for irrigation & power.
                iii. U.S. agreed to led money to Egypt but refused to give arms.
            b. US withdrew its financial aid offer when Nasser seemed to court Russia and
                established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.
            c. Nasser seized & nationalized the Suez Canal that was owned mostly by British and
                French stockholders.
            d. October 1956, France, Britain & Israel attacked Egypt in an attempt to
               internationalize the canal.
                -- World seemed on brink of WWIII
            e. Eisenhower honored the UN charter's nonaggression commitment and reluctantly
                denounced the attack on Egypt
                -- Siding with the US, the Soviets threatened to send troops to Egypt
            f. Britain, France and Israel withdrew their troops and UN force was sent to keep order.
            g. Nasser gained control of Suez
                -- Britain & France Angry at US for siding against a NATO ally.
        3. Eisenhower Doctrine
            a. Empowered the president to extend economic and military aid to nations
              of the Middle East if threatened by a Communist controlled country.
            b. 1958, Marines entered Lebanon to promote political stability
                during a change of governments
    B. Quemoy & Matsu
        1. 1955, Chinese Communists began to shell tiny Nationalist island where Jiang Jieshi had
            committed 1/3 of his Taiwanese army.
            -- People’s Republic of China claimed the two tiny islands.
        2. Eisenhower received Congressional approval and sent the Seventh Fleet to aid Jiang.
        3. Dulles convinced Jiang to renounce force in regaining Chinese mainland and thus,
            quieted Communist fears.
    C. Cuba
        1. Prior to 1959, U.S. companies active in Cuba.
            a. Owned 90% of Cuban mines and 40% of Cuban sugar operations.
            b. Cuba had 2^nd highest standard of living in Latin America; among highest literacy
        2. Fidel Castrotakes control of Cuba, New Years Day, 1959
            a. Fulgencio Batista, an oppressive leader since 1951, fled.
            b. Castro visits U.S. but Ike refuses to see him (U.S. unsure if Castro is communist)
            c. Castro eventually consfiscated American-owned property.
            d. September 1959, Khrushchev decides to aid Cuba.
                -- Deterioriating Cuban relations with U.S. leads Castro to seek alliance with USSR
            e. U.S. began plotting against Castro
            f. July 9, 1960—Khrushchev publicly extends Soviet nuclear umbrella to Cuba.
                -- Krushchev proclaimed Monroe Doctrine was dead and stated he would shower
                    missiles on the U.S. if it attacked Cuba.
            g. Sept 1960—CIA opens talks with mafia to arrange a "hit" on Castro.
                i. U.S. breaks diplomatic relations in January, 1961
                ii. Castro encourages revolution in other parts of Latin America.
                    -- US now sees Castro as a serious threat to national security.
        3. U.S. persuades the Organization of American States (OAS) to condemn
            Communist infiltration into the Americas.
            -- In turn, Congress responded to Eisenhower’s recommendation for $500 million in aid
                for Latin America -- Latin American "Marshall Plan"
    D.  Overthrow of Guatemala : U.S. supported the overthrow of President Jacobo Arbenz
            Guzman in 1954 because he began accepting arms from the U.S.S.R.
          -- Vice President Nixon had to call off an eight nation good-will tour of Latin
              America after meeting hostile mobs in Venezuela and Peru in 1958.
XII. Eisenhower evaluated
    A. America incredibly prosperous during the Eisenhower years.
    B. As opposed to most "lame duck" presidents (esp. in light of 22nd Amendment), Eisenhower
        showed more skilled leadership during his last two years than at any time before.
        1. For six years, Democrats controlled Congress.
        2. Ike use the veto power 169 times and was overridden only twice.
   C. Public works projects revitalized certain areas of the country.
        1. St. Lawrence waterway project, constructed with Canada, turned cities in the Great
            Lakes into bustling seaports.
        2. Federal Highway Project created nations modern interstate freeways system.
    D. Eisenhower’s greatest failing (perhaps) was his anemic stance on civil rights.
    E. Exercised restraint in military affairs despite being a general
    F. Furthered the cause of the New Deal and Fair Deal in numerous ways and further
        imbedded them in American life.
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