Chapter 37 Domestic Issues and Cold War in the 1950s
Goal How successfully did Eisenhower address Cold War fears?
Election of 1952 Dem Adlai Stevenson IL gov Rep - Dwight D. Eisenhower Popular WWII hero Running Mate: Richard Nixon Accused of taking gifts and doing special favors Checkers Speech
Nixon s Checkers Speech
I Like Ike Campagin Nixon attacked Dems for corruption, soft on Communism TV influence - Ike appeared in short, tightly-scripted TV spots Last minute said he would go to Korea personally to end war
Results: Eisenhower defeated Stevenson 442-89 -Ike s characteristics: sincere, fair, liked affection of people, wanted harmony more than justice, grandfatherly stability
President Dwight D. Eisenhower 1953-1961 Republican
Presidential Rankings: C-Span Survey, 2009 1. Abraham Lincoln 15. Bill Clinton 29. Zachary Taylor 2. Franklin Roosevelt 16. William McKinley 30. Benjamin Harrison 3. George Washington 17. John Adams 31. Martin Van Buren 4. Theodore Roosevelt 18. George H.W. Bush 32. Chester Arthur 5. Harry Truman 19. John Quincy Adams 33. Rutherford Hayes 6. John Kennedy 20. James Madison 34. Herbert Hoover 7. Thomas Jefferson 21. Grover Cleveland 35. John Tyler 8. Dwight Eisenhower 22. Gerald Ford 36. George W. Bush 9. Woodrow Wilson 23. Ulysses Grant 37. Millard Fillmore 10. Ronald Reagan 11. Lyndon Johnson 12. James Polk 13. Andrew Jackson 14. James Monroe 24. William Taft 25. Jimmy Carter 26. Calvin Coolidge 27. Richard Nixon 28. James Garfield 38. Warren Harding 39. William Harrison 40. Franklin Pierce 41. Andrew Johnson 42. James Buchanan
Korea End of Korean War - visited and threatened nukes = ceasefire in 1953
A New Look in Foreign Policy Sec of State John Foster Dulles not just stop but roll back communist gains, liberate captive people, balance budget w/ less military spending Contradictory goals?
A New Look in Foreign Policy Answer: policy of boldness Strategic Air Command airfleet of superbombers equipped with nuclear bombs More bang for the buck Army and navy takes backseat to nukes Paralyzing impact at cheaper cost Ended up too rigid and too expensive
Massive Retaliation Any Soviet or Chinese aggression would be countered with a U.S. nuclear attack
John Foster Dulles Time Magazine Man of the Year, 1955
An H-bomb would wreak total destruction on an area 20 miles in diameter plus additional destruction and radiation well beyond the circle
Soviet development of the hydrogen bomb made massive retaliation less practical Both sides would lose in a thermonuclear war MAD became an important deterrent for nuclear war for the next four decades Brinksmanship: never backing down even if it meant going to brink of nuclear war -all prepare for nuclear war bomb shelters
Goal How successfully did Eisenhower address Cold War fears?
Source: U.S. News and World Report, May 27, 1955
Vietnam Cold War in Asia Ho Chi Minh (leader) fought to liberate Vietnam from French colonialism US supported self-determination, but changed as Vietnam becomes more communist during the Cold War By 1954 US taxpayers paying 80% of costs for French to stay ($1bil a year) French crumble under Viet Minh guerilla pressure - defeated at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 Dulles, Nixon, Chairman of Jt. Chiefs of Staff want American bombers to bail out French Ike holds back
Geneva Conference (1954) Geneva Accords Split Vietnam in ½ at 17 th parallel Ho Chi Minh agrees, Vietnam-wide elections in 2 years Pro-West govt in South under Ngo Dinh Diem Elections never held US didn t sign it but promised economic and military aid to Diem autocratic regime if they make social reforms
Vietnam in 1954 17 th Parallel (Saigon)
Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (from left) greet South Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem at Washington National Airport, May 8, 1957 Diem s failure to hold elections began a civil war in 1956
Warsaw Pact included all countries controlled by the Soviets behind the Iron Curtain Counter to NATO
Thaw in the Cold War? Nikita Khrushchev emerged after Stalin s death in 1953 Sought peaceful coexistence with the Western democracies Khrushchev set out to improve living conditions in the USSR Goal was to outcompete the West economically rather than resorting war to
USSR agreed to leave Austria in 1955 Geneva Summit, July 1955 First peace conference since 1945 U.S., U.S.S.R., Britain and France discussed European security and disarmament -- No concrete agreements reached, but optimistic 1956 Khurshchev denounced Stalin s actions
Hungarian Uprising, 1956 With the thaw, Eastern Bloc nations began to seek more freedom Soviets crushed uprising US says no to appeals for help Army and navy not ready due to nuclear buildup instead nuclear sledgehammer too heavy to use in a minor crisis Open Skies? Mutual inspection of US and SU Khrushchev says no!
Cold War in the Middle East Iran, 1953 -began resisting power of W. companies controlling oil -CIA engineered a coup in 1953 installed shah of Iran Mohammed Reza Pahlevi -left a bitter legacy of resentment Pahlevi became a repressive dictator
1979, the Iranian Revolution saw the overthrow of the Shah and capture of 50 U.S. hostages who were held for 444 days President Eisenhower and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Suez Crisis, 1956 Gamal Abdel Nasser president of Egypt in 1956 Needs funds to build Aswan Dam on Nile for irrigation and power GB and US offer $ - Nasser courts Soviets and recognizes communist China US withdraws offer Nasser nationalizes Suez Canal October 1956 GB, France, Israel attack Egypt US expected to get involved Ike says no UN has to come in to restore order
Crisis in the Suez Canal
Eisenhower Doctrine (1957) US military and economic aid to Middle Eastern nations threatened by communism In Egypt, the problem was nationalism, not communism
OPEC Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (1960) S. Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela control oil prices and wealth
The Continuing Cold War -1958 Scientists urge stopping nuclear tests polluting atmosphere March Soviets proclaim suspension, Oct US does Distrust and suspicion Lebanon (July, 1958) Egyptians and communists threaten Lebanon Asks for aid under Eisenhower Doctrine several 1000 troops sent and restored order w/o bloodshed
South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) Intended to be the NATO of Southeast Asia U.S. pledged to prevent communism in Vietnam & Taiwan U.S. sent military advisers to help South Vietnam
Domino Theory dictated U.S. policy in Southeast Asia -if one country in a region fell to communism, they all would -MUST get involved
Taiwan Strait Crisis China began shelling islands in Taiwan Strait controlled by Chiang Kai-shek (in Taiwan after Fall of China) China claims islands of Quemoy & Matsu Eisenhower sent US 7 th fleet to aid Taiwan
Cold War in Latin America Guatemala, 1954 -President Guzman had nationalized 500,000 acres belonging to the United Fruit Co. of Boston, showing strong communist sympathies -CIA supported coup to overthrow Guzman once he accepted arms from Soviet Union -World opinion condemned US role in coup Guatemalan leader Jacobo Árbenz Guzman
Guatemalan rebels, supported by the CIA, overthrew socialist leader Jacobo Árbenz Guzman in 1954.
Election of 1956 Rep - Dwight D. Eisenhower Health issues, but nation is prosperous Dem Adlai Stevenson -Platform Ike didn t govern, only golfed, fished, and hunted Votes: 457 to 73
Space Race Sputnik I & II - Soviet satellite launched on Oct 4, 1957 (184 pds, 1,120 pds with dog) Rattled US self-confidence If Soviets can launch heavy objects into space, they can fire intercontinental ballistic missiles Rocket fever in US National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) - $ billions to missile development Many failures, some televised Explorer 1 US satellite launched 1960 several satellites and tested own ICBMs Schools focused on math and science
The R-7 rocket carrying Sputnik
U.S. technological superiority now seemed over. Awake at Last, Edwin Marcus, 1957
The U.S. public demanded that the missile gap be eliminated What was That? Thomas Flannery, Baltimore Sun, 1957
National Defense Education Act, 1958 -$887 mil in loans to college students in grants to improve teaching science
Berlin Crisis, 1958 Khrushchev issued an ultimatum gave western powers 6 mo. to leave city refused Visitations eased Cold War conflict Nixon visits SU (1958) Kitchen Debate the virtues of consumerism are better than Soviet economic planning Khrushchev visits US (1959) Discussion of disarmament no plan in place Camp David Khrushchev takes back ultimatum
Eisenhower and Khrushchev at Camp David, 1959
U-2 incident -May 1960 US U-2 spy plane shot down over the USSR pilot taken hostage -Resulted in the worst U.S.-Soviet relations since the Stalin era Pilot Francis Gary Powers in Soviet custody A U-2 spy plane (similar to the one shot down)
-Incident occurred 10 days before the planned Paris Summit -Eisenhower admitted he authorized the flight but refused to apologize -Khrushchev called off the summit Wreckage of Francis Gary Powers U-2 spy plane
Castro in Cuba Fulgencio Batista ironfisted dictator of Cuba since 1930s 1959 Fidel Castro ousted Batista in revolution Denounced US imperialism, took US properties and pursued a land-distribution program Castro with Argentine revolutionary, Che Guevara, in 1961
Castro and revolutionaries during the 1959 revolution
US cut off sugar imports from Cuba Castro made his dictatorship a satellite of SU Anti-Castro Cubans headed for US (Florida) 1 mil between 1960-2000 US broke diplomatic relations and imposed a strict embargo on trade Invoke Monroe Doctrine to keep SU out? Khrushchev said Monroe Doc is dead If Cuba is attacked, SU will shower US with missiles
U.S. began plotting the overthrow of Castro Castro and Khrushchev in 1961
Eisenhower s Farewell Address (1961): warned Americans of the dangerous growth of the militaryindustrial complex
Legacy Admired for dignity, decency, good will, moderation More aggressive in last years vetoed 169 times No moral crusade for civil rights Despite being a general restraint in use of military power