LibGuides: G12: The Cold War and the Americas: US Foreign Policy:Eisenhower

From the Databases

Primary Sources

Excerpt: Chance for Peace address
Delivered befor ethe American Society of Newspaper Editoris, April 1953

Report from the PSB
The Psychological Strategy Board (PSB) was established by Presidential Directive on April 4, 1951 "to authorize and provide for the more effective planning, coordination, and conduct within the framework of approved national policies, of psychological operations.
"Policy of Boldness" Dulles' article for Life Magazine
John Foster Dulles served as Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Secretary of State from 1953 – 1959.

Foreign Policy

Eisenhower Doctrine
Under the Eisenhower Doctrine, a country could request American economic assistance and/or aid from U.S. military forces if it was being threatened by armed aggression from another state.
Eisenhower's Foreign Affairs
Eisenhower and the COld War
Eisenhower maitained a policy of robust containment—a measured willingness to use force and other means, to advance international goals, while at the same time protecting and strengthening the domestic base.
New Look Policy
The New Look evolved throughout 1953 and was geared to stave off an open-ended commitment of US forces worldwide, with an emphasis on nuclear deterrence.
"Open Skies" proposal at Geneva Summit
Eisenhower called on the United States and the Soviet Union to exchange maps showing the location of every military installation in their respective nations.
Containment vs. Rollback
Many wanted not only containment but rollback. That is, they wanted to roll back the advance of communism and reclaim as many nations as they could for the Western capitalist system.
How the US-Soviet Relationship Shaped Eisenhower’s Presidency
The goal was to “nourish resistance to communist oppression” and to “convince the free world, particularly Western Europe, that love of liberty and hatred of alien oppression are stronger behind the Iron Curtain than it has been dared to believe..."

Domestic Issues

Eisenhower: Domestic Affairs
Eisenhower favored a moderate course, one that he called Modern Republicanism, which preserved individual freedom and the market economy yet insured that government would provide necessary assistance to workers
Domestic Politics Under Eisenhower
The post-war years of 1950s America are typically described as being a period of economic prosperity and technological advances
Statement on Signing the 1957 Civil Rights Act
Eisenhower and McCarthy
Dwight Eisenhower found Joseph McCarthy's demagoguery reprehensible, but...
Eisenhower and the "Red Menace."
Ike was neither out of touch nor awed by McCarthy, for whom he felt a deep and abiding contempt. The President's refusal to engage McCarthy in 1953 may be attributed to several factors

Graphic History

Eisenhower and Kruschev,

In 1959, Eisenhower and Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev agreed to a September meeting in the United States to further discussions regarding a test ban and arms reductions.

Have a Care, Sir!

March 4, 1954. Reproduction from original drawing. Published in the Washington Post (33)

Throughout his political career, Dwight Eisenhower refused to take a public stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy's aggressive anti-communist campaign.

Strange Echo, 1953

Caption: President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” speech at the United Nations got a hostile reception from Moscow.

G12: The Cold War and the Americas: US Foreign Policy:Eisenhower