Dwight D. Eisenhower: Atoms for Peace Speech

About the Author

Dwight David Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, in 1890 and grew up in Abilene, Kansas. Throughout his life he exemplified the plainspoken midwestern values that marked his childhood. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and went on to a distinguished career in the military. During World War II he led the invasion of Normandy, France, in 1944 and was the supreme commander of Allied forces in Western Europe. He later became the first military commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Eisenhower was not affiliated with either major American political party, but a draft effort led him to enter the Republican presidential nomination campaign, and he won the 1952 election. Eisenhower thus became the first elected Republican chief executive since 1928 and the first president born in Texas, and he was the only career military officer elected president in the twentieth century. He was reelected by a large margin in 1956. Indeed, during his two terms, Eisenhower emerged as one of the most popular presidents of the century, in accord with his campaign slogan “I like Ike.” He presided over the maturation of the cold war and a period of domestic prosperity that was marked by rising consumer culture and the beginnings of the modern civil rights movement. Eisenhower died in Washington, D.C., on March 28, 1969.

Eisenhower's popularity transcended party politics, and he helped solidify the emerging bipartisan consensus on foreign policy that would mark U.S. politics for the remainder of the cold war. He ended the Korean War, and his tenure also marked the end of the era of political suspicion and fear fostered by Senator Joseph McCarthy in his crusade to root out Communists in the U.S. government. Eisenhower developed a new mode of national security, dubbed the “New Look,” using covert operations to achieve foreign policy goals, with notable interventions in Iran (1953) and Guatemala (1954). He increased the nation's reliance on nuclear weapons as a deterrent against the Soviet Union, including through the development of the hydrogen bomb, but concurrently launched the Atoms for Peace initiative, which led to the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Eisenhower adroitly managed the 1956 Suez crisis (following Egypt's decision to nationalize the Suez Canal) and then issued the Eisenhower Doctrine to counter Soviet influence in the Middle East in 1957, pledging U.S. economic and military assistance to nations facing Soviet aggression. He also further strengthened U.S.-European security ties. He continued military aid to France in Indochina and then was instrumental in the creation of non-Communist South Vietnam. Despite his security initiatives, the president was credited with reducing tensions with the Soviet Union. Eisenhower also oversaw the beginnings of the space race and dramatically bolstered funding for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The Eisenhower presidency was a period of expansive domestic economic growth. Personal incomes almost doubled during his eight years in office, and both inflation and unemployment remained low. Home ownership increased dramatically, and consumers enjoyed a range of new products. Eisenhower pursued moderate domestic and economic programs but also endeavored to maintain a balanced budget (with his administration achieving surpluses in three of the budget years). Although he was criticized by conservatives within his party, Eisenhower expanded Social Security and low-income housing, and his administration established the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The nation's modern interstate system was initiated during his tenure and was later named the “Eisenhower Interstate System” in his honor. Eisenhower had a mixed civil rights record, acting progressively on occasion. In 1957 he deployed the U.S. Army to integrate the high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, following the 1954 landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education. Further, he introduced the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts.

Eisenhower reshaped U.S. politics by moderating Republicans and moving the party to the center. This laid the foundation for the modern Grand Old Party. Eisenhower's popularity helped Republicans recapture both houses of Congress in 1954, but his appeal was mainly personal and failed to dramatically help the party in future elections, including his 1956 landslide victory, when Republicans were unable to regain control of Congress. Although he cultivated a reputation as a chief executive who delegated power and responsibility, Eisenhower was intimately involved in decision making and policy development. He maintained his personal popularity throughout his presidency, with approval ratings above 70 percent.