Eisenhower- Domestic policy
Background:
1952 election:
● Popular candidate. Grandfatherly figure. General in ww2
- From 1942, he commanded the American forces in Europe
- War hero whom many trusted with national security
● In 1952, he feared US foreign and defence policy in hands of isolationist Republican Robert Taft or Democrat
Truman
● Poor background
Running mate:
● Senator of California, Nixon
● Strong anti-communist credentials- part of HUAC
● Good choice- relatively young, energetic campaigner
- Young vp complemented older president
● HOWEVER- Corruption - ‘tricky dicky’
● Political career almost ended in 1952. Accused of using £18,000 of political donations for personal use. Saved
career via tv address ‘checker’s speech’. Detailed financial speech, denied taking any gifts other than family dog.
● Liberal on civil rights
● Sometimes too aggressive with his views- attacked the Democrats
Campaign:
● Criticised Democrat failure at Yalta
● Said Truman had ‘lost’ China
● Criticised containment
● Promised he would go to Korea and, by implication, end the war
● 30 second TV advertisement with the slogan ‘I like Ike’
- Historian J.R. Greene (2017) argued that Eisenhower won the election largely due to his strong
personality and effective use of television to connect with voters.
● Ignored Stevenson
● Landslide victory
- Popular vote- 55% to 45%
- Took 5 southern states
● First republican in 20 years
● Republican congress again
Promises:
● Improved education
● Reduce inflation
● K1C2
● Ending Korean war, tackling corruption and communism
● Support of Taft Hartley act
● More interested in fpol than dpol
● Dynamic conservatism- conservative with money, liberal with people
- Liberal to people- minimum wage raised from 75 cents to 1 dollar/ hour (1955)
- Interstate highway system created.
- 1958 national defence education act gave low cost loans to college students and federal funds to improve
stem courses
- Conservative with money- wanted to balance budget, defence cuts,
John Foster Dulles:
● Secretary of state under eisenhower
Allen Dulles:
● Director of CIA (1953-61)
● Appointed as director by eisenhower
Civil rights:
Liberals in both parties thought Eisenhower’s preoccupation with balancing the federal budget cast doubts upon
his claim to be ‘liberal when it comes to people’.
The NAACP
● Formed 1909. Addressed by truman in 1947
● Biggest civil rights group. 600,000 members by 1946
, Montgomery Bus boycott 1955-56
● Seen as start of modern civil rights movement
● Causes- segregation and behaviour of white bus drivers
● 1955- black mother had 3 babies in the front seats to pay for fares Driver hit the accelerator and babies fell into
isle. The Montgomery black community had had enough .
● 1955- rosa parks arrested for refusing to give up bus seat for white man
● NAACP organised bus boycott that sought integrated buses and employment of black bus drivers, MLK chosen to
lead
● Lasted 381 days
● Dec 1956- boycott ends after supreme court decides to end segregation on public transport Browne v Gayle
ruling.
● Most of montgomery’s 50,000 black population participated. Black ridership drops by 90%
● White Montgomery's citizens council organised opposition to the boycott using intimidation and arrests. Attracted
some nationwide sympathy for black community.
● Boycotts demonstrated the potential power of a new mode of activism; mass direct action (large scale protest
movements). Confirmed economic threat of black boycotts.
● Major new black leader had emerged; Martin Luther King. 1957- established SCLC (Southern Christian
Leadership Committee) to continue fight against segregation.
● Eisenhower did not get involved. Shows reluctance to intervene with civil rights. Not liberal at all when it came to
african americans
● Ku Klux Klan sent 40 robbed, hooded members through Montogomery’s black community
- However, lost some of its impact
- Black residents stood at their doors to wave at them
- However, persisted in activities such as bombing of King’s motel room during birmingham campaign
Education
● Targeted by civil rights movements as it was easy to prove ‘separate but equal’ was not happening
● Over ½ states segregated schools by law
Brown vs Board of education (1954)
● Oliver brown’s daughter linda brown denied entrance to white school. Claimed black education inferior. Supported
by naacp and represented by thurgood marshall.
● New supreme court justice warren appointed by eisenhower. Liberal reformer. Decided on the desegregation of
schools with ‘all deliberate speed’. Separate but equal unconstitutional. Overturned plessy. Segregated schools
‘inherently unequal’
● Eisenhower regretted appointment- too far, too fast. Did not fully support decision and failed to speak out in
favour of courts ruling. Sympathised with southerners and under warren against decision.
● No deadline, didn't truly happen until 1964 civil rights act. Only stated ‘with all deliberate speed’. Supreme Courts
lack of enforcement powers meant implementation of the ruling varied
- Desegregation was introduced relatively gast in peripheral and urban south. 70% of schools in border
states desegregated within a year, eg Washington DC, Delaware and Kenrucky
- However schools remained segregated in deep south states of Georgia, South Caroline, Mississippi etc
● White backlash- strom thurmond, southern manifesto. Said SC overstepping powers). Signed by nearly every
congressman in deep south ‘a clear abuse of power’
● White Citizens councils were formed throughout the south to defend segregation and boasted roughly around
250,000 members by 1956.
● Missisissipi senator James Eastland claimed supreme court rulings like brown ‘aimed to destroy the sovereignty
of the states’
● Ku Klux Klan revitalised
- Armed white racist group
● Rosa Parks believed brown inspired African Americans to further activism
Little rock crisis (1957)
● South did all they could to resist the desegregation of schools
● Feb 1956- four Southern state legislatures passed interposition resolutions that said the brown ruling had no
effect in their state
● Conservative democrat governor Allan Shivers of Texas demonstrated his sympathy for white mob in Mansfield
● Sent law enforcement officers to defy court order on school desegregation and boasted ‘I defy the local
government’
● Eisenhower failed to use federal power in response to actions such as those of Shivers, until Little Rock
● Arkansas
Background:
1952 election:
● Popular candidate. Grandfatherly figure. General in ww2
- From 1942, he commanded the American forces in Europe
- War hero whom many trusted with national security
● In 1952, he feared US foreign and defence policy in hands of isolationist Republican Robert Taft or Democrat
Truman
● Poor background
Running mate:
● Senator of California, Nixon
● Strong anti-communist credentials- part of HUAC
● Good choice- relatively young, energetic campaigner
- Young vp complemented older president
● HOWEVER- Corruption - ‘tricky dicky’
● Political career almost ended in 1952. Accused of using £18,000 of political donations for personal use. Saved
career via tv address ‘checker’s speech’. Detailed financial speech, denied taking any gifts other than family dog.
● Liberal on civil rights
● Sometimes too aggressive with his views- attacked the Democrats
Campaign:
● Criticised Democrat failure at Yalta
● Said Truman had ‘lost’ China
● Criticised containment
● Promised he would go to Korea and, by implication, end the war
● 30 second TV advertisement with the slogan ‘I like Ike’
- Historian J.R. Greene (2017) argued that Eisenhower won the election largely due to his strong
personality and effective use of television to connect with voters.
● Ignored Stevenson
● Landslide victory
- Popular vote- 55% to 45%
- Took 5 southern states
● First republican in 20 years
● Republican congress again
Promises:
● Improved education
● Reduce inflation
● K1C2
● Ending Korean war, tackling corruption and communism
● Support of Taft Hartley act
● More interested in fpol than dpol
● Dynamic conservatism- conservative with money, liberal with people
- Liberal to people- minimum wage raised from 75 cents to 1 dollar/ hour (1955)
- Interstate highway system created.
- 1958 national defence education act gave low cost loans to college students and federal funds to improve
stem courses
- Conservative with money- wanted to balance budget, defence cuts,
John Foster Dulles:
● Secretary of state under eisenhower
Allen Dulles:
● Director of CIA (1953-61)
● Appointed as director by eisenhower
Civil rights:
Liberals in both parties thought Eisenhower’s preoccupation with balancing the federal budget cast doubts upon
his claim to be ‘liberal when it comes to people’.
The NAACP
● Formed 1909. Addressed by truman in 1947
● Biggest civil rights group. 600,000 members by 1946
, Montgomery Bus boycott 1955-56
● Seen as start of modern civil rights movement
● Causes- segregation and behaviour of white bus drivers
● 1955- black mother had 3 babies in the front seats to pay for fares Driver hit the accelerator and babies fell into
isle. The Montgomery black community had had enough .
● 1955- rosa parks arrested for refusing to give up bus seat for white man
● NAACP organised bus boycott that sought integrated buses and employment of black bus drivers, MLK chosen to
lead
● Lasted 381 days
● Dec 1956- boycott ends after supreme court decides to end segregation on public transport Browne v Gayle
ruling.
● Most of montgomery’s 50,000 black population participated. Black ridership drops by 90%
● White Montgomery's citizens council organised opposition to the boycott using intimidation and arrests. Attracted
some nationwide sympathy for black community.
● Boycotts demonstrated the potential power of a new mode of activism; mass direct action (large scale protest
movements). Confirmed economic threat of black boycotts.
● Major new black leader had emerged; Martin Luther King. 1957- established SCLC (Southern Christian
Leadership Committee) to continue fight against segregation.
● Eisenhower did not get involved. Shows reluctance to intervene with civil rights. Not liberal at all when it came to
african americans
● Ku Klux Klan sent 40 robbed, hooded members through Montogomery’s black community
- However, lost some of its impact
- Black residents stood at their doors to wave at them
- However, persisted in activities such as bombing of King’s motel room during birmingham campaign
Education
● Targeted by civil rights movements as it was easy to prove ‘separate but equal’ was not happening
● Over ½ states segregated schools by law
Brown vs Board of education (1954)
● Oliver brown’s daughter linda brown denied entrance to white school. Claimed black education inferior. Supported
by naacp and represented by thurgood marshall.
● New supreme court justice warren appointed by eisenhower. Liberal reformer. Decided on the desegregation of
schools with ‘all deliberate speed’. Separate but equal unconstitutional. Overturned plessy. Segregated schools
‘inherently unequal’
● Eisenhower regretted appointment- too far, too fast. Did not fully support decision and failed to speak out in
favour of courts ruling. Sympathised with southerners and under warren against decision.
● No deadline, didn't truly happen until 1964 civil rights act. Only stated ‘with all deliberate speed’. Supreme Courts
lack of enforcement powers meant implementation of the ruling varied
- Desegregation was introduced relatively gast in peripheral and urban south. 70% of schools in border
states desegregated within a year, eg Washington DC, Delaware and Kenrucky
- However schools remained segregated in deep south states of Georgia, South Caroline, Mississippi etc
● White backlash- strom thurmond, southern manifesto. Said SC overstepping powers). Signed by nearly every
congressman in deep south ‘a clear abuse of power’
● White Citizens councils were formed throughout the south to defend segregation and boasted roughly around
250,000 members by 1956.
● Missisissipi senator James Eastland claimed supreme court rulings like brown ‘aimed to destroy the sovereignty
of the states’
● Ku Klux Klan revitalised
- Armed white racist group
● Rosa Parks believed brown inspired African Americans to further activism
Little rock crisis (1957)
● South did all they could to resist the desegregation of schools
● Feb 1956- four Southern state legislatures passed interposition resolutions that said the brown ruling had no
effect in their state
● Conservative democrat governor Allan Shivers of Texas demonstrated his sympathy for white mob in Mansfield
● Sent law enforcement officers to defy court order on school desegregation and boasted ‘I defy the local
government’
● Eisenhower failed to use federal power in response to actions such as those of Shivers, until Little Rock
● Arkansas
