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President
The Eisenhower
 Presidential
Era:
America Grows
Up and Paves the way to the 21st Century
For
eight years, from 1953 to 1961, Dwight David Eisenhower served as President
of the United States. They were an amazing eight years that gave birth
to a whole New World. Still, Americans identify Eisenhower and the period
of his presidency as a quiet era. We look back at the Fifties with nostalgia.
Ike was in the White House; Americans were content; and times were good.
Families saw the "USA in their Chevrolet"; they bought new homes
in the suburbs; there was money to spend on the newest appliances and
on fads like the hula-hoop.
In
fact, the Fifties were not so quiet. What we like to remember and what
actually occurred differ dramatically. International affairs--the "Cold
War"--sometimes threatened another global war. Race relations reached
a critical point. Technology advanced in ways not imagined a generation
earlier, and popular culture produced new--and sometimes disturbing--ideas.
The world inherited by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 was far different
than the world of 1953. In many ways, the Eisenhower Presidential Era
paved the way to a new future, a future that we currently experience,
and one in which issues and concerns formed during that Era will carry
on into the 21st century.
LIFESTYLE AND POPULAR
CULTURE
New
technologies radically altered American life in the 1950s. Virtually overnight,
20 million Americans owned televisions. The box in the living room entertained
and informed, but it also offered advertisers a new way to reach potential
customers. A new wave of aggressive mass media advertising began to emerge.
Undeniably, television altered everything from social relationships and
lifestyles to the way people thought about themselves.
More
family automobiles, television, and mass advertising also changed the
way people ate--and what they ate. Frozen TV dinners became the rage in
the late 1950s For those ready to "eat out," there were the
developing fast food chains of McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken, and
there were local drive-in hamburger stands. Eating in the car or on the
run began as a novelty, but quickly became a part of American life.
Rock
music, nearly unique in its long-term staying power, was born in the mid-1950s.
Some said that rock-n-roll "has got to go," but it was "here
to stay" when Sun Records released Elvis Presley's first record in
1954. A new type of musical star emerged, and adolescent culture had a
music that was entirely its own.
In
1954 another milestone appeared. For many it was a disturbing as the new
rock'n'roll. In that year, Jack Kerouac's On the Road was published,
striking a post-war counterculture chord. Its influence reverberated well
into later decades. Hollywood recognized the box-office potential of the
counterculture, and introduced a new kind of movie star. Marlon Brando
rode in on a motorcycle, ready to tear a town apart, and James Dean was
the "Rebel Without a Cause." There were other signals of social
change. Not all women of the Fifties were stay-at-home mothers and homemakers.
There were women who worked outside the home, either out of necessity
or from choice. Among the most visible was Oveta Culp Hobby, Eisenhower's
appointed Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. She was only the
second woman in American history to hold a cabinet post. Demographic change
was in the making, too, with the Baby Boom generation, those born in the
years after World War II. In fact, more Americans were born in 1957 than
in any year before or since. Signals of things to come occurred on other
fronts. In 1958, American Express and Bank Americard issued the first
credit cards, and American spending and saving habits underwent a drastic
change. Numerous innovations and inventions altered behavior and personal
values. One of the most influential was the "Pill."
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
During
the Eisenhower era, a future managed and driven by computers first seemed
possible. In 1956, IBM created the first hard disk drive, and Bell Labs
began to experiment with creating artificial intelligence and the "picture
phone"--you could not only talk to but also see the person on the
other end of the line. When Robert Noyce of Fairchild Industries and Jack
Kilby of Texas Instruments invented the microchip, the digitized future
became inevitable.
Much
of the science during the period focused on military capabilities and
space exploration. The Cold War got even colder when the Soviets launched
Sputnik, the first orbiting satellite, in 1957. In response, the
U.S. formed the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to ensure
that America maintain a lead in applying state-of-the-art technology to
its military capabilities. DARPA first developed and used what would become
today's Internet. In 1958, the US created NASA and launched its first
satellite. America's Space Age had arrived.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS AND THE COLD WAR
During
the Eisenhower Administrations there were signs of the trouble to come
in Vietnam. Eisenhower was unwilling to involve US troops in a ground
war on behalf of the French colonial power then fighting in Vietnam. A
few months after the 1954 battle at Dien Bien Phu, the Geneva Conference
partitioned Vietnam into North and South. Over the next six years, revolutionary
communists, the Vietcong, tried to overthrow the South Vietnamese government.
In December 1960, America's potential role in the regional conflict was
a prime topic of discussion between outgoing President Eisenhower and
incoming President Kennedy. The sequence of events over the next fifteen
years influenced decisions in foreign relations to this day.
The
critical international relationship that shaped the world after World
War II was between the United States and its World War II ally, the Soviet
Union. In 1953, the death of Joseph Stalin resulted in a power struggle
within the Kremlin. Nikita Khrushchev emerged as the leader of the U.S.S.R.
Relations were often strained between the world's superpowers. The Soviet
Union escalated tensions when it established the Warsaw Pact in 1955,
solidifying its political and military control over Eastern Europe. Both
superpowers felt the threat of nuclear weapons. In the US, the threat
led to greater military spending and preparedness at home. Some American
families built bomb shelters, and schoolchildren were instructed in what
to do in case of a nuclear attack. Eisenhower, wishing to improve relations
with the Soviet Union, invited Khrushchev to the United States in 1959,
and the seeds of what became known as détente were sown. The thaw
in the Cold War was temporary, however. Two weeks before a historic summit
in Paris, an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over Russia. Khrushchev
attended the summit, but stormed out dramatically. A planned meeting between
Eisenhower and Khrushchev in Moscow was canceled. In our own hemisphere,
Fidel Castro led a communist revolution in Cuba and became the country's
leader in 1959.
Fear
of war made it possible for Eisenhower to launch one of his most ambitious
programs in 1956--the Interstate Highway System. The largest public works
program in history, the system was designed to connect the nation and
to enhance the country's defense capabilities. Not so coincidentally,
this highway building went hand-in-hand with social changes of the 1950s.
America has a long history as a mobile society, and Americans love automobiles.
In the 1950s, more cars and more money allowed Americans to "hit
the road." Good highways simply made it easier.
One
result of US and Soviet tensions was the escalating hysteria of communism
and communists at home. Wisconsin's Republican Senator, Joseph McCarthy,
held hearing on alleged communist infiltration in the American military.
Allegations escalated to identifying communists in the movie industry,
in universities, and government agencies. McCarthy had his day in the
sun since the hearings were seen in million of American homes--thanks
to the power of television. The hearings produced groundless accusations,
lost reputations, and blacklisted professionals. Behind the scenes, Eisenhower,
his advisors, the military, and media fought back. Ultimately, Congress
formally censured McCarthy.
CIVIL RIGHTS
The
lives and futures of African-Americans in the United States changed substantially
during the Eisenhower era, foreshadowing the events of decades to come.
In 1954, the US Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision in Oliver
Brown et. al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, Shawnee Country, overturning
the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson's "separate but equal" ruling which
had legalized racial segregation. The next year, Rosa Parks refused to
give up her seat to a white man, and move to the back of the bus in Montgomery,
Alabama. Parks was arrested, sparking a yearlong bus boycott in Montgomery
organized by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1957, Congress passed
and the President signed the Civil Rights Act, the first significant civil
rights legislation since the post-Civil War era.
In
1957, Eisenhower faced a constitutional and political crisis when the
governor of Arkansas refused to protect black students entering Central
High School in Little Rock. Eisenhower, the former general, abhorred the
idea of sending US troops into an American city, but felt the rule of
law must be upheld; therefore, he made the decision to order in federal
troops to ensure that Central High school would be integrated.
On
the national level, Eisenhower brought African-Americans into high positions
of public service. J. Ernest Wilkins was named Assistant Secretary of
Labor in 1953, and E. Frederick Morrow, a lawyer with the NAAC, became
an administrative assistant in the executive offices of the President.
EIGHT YEARS THAT
CHANGED THE WORLD
Dwight
David Eisenhower's eight years in office was a definable period of undeniable
change in social relationships and expectations, foreign relation, economics,
and popular culture. Trends that began or accelerated during his presidency
shaped the nation's future and the American way of life.
Eisenhower
was much more than the smiling, affable man people saw on television or
read about in newspapers and magazines. Behind the public image, he was
a complex man with great skills as a leader, manager, and decision-maker.
If people choose to look back fondly to the Fifties today and sigh with
nostalgia for that simpler time, it might be said that Ike would have
wanted it that way. Discrete and understated, competent and confident,
his leadership defined an era of American history when Americans felt
their futures safe, secure, and prosperous.
A
Timeline of Major Events
1953
- Former General
Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as the 34th President of the United
States.
- The death of Soviet
leader Joseph Stalin creates a Kremlin power struggle.
- The US Department
of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) is created.
- Eisenhower delivers
his "Chance
for Peace" speech before the American Society of Newspaper
Editors.
- Hillary and Tenzing
become the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
- The armistice ending
the Korean War is signed, and the 38th parallel is established as the
boundary between North and South Korea.
- The "double
helix" of DNA is discovered by scientists Francis Crick and James
Watson, opening a new world of medical discoveries.
- Medical experiments
on mice link tobacco to cancer.
- 20 million American
households have television sets, an enormous increase from the fewer
than 1 million with TVs in 1949. The use of mass media marketing and
advertising explodes.
- Eisenhower presents
a major public statement on nuclear power in his "Atoms
for Peace" speech to the United Nations, proposing an international
atomic energy agency and peaceful development of nuclear energy.
- Wisconsin Republican
Senator Joseph McCarthy, chairman of the Senate Permanent Investigation
Subcommittee, conducts hearings on communist subversion in America and
investigates communist infiltration of the Armed Forces.
- Leftist government
of Premier Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran is ousted and replaced with a
regime loyal to Shah Pahlevi.
1954
- In Vietnam, an
early sign of the trouble to come occurs when French colonial rule is
threatened by rebels who take the French fort at Dien Bien Phu. At the
1954 Geneva Conference, Vietnam is divided into North and South.
- At an accelerating
rate, technology is changing the way Americans live. For the first time,
radio sets outnumber the circulation of daily newspapers. A wide range
of programming, including live sports events, is broadcast on network
television.
- Gamal Abdel Nasser
seizes power in Egypt.
- British runner
Roger Bannister breaks the four-minute mile.
- Nautilus,
the first atomic submarine, is built.
- In its unanimous
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, ruling, the US
Supreme Court finds that "separate but equal" pubic education
is unconstitutional.
- Senator Joseph
McCarthy's hearing into alleged Communism in the Army are televised.
With subtle direction from President Eisenhower, the Army fights back,
and McCarthy is formally censured by Congress.
- Sun Records releases
the first of many hits by a young singer named Elvis Presley, and rock'n'roll
is born.
1955
- The possible attack
by Chinese Communists on the Nationalist Chinese islands of Quemoy and
Matsu provokes a major crisis between the US and China. Eisenhower's
handling of the situation prompts the US media to coin the phrase "brinksmanship."
- Dr. Jonas Salk's
polio vaccine is approved for use. Just three years prior, more than
50,000 American had contracted the debilitating disease.
- In response to
the rearmament of Germany and its admission to NATO, the USSR establishes
the Warsaw Pact, further escalating tension between former World War
II allies.
- The movie Blackboard
Jungle is released with music by Bill Haley and His Comets, demonstrating
the growing influence of rock'n'roll music.
- Disneyland, America's
first theme park, opens in southern California.
- President Eisenhower
suffers a moderately severe heart attack.
- James Dean, the
moody young movie star who so quickly became a generational icon, dies
in an automobile accident. Along with Marlon Brando and Paul Newman,
Dean epitomized a new kind of Hollywood anti-hero.
- SEATO is established,
and the United States and Canada construct the first "Dew"
(Defense Early Warning) line.
- A new way for families
to dine out becomes the norm when businessman Ray Kroc buys a California
hamburger restaurant from the McDonald brothers and Harland Sanders
begins Kentucky Fried Chicken.
- The American Federation
of Labor merges with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, creating
a voice for labor of unprecedented power.
- Argentine President
Juan Perón is toppled by a military coup.
- Eisenhower attends
the Geneva Four Power Conference and submits his "Open Skies"
proposal allowing mutual air reconnaissance over military installations.
- In Montgomery,
Alabama, Rosa Parks refuses to move to the back of the bus. She becomes
a potent human symbol for the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement. In response
to this incident, a bus boycott is organized by the young Rev. Martin
Luther King in Montgomery.
1956
- The Interstate
Highway System is launched, becoming the largest public works program
in history.
- When the Suez Canal
is nationalized, Israel, Britain, and France invade Egypt, but are stymied
when their Cold War Ally, the United States, opposes the use of force.
- An anti-Communist
rebellion in Hungary is extinguished by the Soviet Union.
- An experimental
"picture phone" is tested by Bell Telephone.
- Fidel Castro ignites
a revolution against the Batista regime in Cuba.
- For the young,
rock'n'roll grows in popularity. Among the new wave of musical stars
are Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard.
- IBM produces the
first hard disk drive.
- Eisenhower is reelected
in a landslide vote over Adlai Stevenson.
1957
- The Civil Rights
Act, the first civil rights legislation since Civil War Reconstruction,
is passed.
- The Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC) is founded by Martin Luther King, Jr. and
60 others.
- The Bermuda Conference
is held with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillian.
- The International
Geophysical Year, a joint effort by scientists of 60 nations, begins.
- President Eisenhower
sends federal troops to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas,
to enforce the Supreme Court's ruling to desegregate pubic schools.
- The Committee for
a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE) calls for nuclear disarmament.
- On the Road
is published, making Jack Kerouac the first "beat" superstar.
Along with fellow writers Allen Ginsburg and William S. Burroughs, Kerouac
is both heralded and derided for inaugurating a new fiction genre that
will reverberate for generations.
- The Cold War gets
even colder when the Soviets launch Sputnik, the first orbiting
satellite. In response, President Eisenhower creates NASA within a year.
- In a church in
Liverpool, England, a teen-aged Paul McCartney is introduced to John
Lennon. Soon thereafter, the two are joined by George Harrison; "The
Beatles" are born.
- The Gold Coast
becomes Ghana, the first of Great Britain's African colonies to gain
independence.
- The Wolfender
Report, which supports the legalization of homosexuality, is published
in England.
- Berr Gordy founds
Motown, the Detroit music factory which produces scores of highly popular
records by Black American artists.
1958
- At the request
of President Camille Chamoun, President Eisenhower orders the US Marines
to Lebanon to prevent widespread civil conflict.
- The United States
establishes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
and launches its first satellite, Explorer I, into space.
- Nikita Khrushchev
becomes Prime Minister of the USSR.
- American Express
and the BankAmericard are born--and so is a new way for consumers to
buy . . . and accumulate personal debt.
- Charles de Gaulle
becomes the first president of France's new Fifth Republic.
- Van Cliburn wins
the Moscow Tchaikovsky piano competition.
- Arnold Palmer wins
his first Master's Tournament.
- The Beatnik movement
originates in California.
- President Eisenhower
signs the National Defense Education Act, providing loans for college
students and funds to encourage young people to enter teaching careers.
- Khrushchev indicates
that he plans to sign an early peace treaty with East Germany and he
calls on the western powers to withdraw their forces from West Berlin.
The Big Four meet to discuss Berlin and German reunification.
1959
- Fidel Castro's
communist guerilla forces overthrow the Batista regime in Cuba.
- At President Eisenhower's
invitation, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visits the United States.
- Alaska and Hawaii
become the 49th and 50th states.
- A 116-day steel
workers' strike is ended when President Eisenhower invokes the Taft-Hartley
Act.
- Little girls gain
a new playmate with the introduction of the Barbie® doll.
- When the Chinese
government suppresses a Tibetan revolt, the Dalai Lama escapes to India.
- Robert Noyce of
Fairchild Industries and Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments invent the
microchip. Bell Labs experiments with artificial intelligence, and scientists
develop the early Internet: a crude network of computers linking universities
and government agencies.
- Xerox manufactures
a plain paper copier.
- The St. Lawrence
Seaway opens.
1960
- The government
of South Africa outlaws two major anti-apartheid groups, the African
National Congress and the Pan-African Congress.
- The laser is developed
by physicist Theodore Maiman.
- In Communist China,
Mao's "Great Leap Forward," intended to increase food production,
fails.
- The birth control
pill is introduced and, with it, a massive lifestyle shift for millions
of Americans and others throughout the world.
- Only two weeks
before a historic summit meeting in Paris, an American U-2 spy plane,
piloted by Gary Frances Powers, is shot down over Russia.
- The Paris Summit
meeting collapses when Khrushchev demands an apology from President
Eisenhower for the U-2 flights.
- France gains atomic
capability, joining the "nuclear club" of the United States,
Great Britain, and the Soviet Union.
- The conflict in
Vietnam heats up as Communist revolutionaries, called the Vietcong,
escalate their guerrilla conflict with the government of South Vietnam.
- Several French
and Belgian colonies in Africa gain independence, including Senegal,
Ghana, Nigeria, and the Congo (Zaire). Civil War in the Congo prompts
United Nation's intervention.
- The Student Non-Violent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is created for the purpose of promoting
non-violent tactics on behalf of the Civil Rights Movement.
- Massachusetts Democratic
Senator John F. Kennedy defeats Republican Vice-President Richard M.
Nixon to become the 35th President of the United States.
1961
- President Eisenhower
delivers his Farewell Address, warning the nation of the "military-industrial
complex."
- President and Mrs.
Eisenhower retire to their Gettysburg Farm.
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