Dwight Eisenhower’s Presidency
Introduction
President Dwight D. Eisenhower brought a new look into the United States of America’s domestic and foreign policies. Eisenhower took over the presidency in a period when the cold war had taken a toll, and the time when the relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union was way sour. Eisenhower hated Communism with passion, and for that sake, he continued with Truman’s foreign policy of containment, which was a call to the USA to prevent the spread of Communism to new countries and states.
Eisenhower was determined to end the communism threat more than any other American President, even if that called for the use of the deadliest weapons. Eisenhower stressed the importance of nuclear weapons in deterring military threats from the Soviet Union (Rabe,1988). The country thus built a large plant of atomic weapons during the Eisenhower presidency. It has, however, been argued by some critics that the USA this time around took the containment policy too far. During Eisenhower’s rule, countries were either part of the “Free-world” or part of the Soviet bloc. Chances were not left to neutralism or non-alignment. The Communist powers were forced to comply with the USA, or else the USA would unleash an atomic arsenal.
Additionally, the United States entered into several bilateral and multilateral treaties designed to bring down the Soviet Union and its allies, among them the People’s Republic of China. Among these foreign policies were; Southern Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), and other defense allies with countries such as Japan, Philippines, and South Korea (Rabe, 1988). Dulles, who was the secretary of the state, was mandated with the task of traveling around the world to ensure that the global containment policy was put into place.
Eisenhower differed from his predecessor President Truman in several domestic policies and how they were conducted. As a president, he did everything possible to make the lives of the Americans better, such as signing legislation to expand social security and created departments of Health and education. Unlike Truman, Eisenhower favored more limited spending on government projects than Truman (“Dwight D. Eisenhower: Domestic Affairs | Miller Center,” 2020). Additionally, while Congress rejected most of Truman’s projects, Eisenhower secured congress approval on a notable number of projects that improved the national infrastructure.
Conclusion
While Truman tended to be more confrontational in the containment policy, Eisenhower tended to downplay global tensions. President Eisenhower was yes significantly different in style from his predecessor Harry Truman. Still, he did pursue the same goals in fighting the Cold War with the same enthusiasm as his predecessor and the presidents after him.
Reference
Dwight D. Eisenhower: Domestic Affairs | Miller Center. Miller Center. (2020). Retrieved 14 May 2020, from https://millercenter.org/president/eisenhower/domestic-affairs.
Rabe, S. G. (1988). Eisenhower and Latin America: The foreign policy of anticommunism. UNC Press Books.