The Eisenhower Years,

1
POWERPOINT 28

• The Eisenhower Years,
• 1953 - 1960

2
A New Direction

• Dwight Eisenhowers New Republicanism
• Appointed business professionals to his cabinet
• Left much of Democratic programs intact
• Ike ends Korean conflict
• Secretary of State John Foster Dulles
• 38th parallel
• Stalin dies March 5, 1953
• Korean Truce July 1953
• 50,000 American dead
• 850,000 South Korean troops dead

3
The Cold War at Home and Abroad

• McCarthys hunt for communists continues
• J. Robert Oppenheimer
• Fort Monmouth
• Senate censured McCarthy in 1954
• Died of alcoholism in 1957
• New Look changes American military
• Ike cut defense spending 20 between 1953-55
• CIA increases covert operations
• Mohammad Mossadeph and the Shan of Iran
• Vietnam threatens to become major problem
• Ho Chi Minh

4
The Civil Rights Movement

• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1953)
• Struck down Plessy v. Ferguson
• Brown II guidelines for desegregation
• South reacted unfavorably
• Montgomery Bus Boycott
• Rose parks
• Boycott brings Martin Luther King, Jr. to
  national attention
• November 1956, federal court stuck down Alabama
  segregation on public transportation law

5
The Age of Television

• Golden age of television
• Brings entertainment to American homes
• Ed Sullivan, Milton Berle
• Allowed politicians to speak directly to public
• Sitcoms reinforced stereotypes
• Quiz show scandals rock country and bring reforms
  to television industry
• 64,000 Question and Twenty-One rigged

6
Youth Culture

• Teens defined by their music, especially rock n
  roll
• Alan Freed
• Elvis Presley enthralls youth as he, and others,
  change face of music
• Little Richard and Chuck Berry
• Beat Generation charts different course, clearly
  showing their discontent

7
Crises and Celebration

• Ike recovers form heart attack in September 1955
• Polio is defeated with Salk vaccine (1955)
• March of Dimes
• Federal Highway Act establishes plans for
  interstate system
• Nikita Khrushchev becomes Russian Premier
• Hungarian revolt crushed by Soviets in 1956
• Suez crisis
• Gamel Abdel Nasser
• Nasser blockaded Gulf of Arabia
• Israel, France and Britain retook Suez
• November 6, 1956 negotiation settled crisis

8
National Highway System
9
Chevrolet Ad
10
Israel, the Middle East, and the Suez Crisis, 1956
11
A Second Term

• South opposed to Brown decision
• Southern Manifesto
• Central High School refused to desegregate
• Ike sent in national guard, Central High
  desegregated
• Soviets shock Americans with launch of Sputnik
• Summit meeting derailed by Soviets shooting down
  American U-2 spy plane
• Francis Gary powers
• Nixon runs for president in 1960, but Democrat
  John F. Kennedy (JFK) wins very close election
• First televised presidential debates

12
Election of 1960
Web
13
Discussion Questions

• What were the strengths and weaknesses of the
  Eisenhower administration? Was Ike a good match
  for the America of his day?
• Describe the rise and fall of Senator Joseph
  McCarthy. Did he harm or help America?
• How did Rose Parks impact the civil rights
  movement of the 1950s? What were some of the
  effects of the Montgomery Boycott?
• What was the U-2 Crisis, and how did it affect
  U.S. and USSR relations?