History

Checkpoint: Eisenhower's Politics

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

War hero Dwight David Eisenhower was our 34th United States President. He became President in 1953. Though being the first Republican in the White House for nearly 20 years, his liberal views much mimicked his Democrat counterparts. In fact, Eisenhower declared, “I am a conservative when it comes to money and liberal when it comes to human beings” (Schultz, 1999). He demonstrated this statement by making increases in Social Security, unemployment insurance, and the minimum wage, but turned down big government programs like universal healthcare.

Even with a conservative approach when it came to spending and budgets, he succeeded in working closely with the other political party.

Even with being a war hero, Eisenhower did not throw large amounts into the arms race. He did not feel it was a true crisis, and during his second term even invited Premier Nikita Khrushchev to the United States. Eisenhower believed in diplomacy over war. When he left

Office he warned that excessive military spending compromises democracies.

Besides keeping a balanced budget and using peaceful approaches to problems overseas, he boosted the nation’s economy with transportation projects such as, the St. Lawrence Seaway Act of 1954 and the Highway Act of 1956. These projects created jobs and gave Americans easier paths of travel both helping the economy.

Dwight D. Eisenhower was often thought of as a lackluster President because of his more behind the scenes approach, but this was exactly the reason why he served two terms. Eisenhower always preferred coming to an agreement over a lengthy debate; keeping both political parties happy. Though the country slipped into two recessions during his terms of office, his conservative ideals about money and...