Eisenhower

A President for Turbulent Times

In President Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell speech to the nation he stated "America is today the strongest, most influential, and most productive nation in the world". Only a truly strong leader such as President Eisenhower could thrust America into the world spotlight and take on the dramatic changes within our own borders with dignity and as much fairness as those turbulent times allowed.

To really understand his influence we must start at the beginning of his illustrious career. Eisenhower was not only a powerful President but a honorable and respected military leader as well. His popularity soared as the Supreme Commander of the troops that invaded France on the now legendary D-Day of 1944. I believe that this man showed a lot of guts for taking on a project so large and truly undesirable. Thousands of Americans and Allied troops lost their lives on D-Day but it had to be done and he stuck to his plan. His resolve showed the world that America was something to be respected now.

" I like Ike" is one of the most recognized campaign slogans ever created for a presidential race. This slogan gave Eisenhower extreme publicity and he won the presidential race with a landslide victory. However this President was not going to get off easy. A cold war with Stalin was already raging over many different parts of the World. At first it seemed odd that with Hungary in a revolution as well as Poland fighting for independence why we didn't step in and help them. This all fell into the "containment plan" as far as I could see. I think that seeing all the blood and carnage not so many years before deterred him for moving into another world war too quickly. I think history itself would be much different if we would have gone right back to war. His military tactics also secured an armistice treaty in North Korea. He supported stopping this conflict before China became another major enemy. After the Hydrogen bomb was created by both the Russians and the US Eisenhower met with the Allies and Russia in Geneva. I think that he showed a lot of openness with the Russians at this meeting. He suggested that they share the blueprints for their military bases so each other's nuclear capabilities could be monitored. This did not go over well but I think he had good intentions and showed that the US was not trying to take over Russia but was trying to ease this cold war before it got too hot.

As for the mainland USA he got to see a lot of change while President. America was prosperous for the most part during his presidency but not for all. I think one of the most impressive and honorable things he did was following through what FDR started and began the desegregation