Topic 7, Lesson 2: How conservative was the Eisenhower presidency?

Topic 7, Lesson 2: How conservative was the Eisenhower presidency?

Eisenhower Histiography (Positives and Negatives)

Eisenhower Histiography - Positives

More recent historians (such as Stephen Ambrose) are more sympathetic toward Eisenhower

They claim he chose an able team, delegated well and had a good record as a mediator.

Eisenhower’s domestic approach means his premiership is sometimes referred to as the “Hidden Hand” presidency because his policies were not voiced or as public as previous presidents’. However, more recent historians claim he knew where he wanted to go and steered the country in that direction.

Eisenhower Histiography - Negatives

At the time critics accused Eisenhower of being too conservative and a “do-nothing” president who spent his time playing golf.

Accused of representing big business

His cabinet was mainly composed of millionaire businessmen, three of whom had worked in the car industry

Showed little sympathy for civil rights but was president at the time that the civil rights campaign began to grow.

Topic 7, Lesson 2: How conservative was the Eisenhower presidency?

“Hidden-Hand Presidency”

At the time critics accused Eisenhower of being too conservative and a “do-nothing” president who spent his time playing golf.

Accused of representing big business

His cabinet was mainly composed of millionaire businessmen, three of whom had worked in the car industry

Showed little sympathy for civil rights but was president at the time that the civil rights campaign began to grow.

Topic 7, Lesson 2: How conservative was the Eisenhower presidency?

Eisenhower’s Conservative Policies

Domestically, Eisenhower adopted ‘Dyanmic Conservatism’. This meant, as Eisenhower said, being “conservative when it comes to money and liberal when it comes to human beings”.

Eisenhower was successful in decreasing the role of federal government. For example, he ended wage and price controls and reduced farm subsidies.

Topic 7, Lesson 2: How conservative was the Eisenhower presidency?

Eisenhower’s Liberal Policies

Eisenhower accepted that the federal governmnet should have some responsibility for the welfare of its citizens.

So, he strengthened the Social Security programme by increasing the minimum wage and creating the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

Topic 7, Lesson 2: How conservative was the Eisenhower presidency?

Eisenhower’s Farewell Address Warning (The Military Industrial Complex)

In his farewell address, Eisenhower warned of the dangers that America faced from the ‘military-industrial complex’.

By this, Eisenhower was referring to the mass growth that America saw during WW2 of wartime manufacturers. Eisenhower feared that due to this mass growth in manufacturers producing wartime goods, America would be pressurised to join more “foreign entanglements”.

Eisenhower’s farewell warning was considered very powerful given Eisenhower’s unquestionable personal military experience and reputation.

NB: Eisenhower was America’s Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during WW2.

“The potential for disastrous rise for misplaced power exists and persists”