-+President+Dwight+Eisenhower

=President Dwight Eisenhower=

In office from 1952 - 1960
Republican candidate Dwight Eisenhower ran in the election of 1952 against his democratic opponent, Adlai Stevenson. Eisenhower's personable character and obvious leadership skills won him the election by over six million votes. He was the first Republican president since 1933. He gave Republicans a better reputation my winning the election after so many have lost in the past twenty years. Eisenhower believed that "the federal government should play a smaller role in the economy". He thought that the people of the nation deserved more say in what was happening with the country rather than let the federal government handle it all. In 1954, Eisenhower committed USA to the "Southeast Asia Treaty Organization" (a.k.a 'SATO') to protect southeast asian nations from communist attacks. He helped other nations besides America and was strongly against communism. He was determined to save south Vietnam from communism. He came up with the 'domino theory', "//You have a row of dominos set up, and you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly.//" Eisenhower was an intelligent man with interesting analogies to help get others to better understand the situation. In 1955, Eisenhower suffered from a heart attack. This made some of America question his ability to maintain a strong country, but he was back on his feet and working within two months. He knew that America needed him so he had to ignore his own personal sufferages to help countless people in America. In 1956 Eisenhower ran for reelection again, against Adlai Stevenson and won the electoral vote 457 to 73 - another huge majority. One of Eisenhower's greatest achievements was the Interstate Highway Act of 1956. He provided funds for many systems of freeways to connect people around the country. Americans then used highways instead of railroads to travel and transport goods. In 1957 mob violence broke out in Little Rock, Arkansas when African-American children tried to attend school. Eisenhower sent more than a thousand troops to protect the children of Little Rock. He cared about children and integration and believed children had rights as well as adults, and African-Americans had rights as well as whites. "//Southerners should be given a chance to adjust to the great social changes integration would ential,//" - A quote from Eisenhower on his thoughts about integration. In 1959 Eisenhower approved the CIA plot to train anti-castro rebels to invade cuba and overthrow Castro, the Cuban dictator. This is another example of Eisenhower focusing on the needs of other countries as well as America. Eisenhower stopped being politically involved with Cuba just before he left office in 1961. "//America is today the strongest, the most influential, and the most productive nation in the world.//" - President Dwight Eisenhower just before leaving office.