EISENHOWER’S COLD WAR POLICIES15-4

Eisenhower Takes Office• Truman decided not to run for a second term• 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower takes office

• Won in a landslide victory • A hero from WWII

“More Bang for the Buck”• Eisenhower believed in a strong economy

• We must show the world capitalist success

• Realizing that all out war was very expensive he pushed for development of more atomic weapons!

• Massive Retaliation- The threat to use nuclear weapons• Felt this was more bang for the buck• Cut spending by almost $20 billion

Brinkmanship• Brinkmanship- the

willingness to go to the brink of war to force the other side to back down

• Eisenhower felt you had to take risks for peace and be willing to back down opponent

The End of the Korean War• Eisenhower went to Korea and saw bad the situation was• Vowed to end the war• However, he secretly told China that we would continue

the war on our own terms• Brinkmanship• The policy worked

Brinkmanship in Action• Taiwan- China threatens to take over two islands in

Taiwan• Suez Crisis- Soviets began to spread Communism into

Egypt• Use of covert operations- secret operations

• CIA- Central Intelligence Agency

Death of Stalin• March 5, 1953 Stalin dies of a massive stroke in his

bedroom• Poisoned? Conspiracy???

Nikita Khrushchev• Soon after Stalin’s death, Khrushchev takes control of the

Soviet Union• He begins a process called De-Stalinization.

• Taking down monuments• Denouncing his ways

Eisenhower Doctrine• Eisenhower asked Congress for the U.S. to help any

nation in the middle East in the fight against Communism• Basically extended the Truman Doctrine into the middle East

Space Race• Sputnik- first Satellite

launched into orbit by Soviets• U.S. responded with the Explorer

launch a few years later

Spy Plane Shot Down• The Soviet Union shot down a U.S. spy plane called a U-2

• Eisenhower denied that this existed until they produced a pilot• Francis Garry Powers

• Relations were beginning to improve until this incident