IB HOA ~ Unit 3, Day 7 :

Objective:

• Students will be able to:– begin to

assess the successes & failures of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s foreign policy measures (1953-1961).

Agenda:• Registration: IB electives…?• Lecture notes: Eisenhower & his FP– w/ great-man-history video clip:

Eisenhower (10 mins.)• Complete Eisenhower FP chart (10

mins.)– submit PLOs

Upcoming HOA homework…?

Please sit down asap.

•Then, take out your Eisenhower FP PLO, due today.•Do not submit it yet….

Historiography….

Historiography: Historian Stephen Ambrose ↓

• Ambrose’s biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower is a “great man history”… he argues that E. was a highly-effective president, largely due to his strong character.– Today’s 10-min. video

segment supports this thesis, too.

– Ambrose’s bio. reads seamlessly, which is deceptive b/c no man/president is perfect.• E: against bullying,

human, integrity, etc.

Dwight D. Eisenhower: Commander In Chief

Historiography: Historian David Schmitz ↓

• Schmitz reading (assignment due one week from tomorrow) → …is a rebuttal to the “triumphalist school” of the Cold War era.

-The historiographical belief that a particular viewpoint (the U.S. was right & not at fault in starting the Cold War) is superior and should triumph over all others.

• Schmitz’s thesis: U.S. supported right-wing, authoritarian dictators during Cold War b/c U.S. presidents (Truman, Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Reagan) believed these dictators:

1) kept order against pro-communist rebel groups.2) supported U.S. business interests (mostly) in developing world.3) weren’t communists!

Today’s & Wednesday’s overall thesis:

• Eisenhower’s DP & FP leadership style was often indirect and covert (secretive, undercover, clandestine) regarding domestic and foreign policies.–He had a “hidden-hand [leadership] style.”•Held cards close to his chest…vague about his political party affiliation as general, whether he’d run for presidency, how, exactly, he planned to handle Korea, his position on civil rights, etc….

Biographical Information:

• Home: Abilene, Kansas• West Point graduate• U.S. Army career• 5 Star general (earned

5th star after ↓):– WWII hero due to D-Day:

in which he successfully launched largest military invasion in history…objective: liberate France from German occupation)

• U.S. President (1953 – 1961) – A reluctant

president, but dedicated to duty…his party wanted him to run

• Republican • nickname: “Ike”

1. Background Information, leadership, & personal characteristics:

• …humble beginnings.• One of six sons (but one died in early childhood).• 2nd year in college (West Point , injured knee…told

he could never play football again…devastated him.• Excelled academically, esp. in Math, History, &

writing but….– in college: rebellious, got in trouble, many demerits at

WP, grades dropped – causing him to graduate middle of his class.

• Career soldier w/ enough confidence to speak out against military (usually military spending).

2. E’s main goals as president?

• To avoid (large-scale) war, contain communism, balance budget (which he did), & boost U.S. economy.• A moderate Republican & a fiscal

conservative.–He largely met these goals (but the business cycle was in a peak period/on his side, which made the last goal easier to attain).

3. New Look Policy*:– Fighting communism as cheaply as possible• A less expensive national security policy for U.S.

– E. always fought for defense spending options, which cost less.• Sought “the best bang for the buck”

–↑ atomic weapons to act as deterrent from war w/ Soviets (i.e. any attack on U.S. would be met w/ massive nuclear retaliation, deterring Soviets from striking in 1st place, guaranteeing peace).

–War should be last resort (diplomacy 1st).– E. didn’t like but preferred covert military

operations (b/c they cost less than large wars in $ & human lives)• Only sent $ & military advisors to S. Vietnam –

again, reticent about large-scale conflicts.

4. FP – E’s general views on….

• “he hated war”– felt every soldier’s death (as general &

president)• opposed using atomic bombs on Japan at

time (Ike: “J. was already defeated”)• against ↑ defense spending - & wasn’t

afraid to say so.–E: “We have a strong military as we

should, but it’s big enough….”• Continued containment…believed U.S. was

under threat from communists, globally.

5. Korean War:• E. met campaign promise to end U.S.

involvement in Korean War – albeit tenuously.

• How? He threatened to use atomic weapons….

• Korean War:

• 3 years• 54K U.S. soldiers dead• Over 1 million S. Koreans, N.

Koreans, Chinese, et al dead• Billions of U.S. dollars spent• End of war returned Korea to

1950 terms (i.e. a divided Korea at 38th parallel)– Most Americans took comfort

in their belief that communism had been contained.

6. 1953 Iranian Coup d'état*:

• Coup d'état: the sudden & illegal seizure of a government (sometimes violently, sometimes not)

• What happened?• Iranian parliament voted to nationalize its oil

and rid Iran of British oil companies – Iranian oil was to be returned to/controlled by Iran.

• U.S. & British worked covertly to support coup that removed Mosaddegh from power and replace him with Shah (King of Iran).– Nationalize: the transfer of control from private to

state/government ownership/control• argo opening scene (Start @ :50)

7. CIA took covert action in Guatemala (1954)*:

• E. admin. turned its attention from Asia to LA…• democratically-elected, socialist-leaning, pro-Soviet

Jacobo Arbenz seen as threat to U.S.• newly-created CIA (1947) now used for covert

operations• economic interests of U.S.-owned United Fruit

Company (UFCO) in G also at stake…– Soviets charged this was not containment, but

rather, a concern over U.S. business interests of U.S. elites that shaped this sort of FP.

–Again…PARADOX! → U.S. claimed to support democracy/democratically-elected leaders – unless those leaders were left-leaning….• Historian David Schmitz

8. What is brinkmanship?

• = the practice of pursuing a dangerous policy to the limits of safety before stopping.

• He pushed him “to the brink…” before stopping.–e.g. Cuban Missile Crisis

9. E. & Brinkmanship:• E. increased nuclear arsenal (nuclear weapons very cheap to

make!) from 1,200 nuclear weapons to 22,000!• Threatened to use nuclear weapons against China in

response to Chinese aggression of Taiwan…China backed down.– B worked, but E. not satisfied/fully comfortable with it:

“there must be a better way”• He became 1st pres. to meet other countries’ leaders during

peace time to try to avoid war (e.g. invited Khrushchev to U.S. for summit)– E: “only way to save the world is through diplomacy:– Therefore, E contributed to start of détente (= relaxing

of tensions/hostilities between countries).• Proposed Open Skies policy (which Khrushchev

rejected, so U.S. ended up using Spy Planes to track Soviet weapon proliferation).– One of many of E’s Peacetime Initiatives.

10. Sputnik (1957)*:• Soviets launched 1st artificial satellite, which meant

Soviets now had capability to launch a missile.• 4 months after Sputnik, U.S. launched its 1st

satellite, but nonetheless:–Totally freaked out Americans….from

increasing science course requirements in U.S. schools to E.’s critics charging: he had allowed a missile gap to occur

• E response? “We are spending plenty on our military. It’s big enough – it doesn’t need to be bigger.”– Of course, E also knew U.S. had MANY more

conventional weapons than Soviets due to U.S. Spy Plane surveillance, but he couldn’t admit this publically

End of Day 1

Agenda:• HW: – Eisenhower Evidence Quiz on Friday– Yellow Eisenhower reading packet/assignment

due on Thursday + whole class discussion• Expect to be called on.

• submit Eisenhower DP PLO• receive graded papers• finish E. FP lecture notes• Korean War– 60 Minutes clip– read & discuss Korean War power point

11. Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba (1959)*:

• Became Cuba’s communist prime minister (& then president) after successfully overthrowing Cuba’s American-backed (puppet) dictator Fulgencio Batista in a coup.

• Cuba is only 93 miles from the U.S., so this was threatening to U.S. govnt.

12. 1960 U2 Incident:• May 1, 1960• a U.S. U-2 spy plane was shot down over Soviet Union airspace.• U.S. govnt at 1st denied plane's purpose & mission

– …but then U.S. forced to admit its role in using the covert surveillance aircraft when Soviets produced:• its intact remains • surviving pilot Francis Gary Powers• photos of military bases in Russia, taken by Powers

– Sig? Coming roughly 2 weeks before scheduled opening of an East–West summit in Paris, the incident was a great embarrassment to U.S. & prompted a marked deterioration in its relations w/ USSR.• Eisenhower also looked bad.• Khrushchev/Soviets now had evidence not to trust E.

– Powers was convicted of espionage and sentenced to three years of imprisonment plus seven years of hard labor, but he was released early on February 10, 1962 during a prisoner exchange with Soviet officer Rudolf Abel.

13. Military Industrial Complex*:• E coined term in his

Farewell Address (1961)• E very concerned about - &

warned against – this.• Def. → The cooperative

relationship among the U.S. military, Congress, and the contractors (businesses) of military equipment in lobbying for increased spending on military programs – w/ an emphasis on profit, not necessity (of war).

• DE Farewell Address 1961

ADD: 14.

Vietnam War

Domino Theory: • Idea that if one key nation in a region

fell to communist control, others would follow - like toppling dominoes.

• used by many American leaders to justify U.S. military intervention, esp. in Vietnam War.

Vietnam War:• Drawn out military conflict in which

U.S. had a military & political presence to varying degrees (1954-1975)

E’s role:• E. sent financial and military aid…by

1960,– E became 1st U.S. president to send

(675) U.S. Army advisors (= soldiers giving advice) to Vietnam.

Korean War….

IB HOA - Agenda:• PLO reminders, upcoming Schoology

posts• receive graded papers• Jim Crow & the KKK?• DP supplemental notes: McCarthyism &

Civil Rights• Historiography: a defense of E’s CRs

record• Video clip from The Century (21:29 –

29:35)• Eisenhower Evidence Quiz• work on Eisenhower PLO charts

DP: Civil Rights:• Greatest domestic crisis of his presidency.

• Critics charged (David Kennedy): – E a reluctant CR leader– E never publically

endorsed Brown v. Board of Education (1954)…• missed a great

opportunity to take a moral stand in history

– E had told AA leaders: “be patient” …”CR is a state issue…they’ll come around in time.”

Little Rock Nine*:• = 9 AA students, who tried

to attend Central H.S. in Little Rock, AR but were met with anti-desegregationist mobs…

• At mayor’s urging, E. sent in U.S. Army troops to protect rights of these 9 students, who had military escort into school.– E later said that he

did this b/c he had sworn to uphold the Constitution & “people can’t follow the law only when they want to.”

E – Leadership:

• To the U.S. and world, E. personified victory (due to WWII leadership).

• Left office with high approval ratings

George C. Marshall

• Ike’s mentor, promoted him in military

• 35+year working relationship & friendship

• E respected no one more

• E believed he owed everything to Marshall

E & McCarthy:

• Eisenhower (& Truman) could not stand him…or his tactics!– Truman’s approach? Criticized M. in press,

which M loved…, but E didn’t want to give M press attention (& he felt mudslinging unbecoming to presidency), so he simply ignored M (made no public statements against him).• Yet, he did rip him to shreds in a private mtg.,

telling him exactly what he thought of him….• E furious M had accused George C. Marshall

of being a communist! –Removed part of speech in Wisconsin….

E’s covert/hidden hand methods re. McCarthy…

• E asked his staff to dig up dirt on M.• They found he had been

guilty of abusing his authority to get a former aid placed in a cushy spot in a military posting (not illegal but frowned upon). E’s staff sent this to HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee), who were not pleased.

Fall of McCarthy:– Ultimately, M caused his own downfall – but E

helped.– Since M had still not been able to find a single

communist in fed. govnt, Congress & more and more Americans began to tire of his tactics.

– U.S. Senate censured M. (1954) • → official reprimand by a legislative

body.– E issued: Executive Order 10450

• revoked President Truman's 1947 Executive Order 9835 and dismantled its Loyalty Review Board program

• which prevented fed. employees from having to testify before Congressional committees (e.g. HUAC), which weakened McCarthy’s power…

–E never discussed it … just did it.

• Demagogue → a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument.

• E. did not cause his downfall; it was M’s accusations against the U.S. Army that did - but E did help it.

Historiography: Historian David Schmitz ↓

• Schmitz reading (assignment due one week from tomorrow) → …is a rebuttal to the “triumphalist school” of the Cold War era.

-The historiographical belief that a particular viewpoint (the U.S. was right & not at fault in starting the Cold War) is superior and should triumph over all others.

• Schmitz’s thesis: U.S. supported right-wing, authoritarian dictators during Cold War b/c U.S. presidents (Truman, Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Reagan) believed these dictators:

1) kept order against pro-communist rebel groups.2) supported U.S. business interests (mostly) in developing world.3) weren’t communists!

Schmitz reading discussion:– E’s New Look FP? Eisenhower Doctrine? – How does rollback differ from containment and

détente?– Schmitz’s thesis?– To what extent are you convinced by this

historian's thesis?  Support your position with examples.  (e.g. If you disagree with it, perhaps you were exposed to a point in an outside source which convinced you more etc.)

– E administration’s general attitude toward the developing world?

– Why did the U.S. support right-wing dictators?– What aspects of the reading resonated w/ you? …

any surprises? contradictions? Points of interest?

Due on Monday?

• P3 essay outline of Eisenhower’s FP.• Details will be added to Schoology

asap.

Eisenhower PLO Charts:

• Include ALL the IDs from the FP PLO & your lecture notes…• Discuss where

you placed them – and why.–Vote….