Dwight Eisenhower: Domestic and Foreign Policy

Thirty-fourth US President Dwight Eisenhower- the first who came to power after twenty years of continuous rule of the democratic party. More details about him, his course in foreign and domestic policy further.

Brief biography of the future president

Thirty-fourth US President was born at the endnineteenth century, in 1890, in Texas, but his childhood was in Kansas, where the family moved just a year after his birth in search of a place to work. The parents of the future political leader were convinced pacifists, but the young man himself strove to study military affairs. In many respects his further life was decided precisely by the Military Academy, which he graduated in 1915 - in the midst of the First World War. Mother, whose family was not military for four centuries, respectfully chose the son and did not condemn him.

Dwight Eisenhower was promoted to captain latera few days after the United States entered the war. The ambitious young man tried to prove himself in the battles of battles, but he was reluctant to send him to the front. All the war Dwight was in America and was training the recruits for shipping overseas. For outstanding success in this field, Dwight was awarded the rank of major and awarded a medal. By the way, he still got permission to go to the front, but a few days before the dispatch came the message that Germany had signed the capitulation.

In the interwar period, the young man continuedservice. He was on the Panama Canal, which in those years was occupied by the United States. For a while, Eisenhower fell under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur. Further and until 1939, the future leader was in the Philippines.

The United States was embroiled in World War II. 7December 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. At first, Eisenhower held executive posts in the Army Headquarters under General Joyce Marshall, and in 1942-1943. he commanded an offensive in Italy and North Africa. Coordination of military operations, he carried out in conjunction with the Soviet Major-General Alexander Vasiliev. When the Second Front was opened, Eisenhower became the Commander-in-Chief of the expeditionary forces. Under his leadership was the landing of American troops in Normandy.

The only dark spot on Dwight's biographyEisenhower at that time was the initiation of the creation of a new class of prisoners, who were called the Disarmed Enemy Forces. The conditions of the Geneva Convention were not conditional on these prisoners of war. This led to the death of German prisoners of war in the United States because of his refusal to live in elementary conditions.

After the war, Dwight became president of the Columbiauniversity. He received many academic degrees and awards in the field of science, but he was well aware that this was just a tribute to his actions in wartime. In 1948, he published the first part of his memoirs, which received a great public response and brought the author almost half a million dollars of net profit.

Political career

The beginning of political career of the future leader of the USAcan be considered the moment when Harry Truman invited him to become commander of NATO troops in Europe. Eisenhower believed in the future of NATO and sought to create a unified military organization that would restrain the aggression of Communists throughout the world.

He ran for the presidency of the United States whenThe popularity of Truman fell because of the long war with Korea. Both the Republican and Democratic parties are ready to nominate him as their candidate. Dwight Eisenhower's party affiliation was determined by his own decision, the future leader chose the Republican Party. Eisenhower quite easily managed to win the confidence of voters during the pre-election race, and in 1953 he became the leader of the United States.

Course in domestic policy

US President Dwight Eisenhower immediately begantalk about the fact that he did not study politics and does not know anything about it. The same was said by the leader about the economy. He planned to put an end to the persecution for leftist views, build motorways across the country, and increase the state monopoly in the economic sphere. He decided to continue the programs of Roosevelt and Truman ("New Deal" and "Fair Deal"), raised the minimum wage, established the Department of Education, Health and Welfare, and strengthened social assistance programs.

Socio-economic development

The years of Dwight Eisenhower's reign (1953-1961)characterized by a rapid increase in the monopoly of the state and capitalism as a whole. The budget deficit, which left the "legacy" Harry Truman Eisenhower, was reduced only by 1956-1957. In addition, the president failed to fully implement his campaign promises regarding the reduction of military spending - the arms race not only demanded money, but also significantly weakened the country's economy, generated inflation. Anti-inflationary measures proposed by President Dwight Eisenhower were not accepted by the Congress, offering exactly the opposite actions.

At Eisenhower, the United Stateseconomic crises. The share of America in world industrial production fell, the number of unemployed increased significantly. The president's response was very modest. He put vigorous and genuinely talented people on high posts, hoping for their experience, but he himself was bound by party principles and corporations that had a great influence on politics.

Domestic policy directions

So, the main directions of Dwight Eisenhower's domestic policy were:

1. Social policy, but now the Republicans have transferred some of the powers to the places: states, cities, trade unions.
2. Large-scale construction of housing and roads, which contributed to the creation of new jobs.
3. The reduction of taxes, the cancellation of some measures taken by the previous government, with the aim of stabilizing the economy of the United States.
4. Abolition of control over pricing and wages, raising minimum fees.
5. The beginning of the civil rights movement for black Americans.
6. Repression of small farming by larger farms and so on.

Anticommunist policies

In foreign and domestic politics, Dwight Eisenhoweradhered to anti-communist principles. In 1950, before Eisenhower, a US nuclear scientist who worked on a secret nuclear project, was arrested and sentenced to prison. The reason was in connection with Soviet intelligence, Klaus Fuchs gave the USSR information that could speed up the creation of an atomic bomb by Soviet scientists. The investigation led to the spouses Rosenberg, who also worked for the exploration of the USSR. The husband and wife did not admit their guilt, the process ended with their execution in the electric chair. The request for pardon was then dismissed by Dwight D. Eisenhower.

At this process, Senator Joseph made a careerMcCarthy. Two years before taking office Eisenhower, he shook the whole country with a list of Communists who work in the government of the United States. In fact, there was no list, there would not be a single communist in Congress, not that fifty (or even more), as McCarthy claimed. But even after Eisenhower got into the presidency, McCarthyism still continued to have a significant impact on American society and the political course.

Adherents of McCarthyism accused the new leader ofexcessive softness towards the "red threat", although the president still sacked several thousand government and federal officials on charges of anti-American orientation.

Eisenhower refrained from public criticismSenator McCarthy, although he did not like him as a person. The President increasingly worked on this problem in the shadows, realizing that open criticism of such an influential person even from the leader of the nation will be unjustified and will not bring the desired result. When the course of Republican Joseph McCarthy violated the civil liberties of the Americans, television interviews showed military. This caused even greater public resonance, and on December 2, 1954, the Senate condemned McCarthy. By the end of the year the movement was completely defeated.

The issue of racial segregation in the army

To the main directions of domestic policyDwight Eisenhower also includes attempts to address the issue of racial segregation. During the war, approximately 9% of the personnel in the US armed forces were blacks. Most of them (over 90%) were engaged in heavy work, only 10% served in military units, but practically no one rose above the rank of lieutenant.

Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armed ForcesDwight Eisenhower tackled this problem as early as 1944. He issued a decree "On equality of opportunity and rights ...", nevertheless, four years later, he advocated the isolation of Negroes in the army, because An adverse case might threaten their own interests.

At the same time, the society actively raised the question ofThat racial persecution and oppression of blacks is America's shame. Especially aggressive were the young Negroes who distinguished themselves on the battlefields of the Second World War. Eisenhower understood how sensitive this topic is, so during the election race he did not forget to mention that he will serve the interests of all Americans regardless of race or religion. But during the presidency, Dwight Eisenhower's domestic policy was silent on this issue. His rule was marked by several serious conflicts on racial grounds.

American "leadership of the world"

"Domestic and Foreign Policy, - DwightEisenhower now and then did not forget to mention this, - are connected, are inseparable. " The aggressive stance on the international scene only provokes additional military expenditures, which, in turn, weigh down the state budget.

The Eisenhower Doctrine is an important document, according towhich the American president remained "positively neutral", occupies a special place in the foreign policy course of the then American government. This position was voiced by the president in 1957. According to the document, any country in the world can ask the US for help and not be rejected. I meant both economic and military assistance. Of course, Dwight D. Eisenhower emphasized the Soviet threat (after all, it happened during the Cold War), but also called for the protection of the integrity and independence of countries in need of assistance.

US foreign policy in Europe

The foreign policy course of the American leader wasaims to strengthen the positions of the States in various regions. In 1951, the Commander-in-Chief decided that the United States needed the help of West Germany in placing military positions. America achieved West Germany's accession to NATO and even put forward the issue of uniting the country. True, ten days later the Warsaw Pact was signed, and the union took place only 34 years later, and Europe again divided into two camps.

The Korean question

At a meeting of foreign ministers in 1954two issues were solved - Indochinese and Korean. America refused to withdraw troops from Korea, although already in 1951 the preponderance was on the side of the United States, and it became clear to everyone that it would not be possible to achieve victory by the war. Dwight D. Eisenhower visited Korea before taking office to find out the situation on the spot. The ceasefire was adopted after taking office, in 1953, but the real peace agreement between North and South Korea has not yet been signed. Formally, the agreement was concluded in 1991, but in 2013 the DPRK canceled the document.

Politics in the Middle East

The main directions of Dwight's foreign policyEisenhower includes the course in the Middle East. The nationalization of the oil industry in Iran was contrary to the interests of the imperialist states and most of all Great Britain. Then the British government in the person of Churchill appealed to the US president for support of the British position on the Iranian issue. Eisenhower remained neutral, but actively promoted the creation of a military-political bloc, called the Baghdad Pact.

US Action in South America

As for Latin America, there wasImposed by the policy of the Eisenhower Administration "Anticommunist resolution." This document made legitimate outside interference in those countries whose government will take the path of a democratic regime. This, in fact, gave the United States the legal right to overthrow any "disagreeable" regime in South America.

The United States actively supported the dictators of the Latin AmericanAmerica, so that the communist regime is not established in the nearest countries. It even went so far that the US military provided decisive assistance to the dictatorial regime of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic.

Relations with the Soviet Union

At Eisenhower there was an insignificantsoftening of relations with the Soviet Union. An important role in this was played by Khrushchev's official visit to the United States. Countries signed an agreement on exchanges in the field of culture, education and science.