1. Eisenhower & The Cold War

2. Dwight Eisenhower 1890 – 1969 (life) 1953 – 1961 (President)
Nicknamed “Ike”
Highly popular due to his efficient military leadership during WWII
Staunchly anti-communist, but also dedicated to scaling back military spending
Chose to focus on a build up of nuclear weapons as a cheaper way to deter communist aggression

3. Nuclear Holocaust?
After the Soviets acquired the atomic bomb, Americans became highly paranoid about the potential for a nuclear attack against the US

4. Fallout Shelters
Many families constructed special underground bunkers which they stocked with food, water, and other essentials in case of an attack
Cities also designated subway tunnels and other reinforced underground structures as public shelters

5. “Duck and Cover”
Students were taught to “duck and cover” in the event of a surprise attack through training films and special drills
While such efforts reassured the public, in reality they offered little, if any, real protection in the event of an actual nuclear attack

6. Nuclear Arms Race
Soviets and Americans rapidly built enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world many times over
“MAD” (Mutually Assured Destruction) was the theory that the more nuclear weapons both sides had, the safer the world was because it made a nuclear war unwinnable for both sides

7. Brinksmanship
Term originally coined by Eisenhower’s Sec. of State John Foster Dulles
Brinksmanship is the practice of escalating international tensions to the brink of war, with the hope that the other side will back down at the last minute and thereby give you an advantage in future negotiations

8. Domino Theory
Eisenhower believed strongly in the idea that if you let even a single nation fall to communism, then you would set off a chain reaction where its neighbors would also fall to communism (like dominos)

9. CIA Interventions
Iran: Ike allowed CIA to stage a coup to remove a Prime Minister who was willing to sell Iranian oil to the Soviets
Guatemala: Ike allowed CIA to train opposition rebels to overthrow a pro-communist regime

10. Communism in Cuba
Many US business held large investments in Cuba during the 1950s, but those investments were jeopardized when Cuba’s government was overthrown by communist rebels under the leadership of Fidel Castro
US leadership were equally alarmed by the seizure of over $1 billion worth of property in Cuba owned by Americans as they were by suddenly having a communist state 90 miles off the US coast

11. Eisenhower Doctrine
In 1957, Eisenhower pledged US assistance to any nation in the Middle East which found itself threatened by communism
Almost immediately, US forces were sent to Lebanon to help that government combat communist rebels

12. Suez Crisis
The US withdrew financial support from an Egyptian dam project over Egyptian weapons purchases that threatened Israel
Egypt confiscated the Suez Canal from French and British investors in order to raise funds for the dam
Britain and France invaded Egypt to retake the canal, leading the Soviets (who saw an opportunity to win Egypt as an ally) to threaten war
Eisenhower forced Britain and France to withdraw, but the damage was already done - many Arab states now saw the West as an aggressor and aligned themselves with the Soviets

13. Nikita Khrushchev 1894 – 1971 (life) 1953 – 64 (Soviet leader)
Named head of the Soviet Union after the death of Stalin in 1953
More liberal than Stalin in Soviet domestic issues, but more confrontational in foreign policy, pushing the Soviet Union to the brink of war with the US on several occasions

14. The U-2 Incident
1960
Just weeks before a major peace summit, the Soviets shot down an American U-2 spy plane over their airspace and captured the pilot, Francis Gary Powers
Marked a turning point in US-Soviet relations, as the peace summit was cancelled and the American pilot was tried as a spy and sentenced to prison (the Soviets later traded him back to the US for one of their own spies)

15. Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956
Authorized the spending of $25 billion in federal funds to build 41,000 miles of highways over a period of 20 years
Interstate highways were built in order to allow the speedy movement of troops and supplies around the country in case of invasion or other national emergency

17. The Space Race
Both the US and USSR had captured German rocket scientists at the end of WWII and were pursuing missile technologies
Starting in 1957, these technologies were used to compete against each other for control of outer space – a multi-billion dollar “space race” to see who could accomplish certain objectives or discoveries first

18. ICBMs Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
The development of missile technologies allowed both sides to mount atomic warheads onto long-range rockets which could be launched against distant targets

19. Sputnik
The first man-made object to attain orbit around the earth (satellite)
Sputnik I launched by the Soviets in Oct. 1957, followed by Sputnik II (which carried the first living creature into space, a dog named Laika) in November
These launches triggered a panic in the US, as Americans worried that the Soviets were gaining a technological advantage over the US

20. National Defense Education Act of 1958
Law which provided for dramatically increased spending on education, especially in science, math, and foreign languages
Passed in response to the belief that the US was falling behind the Soviets in scientific and technological fields
Increased the number of high-school graduates who went on to college from less than 15% in 1950 to over 40% by 1970

21. NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration Created in 1958
Civilian agency which was created to take over space exploration programs from the various military branches to increase coordination and efficiency