Eisenhower and the Cold War

I. 1952 Election (TV played major role)

A. Dem. - Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman

1. "Egghead"
2. Supported containment
3. Fair Deal reforms, civil rights

B. Rep. - Split in party

Robert Taft - Conservative
Eisenhower - Liberal

C. Rep. - Ike and Richard Nixon

1. Less gov't control; bal. budget; less gov't spending
2. K C (Korea, Communism, Corruption)
3. Tougher on communism
4. Cold War was leading to bankruptcy
5. Ike's personality

II. Ike's Background

A. Born 1890 - Denison, TX., grew up in Kansas
B. West Point grad - Military Career
C. Little political experience
D. Used to "Staff System" from military
E. Could restore confidence
F. Projected an image that he was "above politics"

III. Foreign Policy - Ike's severe test

A. Sec. of State John Foster Dulles formulated policy

-Bi-polar view (good vs. evil)
-George Kennan was replaced by Charles Bohlen in Moscow
-Dulles died in 1959

B. Policy

1. Containment was too "passive" and too costly
2. Subjugated people should be "liberated" and Iron Curtain "Rolled Back"
3. The new look - "Maximum efficiency, minimum cost" or "more bang for a buck"
- a. Train local forces to liberate themselves
- b. US should not get in little wars
- c. "Massive retaliation"
- d. CIA to train local forces to get rid of undemocratic leaders
4. Form collective security pacts (regional)
- -Rearm Europe, unleash Chiang, form pacts to intimidate opposition

IV. Asia and Eisenhower

A. Korea

1. Ike went to Korea
2. "Bomb rattling"
3. Chose to follow Truman's policy of signing a truce - 07/27/53
4. CIA even planned to get rid of Rhee - US promised to return if N. Korea attacked again
5. "Peace w/o Honor"

B. Southeast Asia (Indochina)

1. France was losing
2. Ike talked of "falling dominoes" (domino theory)
3. 1954 - SEATO set up by Dulles

C. China

1. 1954 - Defense pact signed w/Chiang on Formosa
2. He began guerrilla raids on Chinese mainland
3. Late 1954 - Red China began shelling Tachens, Quemoy and Matsu
4. No "Asian Munichs" - no war
- a. Formosa Resolution
  - 1) Pres could use force if necessary
  - 2) "Blank Check"
- b. Ike sent 7th Fleet to Formosa Strait
5. 1958 - More trouble
- a. Red China again attacked offshore islands
- b. Sent 7th Fleet again
- c. Reversal of US policy toward Chiang
6. Dulles began to call this policy "Brinksmanship" - Fine art of forcing opponent to the "Brink" - then retreat

V. Europe

A. US wanted Europe to pay more for defense - European

Defense Community
- -France refused to ratify a treaty
- -began building "3rd force"
- -1958 - Charles DeGaulle elected Pres. of Fifth Rep.

B. 1959 - Common Market established

C. Cold War incidents in Europe

1. East Germany
- -1953 Workers in E. Berlin revolted
- -Crushed by Soviet army
2. West Germany
- -1955 - W. Germany fully sovereign
3. Berlin
- -1958 Krushchev gave W. 6 mo. deadline to get out
- -Ike refused (JFK will deal with Germany)
4. E. Europe
- a. Feb. 1956 - Krushchev talked of "De-Stalinization" of USSR
- b. "Different Roads" to socialism
- c. Poland
  - -Oct. 1956 - Test of new soviet policy
  - -Wladyslaw Gomulka led demand for autonomy - got it!
- d. Hungary
  - -Under Imre Nagy, Hungary tried the same thing as Poland - also wanted out of Warsaw Pact
  - -He led a revolt
  - -Freedom lasted 5 days
  - -200,000 Soviet troops crushed "Freedom Fighters"
  - (30,000 killed)
  - -What happened to policy of "Liberation" and "Rollback"
- e. Ike's response - Hungary and Poland not in our "Defense Perimeter"

VI. Middle East

A. Background

1. Not much interest before WWII
2. Dilemma: Pacify Arabs (oil) and continue support to Israel

B. Israel

1. Since WWI, "Zionism" (Quest for Jewish homeland) spreading
2. WWII - Holocaust led to demand for homeland
3. UN agreed to partition Palestine (1947)
4. May 14, 1948 - Israel proclaimed indep. from GB
5. Arab neighbors tried to crush it
- a. Arab league committed to that cause - Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia
- b. Attacked, but Israel won
- c. 1 m Palestine refugees settle in camps
5. US support of Israel caused resentment in Arab world
6. 1949 - Dr. Ralph Bunche and UN worked out ceasefire
- a. Arab League refused to recognize Israel
- b. Israel turned to us for aid
7. 1950 - Tripartite Pact (US, GB, FR)

C. Several problems (Arab Nationalism)

1. Iran
- a. 1951 - Mohammed Mossadegh reduced power of Shah - "Nationalized" oil
- b. 1953 - US cut aid - we thought they were moving toward USSR
- c. CIA coup overthrew Mossadegh - Shah Reza Pahlavi
- d. Iran's oil would be produced and marketed by international group - (40% to US)
- e. Iran became an American "protectorate"
2. Egypt
- a. 1952 - Rev. overthrew King Farouk
- b. Gamal Abdel Nasser - talked of uniting Arab world
- c. US offered assistance - not arms, but Soviets did and he also recognized Red China
- d. 1954 - Meto set up - Nasser called it the "Bagdad Pact"!
- e. Aswan Dam - Part of Nasser's reform (needed aid to build it)
  - 1) We offered $56 mil. grant to underwrite $200,000 from world bank
  - 2) Nasser tried to get more from USSR
- f. July 1956 - Nationalized Suez Canal
- g. Suez Crisis
  - 1) Oct 29, 1956 - Israel attacked Egypt
    - -Overran Sinai Peninsula
    - -Backed by GB and FR
    - -Routed Egyptian army, captured Soviet-supplied weapons
  - 2) Oct 30 - FR and GB also invaded
  - 3) Nasser blocked canal
  - 4) UN diffused crisis
    - -US and USSR demanded ceasefire and oil embargo on FR
    - and GB (first time oil used as political weapon)
    - -Ike demanded GB and FR withdraw
  - 5) Nov 6 - Ceasefire agreement - UN peacekeeping force sent to oversee withdrawal
  - 6) Repercussions-
    - -Alienated European allies
    - -Soviets helped Nasser build his dam - most of money used to build Egyptian army!
3. US had to act to keep USSR influence out of ME
4. Eisenhower Doctrine - Jan. 1957
- -US would support any ME nation to repress comm. aggression
- -set aside $200 mil. for military and economic aid
5. Lebanon Crisis
- a. Egypt and Syria formed Arab Republic 1958
  - -Overthrew gov't of Iraq
  - -Forced out leader of Saudi Arabia
  - -Riots in Jordan and Lebanon
- b. GB sent troops to Jordan - US sent $30 m and 5th Fleet
- c. In Lebanon - Camille Chamoun
  - -First use of Eisenhower Doctrine
  - -Ike sent 15,000 marines
  - -We later learn we had actually been part of a civil war in
- Lebanon

VII. Latin America

A. Communism crept into W. Hemisphere
B. 1948
-Bogota Resolution - Communism not compatible with American
concepts of freedom
-OAS established
C. Ike sent brother, Milton, on fact-finding tour of LA
1. Stepped up foreign aid
2. Inter-American Dev. Bank ($1b)
3. "Good Partner" Policy
D. 1958 - Nixon sent on fact-finding tour
1.
-Yankeephobia erupted-Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela
-Nixon barely got out alive!
-Blamed it all on "communism"
E. 2 incidents
1. Guatemala
a. 1954 - Jacobo Guzman - guns from USSR
b. June CIA coup helps natives overthrow Guzman
c. Easy and inexpensive - model for future intervention in LA
2. Cuba
a. 1959 - Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista
(aid from communists)
b. Castro began "communizing" Cuba
1) Dispensed w/free elections
2) Imprisoned enemies
3) Took over foreign interests
c. By 1960
1) Signed $100 m trade deal with USSR
2) Ike placed embargo on sugar
3) Jan 1, 1961 - Castro kicked out of our embassy
4) Jan 3 - Ike severed diplomatic relations
5) CIA began planning Cuban invasion with Cubans to do it!
d. Next President would deal with Castro

VIII. Efforts at Detente

A. Background

1. After Stalin's death, Krushchev talked of "Peaceful Coexistence"
3. Geneva Summit - July 18, 1955
a. GB - Anthony Eden
FR - Edgar Faure
US - Ike
USSR - Krushchev and Bulganin
b. Ike opened by calling for mutual disarmament
-give each blueprint
-"open skies" verification
c. Krushchev believed this would give US Air Force better
targets!
d. He wanted ban on atomic weapons and limit of armies 1.5 m
each
4. No settlement of German reunification
5. "Spirit of Geneva"
6. Modest cultural exchange

B. By late 50's - New interest in peace

1. "Bal. of fear" - Churchill
2. Space race developing
a. From Rocketry program of WWII
b. Oct. 4, 1959 "Sputnik"
3. Nov. Sputnik II
4. Repercussions?
a. "Missile Gap"
b. National Defense Education Act
c. NASA created
d. Gaither Report - fallout shelter program
e. Henry Kissinger and LBJ recommend spending to "catch up"
5. Jan 31, 1958 - US put up Explorer I
6. Dec - Monkey in space
7. ICBM race
8. Nuclear powered subs by 1958
9. Became aware of radioactive fallout

C. Ike invited Krushchev to Washington

1. Sept. 1959 - Krushchev came
2. Also talks at Camp David
a. Postponed Berlin Ultimatum
b. Agreed to summit in Paris the following year
3. Again talked of the "Spirit of Camp David"

D. U-2 Incident - "Operation Overflight"

1. Summit scheduled May 16, 1960
2. May 1 - Over Suerdiousk - US "Weather plane" shot down
3. We said it was simply off course
4. Pilot had been captured
-Francis Gary Powers - CIA
5. Ike took full responsibility

E. Summit in Paris was never held

Evaluation of Eisenhower's Foreign Policy
Criteria:
1. Meeting out goals
2. Effectiveness/Effect
3. Cost
4. World Opinion
5. Other?
The New Look Itself:
1. Rollback
2. Massive Retaliation
3. Brinkmanship
4. Pactomania
5. More Bang for a Buck
Applying the New Look Around the World
Asia: Korea, Indochina, Formosa
Europe: Arm Europe, W. Germany, Hungary
Middle East: Operation Ajax, Suez War, Eisenhower Doctrine
Latin America: Good Partner, Guatemala Affair, Cuba
Detente: Geneva, Open Skies, U-2 Incident
How would you compare Truman and Eisenhower? Who did the better job in foreign policy? Why? That will be our big six weeks essay!

EISENHOWER FOREIGN POLICY

I. Election of 1952

A. Candidates

1. R - D.D. Eisenhower - P. "I like Ike"
a. War hero
b. Small town conservative from Tx., Kansas
c. Packaged TV adds - less substance more image
d. Military experience, but no political experience will lead him to
depend on his advisors far too much
e. Honesty - do as little as possible
2. R - R.M. Nixon - VP.
a. accused of having an illegal campaign slush fund
b. Checkers speech - packaged ad
3. D - Adlai E. Stevenson - P.
a. best qualified in terms of talent
b. beat out Estes Kefauver
4. D - John Sparkman - VP.

B. Issues

1. Demos split liberal / conservative over the issues of civil rights and the
New Deal
2. They chose one northern and one southern candidate for the ticket
3. Rep. charged Demos with political corruption and bungling the Korean War
4. Also charged them with overspending
5. Communism at home also an issue

C. Results

1. Ike - 55% of vote
2. 442 - 89 electoral
3. control of both houses

II. New Look - largely rhetoric

A. "More bang for the buck"

1. Develop and train local forces (i.e. - ROK)
2. Deemphasize ground forces yet it was still larger than 1950
3. Rely more on air power and the bomb
4. Advanced technology - Military industrial complex
5. Cut defense spending - fear of national bankruptcy - actual cuts only returned us to 1950 level

B. Massive Retaliation - Brinkmanship

1. Threat of massive retaliation with atomic bombs would deter aggression
- stay out of small conflicts like Korea
2. Any dispute could lead to atomic annihilation (MAD) - basis of our foreign policy
- a. US H-bomb - 1951
- b. USSR H-bomb - 1953
3. Brinksmanship - get to the verge of war without getting into war - the absence of policy
4. Third World questioned our commitment
- a. We backed dictators and threatened to start a world war
- b. We opposed change - creating alliances which weakened the UN
- c. We were unwilling to commit the money necessary to make the Third World a better place to live
- d. Free enterprise allowed the wealthy to remain rich and did nothing for the poor
- e. Many US leaders condemned our attempts to aid our own poor
- f. We constantly threatened to cut money even to our strongest allies
- g. Money for a solid propaganda battle was not spent
- h. Population explosion created problems for which there were few solutions
- i. Ike's option were few

C. Leadership

1. John Foster Dulles - Secretary of State
2. Rivalry expressed in moralistic terms
3. Communism itself was evil whether allied with Soviets or not
4. Proposed roll-back of communism in Eastern Europe - replace containment (too passive)
5. Threatened to unleash Chiang Kai-shek - Truman had abandoned him
6. Police the world
7. Containment a treadmill - keep us in place till we drop exhausted

D. Lack of Leadership

1. Christian Herter replaces dying John Foster Dulles 10/58
2. People thought Ike's health slowed him
- a. heart attack - 1956
- b. stroke - 1957
3. Richard Nixon and LBJ waiting in the wings

III. Asia

A. Korea

1. 1952 - Ike elected President - sworn in 1/20/53 - promised to go to
Panmunjom
3/53 - Stalin died leaving the Soviets in turmoil
Only issue left was POWs - Ike used Brinkmanship to gain end of fighting
2. Armistice - Panmunjom - 7/27/53 - Truce no formal peace treaty
3. War was unpopular at home
5.7 million went to Korea
100,000 wounded / 30,000 died -US 12,000 POW's returned
1.5 million communist casualties
US still has 40,000 troops at the 38th parallel today
Cost - $18-22 billion
4. Results
a. US willing to fight to stop the spread of communism
b. US willing to fight a limited war without total victory

B. Domino Theory - If one falls they all will fall

avoid appeasement at all costs
1. Applied to French Indochina - Threatened to use the bomb
2. SEATO - 9/54
- a. Members - US, GB, FR, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines
- b. Commitment - consult not defend each other
- c. Additions - Japan, S. Korea, Nationalist China (Formosa), Fr. Indochina
- d. Line of Containment surrounding USSR and China
- e. "The sun never sets on an American Commitment" - Adlai Stevenson (42 - 1956)

C. Quemoy and Matsu - 1954/1958

1. Chiang Kai-shek took the islands in the Formosa Straits and in 1954 the
Chinese bombed them when
Chiang began a military buildup there after we signed a defense pact
agreeing to defend them - challenged our threat of massive retaliation
2. Formosa Resolution - 1/55 - blank check to the President - agreed to
bombings on alternate days
3. China leashed by USSR till breakdown in relations in 1958
4. They were within bombing distance of the mainland 8/58 the communists
bombed these islands again
5. Were they worth war?
6. US threatened the use of the bomb - sent the 7th fleet
7. China backed down - Chiang was releashed
8. Brinksmanship worked?

IV. Europe

A. USSR - change of leadership

1. 3/5/53 - Stalin dies
2. Nikolai Bulganin - Nikita Khrushchev struggle
3. Khrushchev - 1956
a. de-Stalinization
b. Peaceful Coexistence
c. Support Third World demands for independence through revolution while the US sought stability
4. East Germany - 1953 - chance at rollback ignored - Soviet tanks rolled in instead

B. West Germany created 1954

1. Became a member of NATO
2. Created its own army!

C. Geneva Conference 7/55 - called because of new H-bomb

US threatened at home by new bombers
1. Big Four - US, USSR, Br, Fr
2. Spirit of Geneva
a. Cold War enters a new phase - discussion
b. Ike gains world reknown as a peacemaker
3. Unification of Germany (proposal)
a. US wanted free elections/ withdrawal of foreign armies
b. USSR agreed, but wanted Germany to be a Cold War neutral like
Austria
c. Dulles rejected idea wanted Germany in NATO
4. Nuclear Disarmament
a. Open Skies Proposal - aerial inspection
b. Ike proposes an exchange of blueprints of bases and armies
c. Bulganin proposed prohibiting the manufacture of atomic weapons
and limiting both armies to 1.5 million men, but would not allow
inspection

D. Poland - 1956

1. Wladyslaw Gomulka elected to rule in Poland
2. Challenged USSR - given more independence
3. Imre Nagy - wanted to go further - executed

E. Hungary - 1956

1. Followed Polish example encouraged by Dulles rollback talk
2. Appeared victorious at first
3. Threatened to withdraw from Warsaw Pact
4. Oct. 23, 1956 - Soviets crushed the uprising - 200,000 troops
5. 200,000+ fled as Hungary lost all rights
6. Little that the US could do

F. Missile Gap - Sputnik

1. Sputnik 10/4/57 - surprised US gave Soviets an intercontinental ballistic missile threat
2. USSR saber rattled - Khrushchev hostile
- dirty bombs began to make people worry about radiation from testing
3. US - Explorer - 1/31/58
4. USSR - Laika - dog - no recovery system
5. 1958 - USSR suspended H-bomb tests US followed on a year by year basis
6. National Defense Education Act - 1958
- a. LBJ
- b. $1 billion in scholarships in the areas of science, math, foreign language
- c. NASA - 1958 - $4 billion
7. Ike preferred to wait - learned that the USSR was not as advanced as first thought
- a. US developed early detection systems
- b. Nuclear subs guaranteed retaliation

G. Berlin Threat - 1958

1. Led to the recognition of East Germany
2. NATO troops must be withdrawn from W. Berlin - ignored

H. Nixon - Khrushchev Kitchen Debate - 7/59

1. Khrushchev toured the US - debates Nixon over the advantages of capitalism/communism
2. Nixon uses the conveniences of a modern American kitchen on TV to show our superiority
3. Wanted to go to Disneyland - security problem
4. Ike called for an 11 country summit in Paris for 1960

I. U-2 Incident 5/60

1. Gary Powers shot down over USSR days before Paris Conference
2. US caught in a series of lies
3. US refused to stop flights - USSR canceled summit
4. Created uncertainty in US - USSR relations entering election

J. Ike Farewell Address

1. warned of military industrial complex
2. rise of misplaced power would get US into war make US go broke

V. Middle East

A. Iran - 1953

1. overthrow of the pro-communist government (Mohammed Mossadegh)
2. CIA supports the return of Shah Reza Pahlevi to the throne
3. US provides assistance for the modernization of the country

B. Gamal Abdel Nasser

1. Egyptian revolution - replaced King Farouk - 1954 - military dominated Republic
2. Nasser used cold war rivalries to his own gain
- a. modernize Egypt
- b. gain leadership of the Arab world

C. Baghdad Pact/CENTO - 2/55

1. Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey - defensive agreement
2. Saudi Arabia gives US air bases
3. Nasser saw this as an attempt to undermine his leadership
4. US did not meet obligations

D. Suez Canal Crisis - 1956

1. 1954 - US offered aid to build Aswan Dam - bidding war began
2. 9/55 - USSR traded arms (for use to attack Israel) for cotton through Czechoslovakia
3. US backed out of dam project citing USSR aid to Egypt
4. 7/56 - Nasser nationalized (took over) the Suez Canal to help pay for the dam without US aid
5. Compromise on payment failed as terrorist attacks stepped up against Israel
6. Israel attacked Egypt and marched to the Suez Canal 10/29/56
7. Fr. and Eng. seized Suez Canal and marched toward Cairo pretending desire for cease fire
8. Nasser sank ships in the Canal and closed it
9. This 3 way alliance forced the US to go against our own allies
10. USSR threatened to send in Russian volunteers to save Egypt - distract from Hungarian situation
11. UN condemned the attack - US and USSR supported the vote and called for a cease fire
12. 11/56 - France and GB withdrew - our alliance was hurt
13. Nasser paid GB $81 billion for the canal
14. 1959 - USSR gave aid to Egypt to finish dam - 1969
15. US chose to side with Israel

E. Eisenhower Doctrine - 1/57

1. Authority to go to the aid of any Middle Eastern country that asked for aid
against an aggressor supported by the communists - military and
$200 million in economic aid
2. Denounced by Nasser as an excuse for the US to meddle in Middle Eastern affairs
3. Nasser/USSR alliance used subversion to gain allies
- a. Syria
- b. Saudi Arabia - faction - we still had air bases there
- c. Iraq

F. Lebanon - 1958

1. Egypt and Syria threatened to take over their weaker Arab neighbors
2. Camile Chamoun - Christian President requested aid from the UN and then the US
Pres. / Prime Minister alternated between Arabs and Christians
3. 1958 US intervened in Lebanon
4. US sent in the Marines (14,000) and the 7th fleet and established peace and then withdrew
5. Br. protected Jordan at the same time (King Hussein - after 1957 assassination attempt)

VI. Loss of the Third World

A. Nixon Latin American Tour - 1958 - Good Neighbor Policy?

1. US economic trade policies hurt LA - we refused to compromise
2. Cost of aid too high
3. Hatred and riots ignored
4. Nixon mobbed on tour had to cancel (visited Peru and Venezuela only)
5. US realized mistake and made changes

B. Too late - Cuba - discuss in the next unit?No add here

C. Guatemala - 1951 - Jacobo Arbenz

confiscated property of United Fruit Co.
6/54 - US tagged him as communist and CIA overthrew him

D. Former Colonies of France and Great Britain go against us

1. They were our allies
2. Did not want us to replace them - USSR had little history of imperialism
3. Congo - Africa
a. extractive
b. US supported as long as trade relationship did not change

Return to Lecture Series 4 Table of Contents

Return to History2 Main Page