Dwight D Eisenhower During Eisenhower’s first term as presi dent 1953 57 the Korean War ended and the United States went on to achieve the great est prosperity in its history up to that time Eisenhower advocated for public works proj ects and reduced government spending In 1956 the Republican Party unanimously renominated Eisenhower for the presidency Campaigning on a platform of peace and pros perity Eisenhower decisively defeated the same Democratic opponent Stevenson He received 457 electoral votes to Stevenson’s 73 Eisenhower’s second term was marked by tensions related to the developing civil rights movement In 1954 the Supreme Court led by Eisenhower’s choice for chief justice Earl Warren had declared that separate schools for black and white students were uncon stitutional Three years later the governor of Arkansas called in the National Guard to prevent black students from attending an all white high school in Little Rock Eisenhower sent federal troops to protect the students In the same year Congress passed the first civil rights act since the end of Reconstruction Eisenhower faced other challenges abroad including the Suez crisis in the Middle East and the Soviet Union’s successful launch 8
Introduction of the first artificial satellite Sputnik I He aimed to reduce tension in the Cold War and invited Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev to visit the United States in 1959 Eisenhower himself embarked on several goodwill tours around the world in his final years as president that the armaments In his Farewell Address Eisenhower warned industry though necessary for the nation’s security could endanger the American democratic process Despite this warning the Cold War would only intensify during the admin istration of his successor John F Kennedy However during his eight years as president Eisenhower had proved himself to be more than just a strong leader on the battlefield As commander in chief and head of state he presided over a nation that was gaining in prosperity even as it grappled with issues of security and civil rights 9
Early Life and Military Career 10 Chapter 1 he future president was born in 1890 Most published sources refer to his birth name as David Dwight Eisenhower which is also how it appears in the family Bible Two biographers of Eisenhower Stephen Ambrose and Carlo D’Este believe that his mother reversed his given names to Dwight David shortly after his birth She reportedly did this partly because she did not like nicknames and thought that Dwight could never be shortened and partly because she thought it would be confusing to have a son with the same name as his father David Boyhood in Kansas The name Eisenhower comes from German words meaning a kind of ironworker The T
Early Life and Military Career Right running head president’s father David Eisenhower was descended from German immigrants who had settled in Pennsylvania during the 1730s In 1878 the family moved to Abilene Kansas The president’s mother Ida Elizabeth Stover Eisenhower had moved from Virginia to Kansas in 1883 Eisenhower’s parents met at a United Brethren school in Lecompton Kansas They married in 1885 A few years later David Eisenhower moved his family from Abilene to Denison Texas Dwight was born there on October 14 1890 He was the third of his par ents seven sons one of whom died of diphtheria Eisenhower pictured with his brothers lived in this home in Abilene Kansas from 1892 until he left for West Point in 1911 11 11
