Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
He did as little as he possibly could. The Little Rock decision was tied to his view that it would hurt US image abroad, during a period of decolonization, if he did nothing. It was his sole signficant effort in civil rights and had nothing at all to do with civil rights per se.
Ike actually said that he was not interested in civil rights, which fits into his general disinterest in domestic issues, or, alternately, a belief that the President's function was limited to the making of foreign policy. In fact, he didn't name Herbert Brownell to the SCOTUS because Brownell, Ike's AG, was a liberal Republican who was a strong advocate of civil rights, and instead named Potter Stewart, the type of pro-business moderate Republican that Ike liked.
Quote:
He appointed Warren at a point where he was considered a strong conservative - he had for example supported removal of Japanese citizens in WWII.
Warren as attorney general of California was one of the architects of the internment program. (Which was why the NAACP was skeptical of Warren when Brown v. Board of Education was before the SCOTUS.)
However, he did seem to feel some guilt over this, and as governor of California ended segregation and had a good civil rights record as well as undertaking development and infrastructure projects to build up the state. As far as Ike knew, he was another moderate Republican. Ike didn't anticipate how liberal Warren would become once on the Court.
Quote:
He later called the appointment "my greatest mistake."
Brennan, also, but Ike knew that Brennan was a liberal Democrat from the get-go. He appointed Brennan in the election year of 1956 to get Dem support and also to get Northeastern white ethnic support. Considering his landslide that year, it didn't hurt.
Quote:
What Warren became was the exact opposite of what Eisenhower expected.
I don't think anyone expected that Warren would become as liberal as he became. Probably not even Warren himself.
Quote:
In fact he sent an air force team to Vietnam to prepare to support the droping of a nuclear weapon here. The mission was not carried out because the fortress fell before the mission could occur.
Was the plan for a nuke at Dien Bien Phu ever anything more than something that was discussed at the Pentagon? I don't think it was set to go.
Quote:
He was not forced to chose between sending US troops and losing Vietnam. LBJ was. No one knows what Eisenhower would have done.
He did refuse to intervene in the Suez Crisis, one of the odder moments of the Cold War - in which the US refused to side with Britain, France, and Israel against Nasser's Egypt which was backed by the USSR. Ike made the right decision not to get involved.
Quote:
Because the US was the only major economy not destroyed by the Second World War.
Canada, also. Also Argentina, but they had other problems.
Quote:
Even so progress was slow for much of the public, particularly in his second term.
The first post-WW2 recession, dubbed the "Depression of 1958", occurred in his second term. Compared to what we are going through now it would seem extremely mild, but at the time it certainly didn't (considering that every adult in America remembered the 1930s Depression and saw the recession as too familiar for comfort). It led to Dem landslides in the midterm House and Senate elections and in state elections in almost every state (New York, where the GOP had a landslide, was the only exception that I know of).
In 1960 the economy was recovering and the greatest economic prosperity in US history was about to begin, but the Administration was tarnished and Ike's popularity was down. The U-2 incident hurt it further.
I think we need a president like Eisenhower today. He was cautious about spending, kept the budget balanced or close to balanced, and was reluctant to commit military resources. He considered our young men to be our greatest resource, to be used as sparingly as possible.
Many people don't realize that Eisenhower resisted strong pressure from both parties to spend large additional amounts of money on defense. He also played an interesting game with Khrushchev, allowing him to make what Eisenhower knew were false boasts about Soviet power as a substitute for a real arms race. As Eisenhower knew, we were well ahead of the Soviets in weaponry and he could afford to stay quiet. After Kennedy called Khrushchev's bluff, the arms race escalated. Perhaps Eisenhower's low-key way of dealing with the issue, which was considered ineffective by many at the time, was smarter over the long run.
Eisenhower's biggest failing was probably not making a stronger push for civil rights. He let the issue fester. It should be noted, though, that Eisenhower did push through a (relatively ineffective) civil rights bill in 1957, which was greatly weakened by the resistance of southern Democrats, including ironically Lyndon Johnson.
The times a person is president define a lot of what he does. Eisenhower's times called for a more restrained government, in the wake of World War II, and a period of consolidation. He ended the Korean War early in his term, and resisted a commitment to Vietnam against the advice of nearly all his advisors.
I think he is a president who has been misunderstood and underrated in a lot of ways. He deserves a lot of credit for what didn't happen during his term.
Many people don't realize that Eisenhower resisted strong pressure from both parties to spend large additional amounts of money on defense.
Wasn't it Eisenhower who first used the term 'military-industrial complex?' He saw what was coming much more clearly than a lot of other leaders at the time.
And, quite possibly, the last President of whom it could be said, he wasn't political. Eisenhower was literally and figuratively drafted by the Republican Party in 1952. He accepted their nomination because it was the one extended to him--it was never the case that he was a diehard like, say, Robert Taft. Had the Democrats offered Eisenhower the '52 nomination, then they would have been able to claim victory. He really wasn't either a Democrat or a Republican. He was a military man, which was his own description of himself.
And, quite possibly, the last President of whom it could be said, he wasn't political. Eisenhower was literally and figuratively drafted by the Republican Party in 1952. He accepted their nomination because it was the one extended to him--it was never the case that he was a die hard like, say, Robert Taft. Had the Democrats offered Eisenhower the '52 nomination, then they would have been able to claim victory. He really wasn't either a Democrat or a Republican. He was a military man, which was his own description of himself.
And, quite possibly, the last President of whom it could be said, he wasn't political. Eisenhower was literally and figuratively drafted by the Republican Party in 1952. He accepted their nomination because it was the one extended to him--it was never the case that he was a diehard like, say, Robert Taft. Had the Democrats offered Eisenhower the '52 nomination, then they would have been able to claim victory. He really wasn't either a Democrat or a Republican. He was a military man, which was his own description of himself.
Truman asked Ike to be his VP in 1948 and Ike declined.
More trivia: John Roosevelt, FDR's Republican son (which caused Eleanor a great deal of grief), occupied an important position in Ike's 1952 campaign. FDR's youngest son did campaign to get Dems to vote for Ike, which many did.
As I noted elsewhere whether you like Eisenhower depends on your politics. I consider LBJ the last great American president because of what he achieved in areas like medicare and civil rights.
Quote:
Was the plan for a nuke at Dien Bien Phu ever anything more than something that was discussed at the Pentagon?
It was quite real. A team of senior air force officers was actively preparing to parachute into the area when the fort fell - to create a system to signal the bombers where to attack. I think Bernard Fall documents this in Hell in a Very Small Place although I am not sure any more.
As I noted elsewhere whether you like Eisenhower depends on your politics. I consider LBJ the last great American president because of what he achieved in areas like medicare and civil rights.
Vietnam disqualifies LBJ from any list of great presidents.
Vietnam disqualifies LBJ from any list of great presidents.
As I said, its all about your politics. LBJ never wanted to get into Vietnam. He thought he had no choice given past American policy. He tried desperately to find an alternative.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
