Eisenhower's Presidency Flashcards
1
Q
What was Eisenhower’s personality like?
A
- honourable, affable and gregarious
- distressed when people didn’t like him and refused to speak ill of anyone
- as a soldier, inspired confidence and commanded respect in his troops
- little interest in politics in his early life and never voted in an election until 1948
2
Q
What was Eisenhower’s dynamic conservatism policy?
A
“conservative when it comes to money, but liberal when it comes to human beings”
3
Q
What were some of Eisenhower’s policies?
A
- creation of a new Department of Health, Education and Welfare
- expansion of social security benefit to cover 10million Americans
- increase in minimum wage by 25%
- $500million made available for low income public housing
- federal aid highway act of 1956: 41,000miles of interstate highway built over 20 years
- introducing two civil rights acts (1957 and 1960)
4
Q
What evidence suggests that Eisenhower wasn’t totally successful in domestic policy?
A
- administration blamed for second recession in 8yrs and the supposed space race defeat after sputnik
- struggled with promise to reduce spending: domestic spending rose from 31% in 1953 to 49% in 1961 but in spite of this and the consumer boom, many Americans didn’t share the prosperity
- 1 in 4 living in poverty and didn’t benefit from the growth of the economy or the inrease in the minimum wage and social security
5
Q
How successful was Eisenhower’s presidency?
A
- controversial management of the economy: three recessions
- perceived defeat in the space race
- struggled with promise to reduce spending
- one in every four lived in poverty and didn’t benefit from economy growth, increased minimum wage or social security
6
Q
How was McCarthyism brought to an end?
A
- McCarthy had televised hearings on communist influence in the army
- Joseph Welch, an army lawyer, said “have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?” - McCarthy self-destructed
