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By Thomas Edgar Stephens, 1947. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian
Institution; transfer from the National Gallery of Art, gift of Ailsa
Mellon Bruce, 1947 |
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Thirty-fourth President, 1953-1961
Dwight D. Eisenhower's success in the European Theater of Operations
during World War II led to his appointment as Supreme Allied Commander
in Europe--the organizer of the D-Day invasion of Normandy that helped
bring about Germany's surrender. When the genial war hero ran for
president on a promise to end the Korean War, the voting public made
it clear that they did, in fact, like Ike. The eight years Eisenhower
spent in office were for the most part calm, prosperous years for
the country, with the healthiest economy since the 1920s. But there
were volatile issues for the president to deal with, as well. Senator
Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, was so intent on ferreting out supposed
communists within the State Department that he ruined the careers
of many innocent people. The president also had to handle intensifying
civil rights issues, such as the South's defiant reaction to the Supreme
Court-ordered desegregation of schools, causing him to send federal
troops to escort the African American students to school. The space
race began on Eisenhower's watch when the Soviet Union beat America
into space with Sputnik I, the first satellite into space. In order
to bring the American space program up to speed, the president approved
a new congressional program to bring talented young scientists into
the field of space technology. |
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