The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower: The Presidency: The Middle Way

The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower

by Dwight D. Eisenhower (Editor)

The newest volumes in this distinguished series cover Eisenhower's first term as President of the United States, from January 1953 to January 1956. Meticulously edited and carefully annotated, these memorandums, diary entries, and personal and official letters shed new light on some of the most important topics in recent American history. The newest volumes in this distinguished series cover Eisenhower's first term as President of the United States, from January 1953 to January 1956. Meticulously edited and carefully annotated, these memorandums, diary entries, and personal and official letters shed new light on some of the most important topics in recent American history. Eisenhower won the presidency decisively after offering the American people an alternative to the New Deal and Fair Deal policies that had dominated public life for twenty years. He ended the unpopular Korean War and dealt effectively with crises in Guatemala and Iran. Problems in Egypt, Southeast Asia, and the Formosa Straits, however, proved intractable. Meanwhile, Eisenhower wrestled with the demands of GOP leadership. His political coalition, built at the center, felt constant pressure from the Republican right, particularly from Ohio senator John Bricker, who opposed international commitments that might circumscribe U.S. sovereignty, and Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy, who claimed to find Communist conspiracies in the highest reaches of government In 1955, despite his having suffered a heart attack, the president reluctantly decided to seek another term, hoping thereby to secure his domestic successes and carry forward his work toward a stable, peaceful world order. Although diplomatic troubles in the Middle East and an anti-communist outbreak in Hungary kept him from much personal campaigning in the summer and fall of 1956, he won an impressive mandate in November and began preparing for a second term. The The Middle Way makes a new contribution to our understanding of the Eisenhower administration and Ike's role in creating the modern presidency. Taken together, the documents portray Eisenhower as a forceful leader who faced truly vexing domestic and cold war problems and handled them with great skill and a fundamental sense of decency.

3040 pages, Hardcover

First published July 23, 1996

About the author

Dwight David Eisenhower, born David Dwight Eisenhower, nicknamed "Ike", was a General of the Army (five star general) in the United States Army and U.S. politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953 – 1961). During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-45. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.

As President, he oversaw the cease-fire of the Korean War, kept up the pressure on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, made nuclear weapons a higher defense priority, launched the Space Race, enlarged the Social Security program, and began the Interstate Highway System.