Dwight D. Eisenhower: The American Presidents Series: The 34th President, 1953-1961

by Tom Wicker

Eisenhower himself described—and in some cases either exaggerated or oversimplified—the world the new administration perceived. It was caught up in a grim long-range struggle between former associated powers—the Free World on the one hand and Soviet Russia, with the now communized China, on the other.… [T]he world situation had continued to degenerate. Premier Mossadegh had nationalized Iran’s oil resources, and the country was drifting dangerously toward Communism. In Guatemala the Arbenz regime, since December 1950, had been attempting to establish a Communist state within the Western Hemisphere. In Indochina and Malaya there was fighting between the lawfully constituted governments and the Communists. Yugoslavia and Italy were still quarreling over their claimed rights in Trieste. Furthermore, although the United States had exploded its first H-bomb on November 1, three days before the election, it was probable that the Soviets would not be far behind. (Moscow, as the world knew, had possessed atomic weapons since 1948.)