The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950s

by William I. Hitchcock

JUST AFTER CHRISTMAS 1955 EISENHOWER received some welcome news from George Gallup, the pollster and director of the American Institute of Public Opinion. Americans, Gallup reported, considered Eisenhower the most admired man in the world, at the head of a distinguished pack that included Winston Churchill, Douglas MacArthur, Harry Truman, Albert Schweitzer, Pope Pius XII, and the Rev. Billy Graham. Yet the president was probably not surprised by the honor. He had also topped the list in 1954. And in 1953, 1952, and 1951. Indeed Ike would be America’s most admired man for ten straight years between 1951 and 1960.1 Americans also approved, overwhelmingly, of his performance in office. During his eight years as president he enjoyed an average approval rating of 65 percent.