In truth, Eisenhower was not a small-government conservative, although he successfully sold himself as one to the public. He believed government should create the conditions in which Americans could pursue their own ambitions. This implied not a small or diminished government but an effective one. Good government should deliver meaningful enhancements to citizens within the limits of fiscal restraint. Ike believed in making government work “for the little fellow,” as he put it, and in particular that meant providing social security, health care and insurance, housing, and highways.
