BY THE START OF 1955 Eisenhower had attained extraordinary popularity and prestige in American public life. He had tamed the war in Korea and avoided American entanglement in Indochina. He had brought fiscal balance back to Washington. He had guided the nation through a brief recession and ushered in an era of robust economic growth. His expansion of social security aided millions. His defanging of McCarthy won him wide respect. Even his tepid support of civil rights for African Americans aligned with public opinion in much of the nation.
