Dwight+D.+Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. He was offered a promotion to a six star general but he turned it down. He had responsibility for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 19424 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944 from the Western Front. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO. Eisenhower entered the presidential race in 1952. He was a republican that got chosen over Robert Taft. Eisenhower was supported greatly because he was a war hero. He won by a landslide, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson and ending two decades of the New Deal Coalition. In the first year of his presidency, Eisenhower deposed the leader of Iran in the 1953 Iranian coup d'etat and used nuclear threats to conclude the Korean War with China. His New Look policy of nuclear deterrence gave priority to inexpensive nuclear weapons while reducing the funding for conventional military forces; the goal was to keep pressure on the Soviet Union and reduce federal deficits. In 1954, Eisenhower first talked about the domino theory in his description of the threat presented by the spread of communism. He went against Joseph McCarthy and contributed to the end of McCarthyism by saying the modern expanded version of executive privilege. He otherwise left most political activity to his Vice President, Richard Nixon. He continued New Deal agencies and expanded Social Security.Among his enduring innovations, he launched the Interstate Highway System; the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which led to the internet. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He also helped with the establishment of strong science education by creating the National Defense Education Act. He encouraged peaceful use of nuclear power by creating amendments to the Atomic Energy Act.