Evaluate the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower.

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Criterion A-Plan of the Investigation

Question: Evaluate the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower.

        The following is an evaluation of the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower. The perspectives of two different historians, Arthur M. Schlesinger, jr., and Stephen E. Ambrose, are analyzed. Ambrose presents a generally positive view of Eisenhower’s presidency, praising him for keeping us out of war, especially in Vietnam. Schlesinger, however, is far more critical of Eisenhower, particularly in regard to his use of the central intelligence agency and atomic weapons. This investigation will attempt to present the evidence for and against President Eisenhower, to thoroughly analyze the information, and to arrive at a conclusion as to the extent of Dwight Eisenhower’s success as president.

Word count: 110

Criterion B-summery of evidence

        To historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, jr., Dwight D. Eisenhower was a failure as president. In domestic affairs, Schlesinger concludes that Eisenhower did what duty required, but little more (Schlesinger, 392). He criticizes President Eisenhower for creating the largest peacetime defecate in history through that time(Schlesinger, 391), for his use of executive privilege(Schlesinger, 390), for never renouncing the idea that a president has the authority to send troops into major combat without congressional approval(Schlesinger, 391), and for his inaction on civil rights(Schlesinger, 391).

        Schlesinger becomes far more critical of President Eisenhower in the field of foreign affairs, arguing that Eisenhower relied “exceptionally, and dangerously, on unconventional forms of coercive power: upon the covert operations of the central intelligence agency, and upon nuclear weapons.” (Schlesinger, 395)  Schlesinger gives many examples of covert actions by the central intelligence agency (Schlesinger, 396), and points out that the amount the central intelligence agency was spending on covert action increased by a factor of ten in the first four years of Eisenhower’s presidency (Schlesinger, 396). He proceeds to present President Eisenhower’s central intelligence agency as dangerously unsupervised and out of control. He does this by quoting President Eisenhower’s own board of consultants on foreign intelligence and special assistant for national security (Schlesinger, 396-7). He blames Eisenhower for releasing a “dangerous virus in American society and life.” (Schlesinger, 398)

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        Schlesinger’s greatest criticism of President Eisenhower is in his treatment of nuclear weapons. He shows how President Eisenhower used the threat of nuclear weapons more than any other president, citing such examples as Korea and Quemoy-Matsu (Schlesinger, 399-400). He asserts that Eisenhower saw little, if any, distinction between nuclear weapons and conventional weapons, and condems President Eisenhower’s campaign to legitimate nuclear war (Schlesinger, 400). The British perspective that President Eisenhower’s desire for the legitimacy of nuclear weapons may have been a greater threat to world peace than the Soviet Union is clearly illustrated (Schlesinger, 401-2). Oddly enough, in the following ...

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