Eisenhower, Dulles Foreign Policy, 1952-1960

The University of Texas at Arlington Instructor: Dr. Allen Repko HIST1312: American History: 1865-Present______EISENHOWER’S FOREIGN POLICY, 1952-1960 #19

I. THE REPUBLICAN CRITICISM OF CONTAINMENT

A. THREE PROBLEMS WITH THE DEMOCRATIC STRATEGY OF CONTAINMENT:

1. ______2. ______3. It abandoned “countless human beings to a despotism and Godless terrorism”

B. THEIR IDEA: GO BEYOND CONTAINMENT TO LIBERATION

C. THREE PRACTICAL CONSTRAINTS ON “LIBERATING” COMMUNIST AREAS:

1. ______2. Republicans committed to ______3. ______

D. IN PRACTICE, EISENHOWER & DULLES CONTINUED THE TRUMAN POLICY OF CONTAINMENT

II. EISENHOWER’S “NEW LOOK” MILITARY POLICY:

A. PRIMARY FEATURE: THE DOCTRINE OF “MASSIVE RETALIATION”

1. Rejected the premise of NSC-68 that the U.S. could spend up to 20% of GNP on arms. Rejected deficit financing.

2. Key: our ability to build & deliver nuclear weapons--ability to destroy the Soviet Union

a. Emphasized ______

b. Emphasized ______

3. Significance: meant that Eisenhower had abandoned the idea of America fighting any more Korean wars with conventional weapons.

B. MAJOR CHALLENGES TO THE “NEW LOOK” POLICY [CONTAINMENT]

#1 The French defeat at Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954, raised the specter of falling dominoes throughout the region. U.S. response: ______

#2 Mao’s threatened seizure of Quemoy & Matsu islands off Formosa:

a. The threat: ______b. The response:______[though Eisenhower rejected a preventative war with China] c. The outcome: ______

C. THE “OTHER METHOD” OF ACHIEVING AMERICAN OBJECTIVES:

1. CIA’s first triumph came in 1953 in Iran. The U.S. achieved two objectives:

#1 We broke the ______#2 We ______

III. THREE MORE CRISES: HUNGARY, SUEZ, CUBA

A. THE SUEZ CRISIS, 1956

1. On July 19, 1956, Nasser retaliated by seizing the Suez Canal from the British. 2. Dulles’ primary concern: ______3. The U.S. response: fearing Arab reaction, Dulles was unwilling to back British & French efforts to retake the canal by force.

B. IN THE MIDST OF THIS, CRISIS #2 ERUPTED IN HUNGARY.

C. CRISIS #3: THE ISRAELIS STRUCK EGYPT, OCTOBER 1956

1. Britain and France issued an ultimatum to Nasser, demanding return of the Suez Canal. 2. On October 31, the day after Britain and France began bombing Egypt, Hungary left Warsaw Pact. Khrushchev ordered Soviet tanks back into Budapest to crush the rebellion, killing 30,000 while loosing 7,000 troops. Dulles refused pleas for American intervention. Bottom line: Eisenhower and Dulles were unwilling to risk WWIII to free E. Europe.

4. Simultaneously with his crushing the Hungarian revolt, Khrushchev warned the British and French on November 5 to withdraw from Egypt or he would destroy them. The United States refused to support our two key allies because of Middle East oil. Without American support, and although they were only a few hours away from achieving their goal of taking the Canal, Britain and France agreed to a ceasefire.

D. TWO LESSONS LEARNED:

1. America, when faced with the choice of Middle East oil or risking WWIII over the Suez Canal chose ______. 2. Egypt and the Arab world learned that the ______.

E. THEN CAME THE SHOCK OF SPUTNIK, OCTOBER 4, 1957

1. Reason Eisenhower did not panic: the CIA had in 1956 begun a series of flights over the Soviet Union in super-secret high altitude planes called U-2’s. These flight proved that the U.S. still had a substantial lead in strategic weapons.

IV. AN ASSESSMENT OF EISENHOWER-DULLES FOREING POLICY:

A. THE UNITED STATES EMERGED FROM THE EISENHOWER-DULLES YEARS IN A STRONG POSITION

1. The GNP went up—without inflation. 2. The economies of western Europe continued to boom. 3. NATO was intact. 4. Anglo-American oil interests in the Middle East were intact. 5. The economy of Latin America remained under American domination. 6. American military bases in the Pacific were safe. 7. Chang remained secure on Formosa. 8. Eisenhower was spending only two-thirds of what the Democrats wanted him to spend on defense, but even so, the U.S. was militarily superior to the Soviet Union. 9. The U.S. still controlled the world’s oceans and strategic choke points (except for the Suez Canal). 10. The West still controlled the lion’s share of the world strategic raw materials, especially oil. 11. Eisenhower kept us out of war.

2/20/03: AFR