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144-538: The coalition made the Democratic Party the majority party nationally for decades. Democrats lost control of the White House only in 1952 and 1956 during the broadly popular Eisenhower presidency . They typically controlled both Houses of Congress before the 1990s. The coalition began to weaken with the collapse of big city machines after 1940, the steady decline of labor unions after 1970, the bitter factionalism during

288-505: A noninterventionist foreign policy. Taft had been a candidate for the Republican nomination twice before but had been defeated both times by moderate Republicans from New York: Wendell Willkie in 1940 and Thomas E. Dewey in 1948. Dewey, the party's presidential nominee in 1944 and 1948, led the moderate wing of the party, centered in the Eastern states . These moderates supported most of

432-860: A second crisis in 1958 would end in a similar fashion. During the first crisis, the United States and the ROC signed a mutual defense treaty , which committed the United States to the defense of Taiwan. The CIA also supported dissidents in the 1959 Tibetan uprising , but China crushed the uprising. By the end of 1954, the National Security Council, Joint Chiefs of Staff , and State Department had urged Eisenhower, on at least five occasions, to drop atomic bombs on China, but each time he refused. Wisconsin Progressive Party The Wisconsin Progressive Party (1934–1946)

576-500: A coalition of liberals , labor unions, Northern religious and ethnic minorities (Catholic, Jewish, and Black), and Southern Whites. These voting blocs together formed a majority of voters and handed the Democratic Party seven victories out of nine presidential elections (1932–1948, 1960, 1964), as well as control of both houses of Congress during all but four years between the years 1932–1980 (Republicans won small majorities in 1946 and 1952). Political scientists describe this realignment as

720-501: A college degree have been trending towards the Democratic Party, such as in Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina. The European ethnic groups came of age after the 1960s. Ronald Reagan pulled many of the working-class social conservatives into the Republican party as Reagan Democrats . Many middle-class ethnic minorities saw the Democratic Party as a working class party, and preferred the GOP as

864-616: A combination of defections of prominent Democrats—including Roosevelt—as well as a massive smear campaign using Hollywood techniques and a blackout whereby all the state's newspapers opposed him and refused to cover his ideas. The Republican leadership realized the California electorate was moving left so it went along. Its 1934 platform endorsed not just the Townsend Plan but also the 30 hour work week, unemployment relief, and collective bargaining for all workers. The GOP wanted to win votes but in

1008-599: A defensive alliance dedicated to preventing the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia . In September 1954, China began shelling the islands of Quemoy and Matsu which were controlled by the Republic of China (ROC). The shelling nearly escalated to nuclear war when Eisenhower considered using tactical nuclear weapons to prevent the invasion of Taiwan, the main island controlled by the ROC. The crisis ended when China halted its shelling and both sides agreed to diplomatic talks;

1152-411: A gift—a dog named "Checkers"—and that he would not return it, because his daughters loved it. The public responded to the speech with an outpouring of support, and Eisenhower retained him on the ticket. Ultimately, the burden of the ongoing Korean War , Communist threat, and Truman administration scandals, as well as the popularity of Eisenhower, were too much for Stevenson to overcome. Eisenhower won

1296-586: A high priority on undermining Soviet influence on Eastern Europe, and escalated a propaganda war under the leadership of Charles Douglas Jackson . The United States dropped over 300,000 propaganda leaflets in Eastern Europe between 1951 and 1956, and Radio Free Europe sent broadcasts throughout the region. A 1953 uprising in East Germany briefly stoked the administration's hopes of a decline in Soviet influence, but

1440-460: A landslide victory, taking 55.2 percent of the popular vote and 442 electoral votes. Stevenson received 44.5 percent of the popular vote and 89 electoral votes. Eisenhower won every state outside of the South, as well as Virginia, Florida, and Texas, each of which voted Republican for just the second time since the end of Reconstruction . In the concurrent congressional elections, Republicans won control of

1584-551: A longtime bank president who also had extensive government experience, as the director of the Bureau of the Budget . He became the first budget director to be given cabinet-level status. Other Eisenhower cabinet selections provided patronage to political bases. Ezra Taft Benson , a high-ranking member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , was chosen as secretary of agriculture; he

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1728-563: A policy of modern Republicanism that occupied a middle ground between liberal Democrats and the conservative wing of the Republican Party. Eisenhower continued New Deal programs, expanded Social Security , and prioritized a balanced budget over tax cuts. He played a major role in establishing the Interstate Highway System , a massive infrastructure project consisting of tens of thousands of miles of divided highways . After

1872-784: A possible nuclear war situation. Known as the Defense Resources Act, this legislative text entered the Congressional Record in 1983. According to page 182 (printed page) of the relevant pdf, the Act would authorize establishment of Censorship of Communications and other emergency federal powers: " Whenever the President shall deem that the public safety demands it, he may cause to be censored under such rules and regulations as he may from time to time establish, communications by mail, cable radio, television or other means of transmission crossing

2016-424: A powerful presidential contender who would field a competitive campaign. Stevenson concentrated on giving a series of thoughtful speeches around the nation. Although his style thrilled intellectuals and academics, some political experts wondered if he were speaking "over the heads" of most of his listeners, and they dubbed him an "egghead," based on his baldness and intellectual demeanor. His biggest liability however,

2160-455: A result, it became a standing joke that Eisenhower's inaugural Cabinet was composed of "nine millionaires and a plumber." Dissatisfied with Eisenhower's labor policies, Durkin resigned after less than a year in office, and was replaced by James P. Mitchell . Eisenhower suffered a major political defeat when his nomination of Lewis Strauss as a later Secretary of Commerce was defeated in the U.S. Senate in 1959, in part due to Strauss's role in

2304-545: A result, union membership steadily declined. Labor unions were painted as corrupt, ineffective, and outdated by the Republican Party. During the 1960s, issues as civil rights and racial integration , the Vietnam War and the counterculture of the 1960s , affirmative action , and large-scale urban riots further split the coalition and drove many Whites away, signalling that the coalition started to fall. The War in Vietnam split

2448-594: A serious split, with the New Left unwilling to support most of the Democratic presidential nominees. Since the 1990s, the growing number of Americans with a post-graduate degree have supported Democrats. In recent years, White Americans with a college degree have tended to support the Democratic Party, especially among younger voters, while non-college graduates are more likely to support the Republican Party—a reversal of

2592-463: A setting up state-owned factories to hire the unemployed, and by increasing pensions for the elderly. Critics said it would flood the state with unemployed from everywhere else. Sinclair had a pension plan of his own and refused to endorse the Townsend Plan which had a strong following. The Republican candidate endorsed the Townsend Plan and won the movement's support. Sinclair was narrowly defeated by

2736-546: A strategy of nuclear deterrence based upon the triad of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), strategic bombers , and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). Throughout his presidency, Eisenhower insisted on having plans to retaliate , fight, and win a nuclear war against the Soviets, although he hoped he would never feel forced to use such weapons. As the fighting in Korea ended, Eisenhower sharply reduced

2880-454: A strong American role in stemming the expansion of Communism. Eisenhower adopted much of the rhetoric and positions of the contemporary GOP, and many of his public statements were designed to win over conservative supporters of Taft. A potentially devastating allegation hit when Nixon was accused by several newspapers of receiving $ 18,000 in undeclared "gifts" from wealthy California donors. Eisenhower and his aides considered dropping Nixon from

3024-525: A supervisory and administrative nature politics plays only a minor in a comparatively insignificant role." However those who were hired were reminded at election time that FDR created their job and the Republicans would take it away. The great majority voted accordingly. After the end of the Great Depression around 1941, the next challenge was to keep Democratic majorities alive. It seemed impossible after

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3168-711: A surge of prosperity that the relief mechanism of the New Deal was no longer needed. Labor unions crested in size and power in the 1950s but then went into steady decline. They continue to be major backers of the Democrats, but with so few members, they have lost much of their influence. From the 1960s into the 1990s, many jobs moved to the Sun Belt free of union influences, and the Republican Party frequently painted unions as corrupt and ineffective. Intellectuals gave increasing support to Democrats since 1932. The Vietnam War, however, caused

3312-582: A temporary partition of Vietnam; the country was divided into a Communist northern half (under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh ) and a non-Communist southern half (under the leadership of Ngo Dinh Diem ). Despite some doubts about the strength of Diem's government, the Eisenhower administration directed aid to the South in the hopes of creating a bulwark against further Communist expansion. With Eisenhower's approval, Diem refused to hold elections which had been scheduled for 1956 to re-unify Vietnam in contravention of

3456-452: A third party to the left of Roosevelt in 1936. Long was assassinated but his followers did set up the Union Party that polled 2% of the vote in the 1936 United States presidential election . In California, Upton Sinclair , a famous novelist and socialist won the Democratic nomination for governor, on a left-wing ticket in 1934. His EPIC program promised to end poverty and unemployment by

3600-561: A weak third party. The White House supported the Farmer-Labor Party (FLP) in Minnesota. Roosevelt had an informal deal with Governor Floyd B. Olson whereby the FLP would get some of the patronage, and in turn the FLP would work to block a third-party ticket against Roosevelt in 1936. The radical third parties declined rapidly after 1936 and no longer played a part in the New Deal coalition. As

3744-561: The 1952 presidential election . Four years later, in the 1956 presidential election , he defeated Stevenson again, to win re-election in a larger landslide. Eisenhower was limited to two terms and was succeeded by Democrat John F. Kennedy , who won the 1960 presidential election . Eisenhower held office during the Cold War , a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union . Eisenhower's New Look policy stressed

3888-758: The 1953 Iranian coup d'état (or Operation Ajax). Rumors of Soviet subversion had surfaced due to the nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company . Historian Ervand Abrahamian states that Iran's oil was the central focus of the coup, for both the British and the U.S., though "much of the discourse at the time linked it to the Cold War." The CIA also instigated the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état (or Operation PBSuccess). President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán 's ambitious agrarian reform program attempted to grant land to millions of landless peasants. This program threatened

4032-516: The 1968 election , the turn of White Northern ethnics and Southern Whites toward conservatism on racial issues, and the rise of neoliberalism under the presidency of Ronald Reagan , with its opposition to regulation. The Great Depression in the United States began in 1929 and was often blamed on Republicans and their big business allies. Republican president Herbert Hoover opposed federal relief efforts as unwarranted, believing that market actors and local governments were better suited to address

4176-808: The Civilian Conservation Corps (where the boys' wages went to the unemployed father), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration , and especially the Works Progress Administration (WPA). A representative transition came in Pittsburgh , which had long been a Republican stronghold with a promise of prosperity. The worsening depression enabled the Democrats to convince some Republicans to switch parties while mobilizing large numbers of ethnics who had not voted before. Democrats capitalized on Roosevelt's popularity to win

4320-619: The Katangan authorities, including Mobutu Sese Seko and Joseph Kasa-Vubu , received money and weapons directly from the CIA. In January 1953, Senator John W. Bricker of Ohio re-introduced the Bricker Amendment , which would limit the president's treaty making power and ability to enter into executive agreements with foreign nations. Fears that the steady stream of post-World War II-era international treaties and executive agreements entered into by

4464-569: The Korean War , which had begun on June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea . The U.S. had joined the war to prevent the fall of South Korea, later expanding the mission to include victory over the Communist regime in North Korea. The intervention of Chinese forces in late 1950 led to a protracted stalemate around the 38th parallel north . Truman had begun peace talks in mid-1951, but

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4608-622: The Middle East . In response to the Cuban Revolution , the Eisenhower administration broke ties with Cuba and began preparations for an invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles, eventually resulting in the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion . Eisenhower also allowed the Central Intelligence Agency to engage in covert actions, such as the 1953 Iranian coup d'état and the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état . In domestic affairs, Eisenhower supported

4752-632: The Oppenheimer security hearing . Eisenhower, who disliked partisan politics and politicians, left much of the building and sustaining of the Republican Party to Vice President Nixon. Eisenhower knew how ill-prepared Vice President Truman had been on major issues such as the atomic bomb when he suddenly became president in 1945, and therefore made sure to keep Nixon fully involved in the administration. He gave Nixon multiple diplomatic, domestic, and political assignments so that he "evolved into one of Ike's most valuable subordinates." The office of vice president

4896-495: The Supreme Allied Commander of NATO , had long been mentioned as a possible presidential contender, but he was reluctant to become involved in partisan politics. Nonetheless, he was troubled by Taft's non-interventionist views, especially his opposition to NATO , which Eisenhower considered to be an important deterrence against Soviet aggression. He was also motivated by the corruption that he believed had crept into

5040-634: The United Kingdom . This was the first experiment at sharing strategic nuclear weapons in NATO and led to other placements abroad of American nuclear weapons. Critics at the time, led by Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts levied charges to the effect that there was a " missile gap ", that is, the U.S. had fallen militarily behind the Soviets because of their lead in space. Historians now discount those allegations, although they agree that Eisenhower did not effectively respond to his critics. In fact,

5184-701: The Western European Union to coordinate European defense. In response to the integration of West Germany into NATO, Eastern bloc leaders established the Warsaw Pact . Austria , which had been jointly-occupied by the Soviet Union and the Western powers, regained its sovereignty with the 1955 Austrian State Treaty . As part of the arrangement that ended the occupation, Austria declared its neutrality after gaining independence. The Eisenhower administration placed

5328-630: The rollback of Soviet influence was a long-term goal, but that NATO would not provoke war with the Soviet Union. Peace would be maintained by being so much stronger in terms of atomic weapons than the USSR that it would never risk using its much larger land-based army to attack Western Europe. He planned for to mobilize psychological insights, CIA intelligence and American scientific technological superiority counter conventional Soviet forces. After Joseph Stalin died in March 1953, Georgy Malenkov took leadership of

5472-570: The " Fifth Party System ", in contrast to the Fourth Party System of the 1896–1932 era that proceeded it. City machines had major roles to play. Most important, the New Deal coalition had to carry entire states, not just cities. The largest possible landslide was needed, and the city machines came through in 1940, 1944, and 1948. They kept the voters by providing federal jobs aimed at the unemployed—the Civil Works Administration ,

5616-527: The "full independence" of Eastern European nations, and United Nations control of atomic energy. Though well received in the West, the Soviet leadership viewed Eisenhower's speech as little more than propaganda. In 1954, a more confrontational leader, Nikita Khrushchev , took charge in the Soviet Union. Eisenhower became increasingly skeptical of the possibility of cooperation with the Soviet Union after it refused to support his Atoms for Peace proposal, which called for

5760-598: The 1930s into the 1960s, black voters in the North began trending Democrat, while those in the South were largely disenfranchised. Following the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, black voters became a much more important part of the Democrat voter base. Their Democratic loyalties have cut across all income and geographic lines to form the single most unified bloc of voters in the country, with over 87% of black voters voting for

5904-546: The 1933 mayoral race. The WPA then played a critical role in the consolidation of the Democratic machine. By 1936 the Democrats had a majority in the registration rolls for the first time since the Civil War. That November FDR won 70% of the Pittsburgh vote. The president in 1933 wanted to bring all major groups together, business and labor, banker and borrower, farms and towns, liberals and conservatives. The escalating attacks from

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6048-714: The Attorney General, Herbert Brownell, usually in consultation with the state's senators. The administration appointed 45 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals , and 129 judges to the United States district courts . Since nearly all were appointed to serve specific geographical area, their regional origins matched the national population. All were white men. Most judges had an upper-middle-class background. One in five attended an Ivy League undergraduate college; half attended an Ivy League law school. Party affiliation

6192-568: The CEO of General Motors , was Eisenhower's first secretary of defense. In 1957, he was replaced by president of Procter & Gamble , Neil H. McElroy . For the position of secretary of the treasury, Ike selected George M. Humphrey , the CEO of several steel and coal companies. His postmaster general, Arthur E. Summerfield , and first secretary of the interior, Douglas McKay , were both automobile distributors. Former senator Sinclair Weeks became Secretary of Commerce. Eisenhower appointed Joseph Dodge ,

6336-708: The Cold War and anti-communist position led Eisenhower to build a trade and military alliance with the Spanish through the Pact of Madrid . These relations brought an end to Spain's isolation after World War II, which in turn led to a Spanish economic boom known as the Spanish miracle . After the end of World War II, the Việt Minh launched an insurrection against the French-backed State of Vietnam . Seeking to support France and prevent

6480-575: The Congo , and his acceptance of Soviet support during the Congo Crisis , the CIA saw "another possible Cuba." This view swayed the White House. President Eisenhower discussed plans at a National Security Council meeting on August 18, 1960, to assassinate Lumumba. However, the plot to poison him was abandoned. Declassified documents indicate that the Congolese leaders who overthrew Lumumba and transferred him to

6624-514: The Democratic Party into the New Deal coalition. In 1940 La Guardia chaired the nationwide Committee of Independent Voters for Roosevelt; in return, the president put him in charge of the Office of Civilian Defense . He retired and was replaced as mayor in 1945 by William O'Dwyer , the Tammany candidate. Roosevelt's top aide in distributing patronage was James Farley , who served simultaneously as chair of

6768-471: The Democratic machine. Ethnics and Catholics were concentrated in large cities, which gave them a more Democratic hue. The 103 largest cities with a population of 100,000 or more in 1950 were Democratic strongholds, typically with former machines that had faded away during and after World War II. The largest cities averaged 66% for FDR in 1932 and 1936, compared to 58% of the rest of the country. The cities dropped 5 points to 61% for FDR in 1940 and 1944, while

6912-403: The Democratic presidential candidate since 2008. Eisenhower presidency [REDACTED] Dwight D. Eisenhower 's tenure as the 34th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1953, and ended on January 20, 1961. Eisenhower, a Republican from Kansas , took office following his landslide victory over Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson in

7056-405: The GOP landslide in 1946. Journalist Samuel Lubell found in his in-depth interviews of voters after the 1948 presidential election that Democrat Harry Truman , not Republican Thomas E. Dewey , seemed the safer, more conservative candidate to the "new middle class " that had developed over the previous 20 years. He wrote that "to an appreciable part of the electorate, the Democrats had replaced

7200-563: The House of Representatives and the Senate. Eisenhower entered the White House with a strong background in organizing complex operations (such as the invasion of Europe in 1944). More than any previous president he paid attention to improving staff performance and defining duties. He paid special attention to having a powerful Chief of Staff in Sherman Adams , a former governor. Eisenhower delegated

7344-543: The Korean War. Eisenhower, while accepting the doctrine of containment, sought to counter the Soviet Union through more active means as detailed in the State-Defense report NSC 68 . The Eisenhower administration and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used covert action to interfere with governments abroad. An early use of covert action was against the elected Prime Minister of Iran , Mohammed Mosaddeq , resulting in

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7488-483: The New Deal and tended to be interventionists in the Cold War . Dewey himself declined to run for president a third time, but he and other moderates sought to use his influence to ensure that 1952 Republican ticket hewed closer to their wing of the party. To this end, they assembled a Draft Eisenhower movement in September 1951. Two weeks later, at the National Governors' Conference meeting, seven Republican governors endorsed his candidacy. Eisenhower, then serving as

7632-421: The New Deal coalition was the ethnic groups: Here is the distribution of party identification in 1944: The coalition was strongest among Jews and Catholics and weakest among White Protestants. The New Dealers made a major, successful effort to build up labor unions, especially through the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 . In addition, Democratic-led state governments were much more favorable to unions than

7776-504: The New York State Democratic Party, chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and Postmaster General in FDR's cabinet, as well as FDR's campaign manager in 1932 and 1940. He handled traditional patronage for the Post Office . He helped with the new agencies aimed at the unemployed, especially the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps , as well as other job agencies. He helped state and local Democratic organizations set up systems to select likely candidates for

7920-448: The Office of War Resources. A 2010 publication confirms the Office of War Resources plan. The selection and appointment of these administrator-designates was classified Top Secret . In an emergency, each administrator was to take charge of a specifically activated agency to maintain the continuity of government . Named to the group were: Research in 2024 subsequently revealed the existence of standby emergency legislation to be used in

8064-402: The PRC full status in the international community, pursuant to the view that making any concessions would strengthen the PRC. Eisenhower held office during a period in which both the United States and the Soviet Union developed nuclear stockpiles theoretically capable of destroying not just each other, but all life on Earth. The United States had tested the first atomic bomb in 1945, and both

8208-429: The Republican Wendell Willkie. The largest possible landslide was needed, and the city machines came through in 1940, 1944, and 1948. In the 1920s strong big city Republican machines were common. During the Great Depression their support plunged, and they were displaced by Democratic machines in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis, and elsewhere. Across the urban North blacks deserted the GOP and were welcomed into

8352-472: The Republicans as the party of prosperity." In 1952 and 1956 Republican Dwight Eisenhower had been able to temporarily peel several elements of the coalition into the Republican column, notably some Northern farmers and manual workers and middle-class voters in the Border South. In the 1960 election, John F. Kennedy and his running mate Lyndon Johnson won back Southern voters. After the smashing reelection victory of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 ,

8496-456: The Socialist bill and against the Progressive substitute, stating that a Progressive was "a Socialist with the brains knocked out"), when both faced opposition from the conservative major parties. During the period from 1939 on, the Progressives and the Socialists of Milwaukee sometimes made common cause, with Socialist legislators caucusing with the minority Progressives. In 1942, Socialist Frank P. Zeidler , later to be elected mayor of Milwaukee,

8640-401: The Soviet Union did not deploy ICBMs until after Eisenhower left office, and the U.S. retained an overall advantage in nuclear weaponry. Eisenhower was aware of the American advantage in ICBM development because of intelligence gathered by U-2 planes , which had begun flying over the Soviet Union in 1956. The administration decided the best way to minimize the proliferation of nuclear weapons

8784-455: The Soviet Union. Malenkov proposed a "peaceful coexistence" with the West, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill proposed a summit of the world leaders. Fearing that the summit would delay the rearmament of West Germany , and skeptical of Malenkov's intentions, Eisenhower rejected the summit idea. In April, Eisenhower delivered his " Chance for Peace speech ," in which he called for an armistice in Korea, free elections to re-unify Germany,

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8928-467: The Soviet Union: Eisenhower knew that the United States had many other assets that could be translated into influence over the Soviet bloc—its democratic values and institutions, its rich and competitive capitalist economy, its intelligence technology and skills in obtaining information as to the enemy's capabilities and intentions, its psychological warfare and covert operations capabilities, its negotiating skills, and its economic and military assistance to

9072-415: The Supreme Court for just five years before resigning. The fifth and final Supreme Court vacancy of Eisenhower's tenure arose in 1958 due to the retirement of Harold Burton . Eisenhower successfully nominated federal appellate judge Potter Stewart to succeed Burton, and Stewart became a centrist on the court. Eisenhower paid attention to Supreme Court appointments. Other judicial nominees were selected by

9216-577: The Supreme Court. Eisenhower hoped that the appointment of Brennan, a liberal-leaning Catholic, would boost his own re-election campaign. Opposition from Senator Joseph McCarthy and others delayed Brennan's confirmation, so Eisenhower placed Brennan on the court via a recess appointment in 1956; the Senate confirmed Brennan's nomination in early 1957. Brennan joined Warren as a leader of the court's liberal bloc. Stanley Reed 's retirement in 1957 created another vacancy, and Eisenhower nominated federal appellate judge Charles Evans Whittaker , who would serve on

9360-408: The Third World. In 1953, the Eisenhower administration's National Security Council wrote three policy papers on opposing the People's Republic of China. NSC 146 proposed backing Republic of China maritime raids and raids against the Chinese mainland. NSC 148 proposed to foster and support anti-communist Chinese elements both inside and outside of the country. NSC 166 proposed strategies to deny

9504-462: The U.S. were undermining the nation's sovereignty united isolationists, conservative Democrats, most Republicans, and numerous professional groups and civic organizations behind the amendment. Believing that the amendment would weaken the president to such a degree that it would be impossible for the U.S. to exercise leadership on the global stage, Eisenhower worked with Senate Minority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson to defeat Bricker's proposal. Although

9648-458: The USSR quickly crushed the insurrection. In 1956, a major uprising broke out in Hungary . After Hungarian leader Imre Nagy promised the establishment of a multiparty democracy and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev dispatched 60,000 soldiers into Hungary to crush the rebellion. The United States strongly condemned the military response but did not take direct action, disappointing many Hungarian revolutionaries. After

9792-484: The United States ." Eisenhower appointed five justices of the Supreme Court of the United States . In 1953, Eisenhower nominated Governor Earl Warren to succeed Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson . Many conservative Republicans opposed Warren's nomination, but they were unable to block the appointment, and Warren's nomination was approved by the Senate in January 1954. Warren presided over a court that generated numerous liberal rulings on various topics, beginning in 1954 with

9936-419: The United States, North Korea, and China agreed to the Korean Armistice Agreement , ending the Korean War. Historian Edward C. Keefer says that in accepting the American demands that POWs could refuse to return to their home country, "China and North Korea still swallowed the bitter pill, probably forced down in part by the atomic ultimatum." Historian William I. Hitchcock writes that the key factors in reaching

10080-420: The alleged failures of the Truman administration: "Korea, Communism, and corruption." In addition to the speeches, he got his message out to voters through 30-second television advertisements; this was the first presidential election in which television played a major role. In domestic policy, Eisenhower attacked the growing influence of the federal government in the economy, while in foreign affairs, he supported

10224-599: The amendment started out with 56 co-sponsors, it went down to defeat in the U.S. Senate in 1954 on 42–50 vote. Later in 1954, a watered-down version of the amendment missed the required two-thirds majority in the Senate by one vote. This episode proved to be the last hurrah for the isolationist Republicans, as younger conservatives increasingly turned to an internationalism based on aggressive anti-communism, typified by Senator Barry Goldwater . Eisenhower sought troop reductions in Europe by sharing of defense responsibilities with NATO allies. Europeans, however, never quite trusted

10368-458: The answers. We know there's not a program for every problem....The era of big government is over.” Clinton went on to cut New Deal-inspired welfare programs and repeal some of the New Deal's restrictions on banks. Clinton largely accepted the neoliberal argument, thereby abandoning the New Deal coalition's claim to the prosperity issue. While most Northerners supported the original civil rights movement, many conservative blue collar voters disliked

10512-513: The armistice were the exhaustion of North Korean forces and the desire of the Soviet leaders (who exerted pressure on China) to avoid nuclear war. The armistice led to decades of uneasy peace between North Korea and South Korea. The United States and South Korea signed a defensive treaty in October 1953, and the U.S. would continue to station thousands of soldiers in South Korea long after the end of

10656-422: The big cities of the North insured national hegemony for the Democratic party." The new majorities did not matter in the great 1936 landslide, but they were decisive in 1940. A third of the electorate lived in the 106 cities with a population of 100,000 or more. They were 61% for FDR. The South had a sixth of the electorate and FDR won 73%. The remaining half of the electorate—the non-metropolitan North—voted 53% for

10800-423: The blame from a hostile foreign press. Eisenhower often relied upon him for advice about public opinion, and how to phrase complex issues. Hagerty had a reputation for supporting civil rights initiatives. Historian Robert Hugh Ferrell considered him to be the best press secretary in presidential history, because he "organized the presidency for the single innovation in press relations that has itself almost changed

10944-585: The borders of the United States which for the purposes of this section shall include territories and possessions, the Canal Zone, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Trust Territories and other areas under the jurisdiction of the United States, or communications which may be carried by any vessel, airplane or other means of transportation bound to or from any foreign country and touching at any port or place of

11088-591: The cabinet, Eisenhower selected Sherman Adams as White House Chief of Staff , and Milton S. Eisenhower , the president's brother and a prominent college administrator, emerged as an important adviser. Eisenhower also elevated the role of the National Security Council , and designated Robert Cutler to serve as the first National Security Advisor . Eisenhower sought out leaders of big business for many of his other cabinet appointments. Charles Erwin Wilson ,

11232-775: The campaign and downplayed the Democratic Party name. In contrast to his 1933 position as a neutral moderator between business and workers, he now became a strong labor union supporter. He crusaded against the rich upper class, denouncing the "economic royalists". He worked with third parties on the left: the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party , the Wisconsin Progressive Party , and the American Labor Party (ALP) in New York state. In New York City he collaborated closely with Republican Fiorello La Guardia , against

11376-576: The causal factors, but according to historian Stephen M. Streeter, CIA documents show the United Fruit Company played no major role in Eisenhower's decision, that the Eisenhower administration did not need to be forced into the action by any lobby groups, and that Soviet influence in Guatemala was minimal. In the election of Patrice Lumumba as Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of

11520-406: The city was facilitated by keeping the vote low and under close watch. As part of the national New Deal coalition, the machines had to carry the state's electoral vote. That required turning out the largest possible majorities. They did this by converting some Republicans, mobilizing large numbers who had never voted before. Milton Rakove states: "Holding the South and delivering thumping majorities in

11664-404: The collapse of cotton agriculture, the growth of a suburban middle class, and the large-scale arrival of Northern migrants outweighed the racist factor. Both viewpoints agree that the politicization of religious issues important to White Southern Protestants (i.e. opposition to abortion and LGBT rights ) in the " Bible Belt " made for a strong Republican appeal. Roosevelt wanted a coalition that

11808-712: The conditions his administration agreed to at the Geneva Conference. In the years that followed, Eisenhower increased the number of U.S. military advisors in South Vietnam to 900. Eisenhower's commitment in South Vietnam was part of a broader program to contain China and the Soviet Union in East Asia. In 1954, the United States and seven other countries created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO),

11952-449: The conservatives of Tammany Hall who had controlled city hall. La Guardia was the candidate of the ad-hoc City Fusion Party, winning the mayoralty in 1933 and reelection in 1937 and 1941. La Guardia was also the nominee of the American Labor Party (ALP), a union-dominated left-wing group that supported Roosevelt in 1936, 1940,and 1944. The role of the ALP was to funnel socialists who distrusted

12096-427: The convention voted to support Fair Play 658 to 548, and Taft lost many Southern delegates. Eisenhower also received two more boosts: first when several uncommitted state delegations, such as Michigan and Pennsylvania, decided to support him; and second, when Stassen released his delegates and asked them to support Eisenhower. The removal of many pro-Taft Southern delegates and the support of the uncommitted states decided

12240-671: The country endorsed the Townsend Plan. In the North, class and ethnicity proved decisive factors in the New Deal coalition as shown by polling data in presidential and congressional elections from 1936 through 1968. Blue-collar workers average 63% Democratic. White collar workers, representing the middle class, averaged 43% Democratic. In terms of religion, northern White Protestants were 42% Democratic, White Catholics were 68% Democratic. Social class and religious affiliation added had separate effects that could add together, so that Catholic blue-collar workers were 76% Democratic, while Protestant blue-collar workers were only 52% Democratic. Throughout

12384-691: The creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the creation of peaceful nuclear power plants. Eisenhower unveiled the New Look , his first national security policy, on October 30, 1953. It reflected his concern for balancing the Cold War military commitments of the United States with the risk of overwhelming the nation's financial resources. The new policy emphasized reliance on strategic nuclear weapons , rather than conventional military power, to deter both conventional and nuclear military threats. The U.S. military developed

12528-645: The desegregation case of Brown v. Board of Education . Eisenhower approved of the Brown decision. Robert H. Jackson 's death in late 1954 generated another vacancy on the Supreme Court, and Eisenhower successfully nominated federal appellate judge John Marshall Harlan II to succeed Jackson. Harlan joined the conservative bloc on the bench, often supporting the position of Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter . After Sherman Minton resigned in 1956, Eisenhower nominated state supreme court justice William J. Brennan to

12672-692: The development of the UGM-27 Polaris missile, which was capable of being launched from submarines, and continued funding for long-range bombers like the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress . In January 1956 the United States Air Force began developing the Thor , a 1,500 miles (2,400 km) Intermediate-range ballistic missile . The program proceeded quickly, and beginning in 1958 the first of 20 Royal Air Force Thor squadrons became operational in

12816-584: The economy began to improve in 1933–34, people loudly demanded faster action and pushed the New Dealers to the left. Labor strikes grew to large scale, especially in California and Minnesota. Textile workers launched the largest strike in national history in 1934 . Senator Huey Long in Louisiana and radio priest Charles Coughlin , had both been active Roosevelt supporters in 1932. They now broke away and set up national appeals to millions of supporters, with talk of

12960-403: The electorate from its desire to repudiate 'Trumanism.' Republican strategy during the fall campaign focused on Eisenhower's unrivaled popularity. Ike traveled to 45 of the 48 states ; his heroic image and plain talk excited the large crowds who heard him speak from the campaign train's rear platform . In his speeches, Eisenhower never mentioned Stevenson by name, instead relentlessly attacking

13104-565: The fall of Vietnam to Communism, the U.S. played a major role in financing French military operations in Vietnam. By 1954, the Eisenhower administration was paying more than 75 percent of the France's military expenditures in the First Indochina War . The French requested U.S. aid in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu , which proved to be the climactic battle of the war. Seeking to rally public support for

13248-534: The federal government during the later years of the Truman administration . Eisenhower suggested in late 1951 that he would not oppose any effort to nominate him for president, although he still refused to seek the nomination actively. In January 1952, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. announced that Eisenhower's name would be entered in the March New Hampshire primary , even though he had not yet officially entered

13392-440: The federal payroll. In the 1940s most of the big city machines collapsed, with a few exceptions such as Chicago and Albany, New York. Being a voter or a Democrat was not a prerequisite for a relief job. Federal law specifically prohibited any political discrimination regarding WPA workers. Vague charges were bandied about at the time. The consensus of experts is that: “In the distribution of WPA project jobs as opposed to those of

13536-610: The feuding components, especially after his handling of the Vietnam War alienated the emerging New Left . Besides Johnson, another who came closest was Robert Kennedy, the likely Democratic candidate in 1968. The assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, in the space of just two months, seem to have been an almost fatal blow to the New Deal coalition prospects. During the Presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981–1989), Republicans took control of prosperity issues, largely because of

13680-410: The first president to conduct a televised news conference . Reporters found performance at press conferences as awkward. Some concluded mistakenly that he was ill-informed or merely a figurehead. At times, he was able to use his reputation to deliberately obfuscate his position on difficult subjects. His press secretary , James Hagerty , was known for providing much more detail on the lifestyle of

13824-585: The goal of racial integration and became fearful of rising urban crime. The Republicans, first under Richard Nixon , then later under Reagan, were able to corral these voters with promises to be tough on law and order. The votes of blue-collar workers contributed heavily to the Republican landslides of 1972 and 1984, and to a lesser extent 1980 and 1988. At the presidential level, the GOP made inroads among urban, middle-class White Southerners as early as 1928 and later in 1952. Starting in 1980, Reagan pulled together both middle-class and working-class White Southerners. At

13968-408: The governor at the time, Julius P. Heil . Orland Steen Loomis was the last Progressive to be elected Governor of Wisconsin, in the 1942 election. He died, however, before his inauguration as governor. Robert La Follette Jr. held on to his Senate seat until 1946, when the party decided to disband itself. Robert La Follette ran for re-election that year as a Republican rather than a Progressive, but

14112-589: The heavily Democratic Congress passed a raft of liberal legislation. Labor union leaders claimed credit for the widest range of liberal laws since the New Deal era, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Voting Rights Act of 1965; the War on Poverty; aid to cities and education; increased Social Security benefits; and Medicare for the elderly. The 1966 elections were an unexpected disaster, with defeats for many of

14256-544: The idea of nuclear deterrence and were reluctant to shift away from NATO into a proposed European Defence Community (EDC). Like Truman, Eisenhower believed that the rearmament of West Germany was vital to NATO's strategic interests. The administration backed an arrangement , devised by Churchill and British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden , in which West Germany was rearmed and became a fully sovereign member of NATO in return for promises to not establish atomic, biological, or chemical weapons programs. European leaders also created

14400-548: The importance of nuclear weapons as a deterrent to military threats, and the United States built up a stockpile of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons delivery systems during Eisenhower's presidency. Soon after taking office, Eisenhower negotiated an end to the Korean War , resulting in the partition of Korea . Following the Suez Crisis , Eisenhower promulgated the Eisenhower Doctrine , strengthening U.S. commitments in

14544-474: The intervention, Eisenhower espoused the domino theory , which held that the fall of Vietnam would lead to the fall of other countries to communism. Congress refused to endorse intervention without the participation of Britain and a pledge from France to grant independence for Vietnam. The French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954. At the contemporaneous Geneva Conference , Dulles convinced Chinese and Soviet leaders to pressure Viet Minh leaders to accept

14688-664: The issue of North Korean and Chinese prisoners remained a sticking point. Over 40,000 prisoners from the two countries refused repatriation, but North Korea and China nonetheless demanded their return. Upon taking office, Eisenhower demanded a solution, warning China that he would use nuclear weapons if the war continued. Whether China was informed of the potential for nuclear force is unknown. South Korean leader Syngman Rhee attempted to derail peace negotiations by releasing North Korean prisoners who refused repatriation, but Rhee agreed to accept an armistice after Eisenhower threatened to withdraw all U.S. forces from Korea. On July 27, 1953,

14832-516: The land holdings of the United Fruit Company . American fears heightened when Arbenz purchased weapons from Communist Czechoslovakia. In June 1954, the CIA helped counterrevolutionaries remove Arbenz from power. The CIA then orchestrated a series of power transfers that ended with the confirmation of Carlos Castillo Armas as president in July 1954. Critics have produced conspiracy theories about

14976-646: The launch of Sputnik 1 , Eisenhower signed the National Defense Education Act and presided over the creation of NASA . Eisenhower signed the first significant civil rights bill since the end of Reconstruction and although he didn't fully embrace the Supreme Court 's landmark desegregation ruling in the 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education , he did enforce the Court's ruling. Eisenhower maintained positive approval ratings throughout his tenure, but

15120-495: The launch of Sputnik 1 and a poor economy contributed to Republican losses in the 1958 elections . His preferred successor, Vice President Richard Nixon , won the Republican nomination but was narrowly defeated by John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election. Eisenhower left office popular with the public. Eisenhower is generally ranked among the 10 greatest presidents. Going into the 1952 Republican presidential primaries ,

15264-449: The liberal coalition into hawks (led by Johnson and Vice President Hubert Humphrey ) and doves (led by Senators Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy ). In addition after the John F. Kennedy assassination , the coalition lacked a leader of the stature of Roosevelt. The closest was Lyndon B. Johnson (president 1963–1969), who tried to reinvigorate the old coalition but was unable to hold together

15408-456: The members were much more conservative. The younger ones were much more concerned about taxes and crime, and the older ones had not overcome racial biases. Labor unions began to lose their members and influence in the 1970s as the economy became more service-oriented and the proportion of manufacturing jobs declined. Companies began relocating manufacturing jobs to Sun Belt states, free of labor union influences, and many Americans followed suit. As

15552-515: The middle class party. In addition, while many supported the 1964 Civil Rights Act, they were generally opposed to racial integration , and also supported the Republican stance against rising urban crime. However, the Jewish community has continued to vote largely Democratic: 74% voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 , 78% in 2008 , and 69% in 2012 . African Americans grew stronger in their Democratic loyalties and in their numbers. From

15696-517: The more liberal Democrats. According to Alan Draper, the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Action (COPE) was the main electioneering unit of the labor movement. It ignored the White backlash against civil rights, which had become a main Republican attack point. The COPE assumed falsely that union members were interested in issues of greatest salience to union leadership, but polls showed this was not true as

15840-522: The more traditional American Federation of Labor in 1938. Both federations added members rapidly, but they feuded bitterly. Both supported Roosevelt and the New Deal Coalition. The nationwide wave of labor strikes in 1937–38 alienated many voters, and the split weakened the New Deal coalition. The most controversial labor leader was John L. Lewis , head of the coal miners; he headed the CIO 1938–1941. Lewis

15984-592: The nature of the nation's highest office in recent decades." As early as 1956, per a memo on page 256 of a 2021 book, Eisenhower established emergency administrators in the event of a national crisis, such as a nuclear attack. The formerly classified memo, "Wartime Structure of the Executive Branch," specifies an Office of War Resources directly under the president, including a War Communications Administration and formerly undisclosed Office for Free World Cooperation. The memo does not specify person(s) selected to head

16128-453: The nomination in Eisenhower's favor, which he won on the first ballot. Afterward, Senator Richard Nixon of California was nominated by acclamation as his vice-presidential running mate. Nixon, whose name came to the forefront early and often in preconvention conversations among Eisenhower's campaign managers, was selected because of his youth (39 years old) and solid anti-communist record. Incumbent President Harry S. Truman fared poorly in

16272-471: The pattern before 2000. White Southerners abandoned cotton and tobacco farming, and moved to the cities where the New Deal programs had much less impact. Beginning in the 1950s, the southern cities and suburbs started voting Republican. The White Southerners believed the support that northern Democrats gave to the Civil Rights Movement to be a direct political assault on their interests, which opened

16416-571: The period better educated higher income middle-class voters were more Republican so that the average Northern Protestant white collar voter was 69% Republican, while a Catholic counterpart was only 41% Republican. A Gallup poll of listees in Who's Who in early 1936 showed that only 31% planned to vote for Roosevelt. Nationwide, Roosevelt won 36% of the votes of business and professional voters in 1940, 48% of lower-level white-collar workers, 66% of blue-collar workers, and 54% of farmers. The strongest component of

16560-517: The polls and decided to not run in 1952. There was no clear frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Delegates to the 1952 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, nominated Illinois governor Adlai E. Stevenson for president on the third ballot. Senator John Sparkman of Alabama was selected as his running mate. The convention ended with widespread confidence that the party had selected

16704-411: The poor performance of Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) in dealing with stagflation . Reagan's new economic policy of neoliberalism held that regulation was bad for economic growth and that tax cuts would bring sustained prosperity. In 1994 the Republicans swept control of Congress for the first time since 1952. The response of Democratic President Bill Clinton was: “We know big government does not have all

16848-534: The president than previous press secretaries; for example, he covered in great detail Eisenhower's medical condition. Most of the time, he handled routine affairs such as daily reports on presidential activities, defending presidential policies, and assisting diplomatic visitors. He handled embarrassing episodes, such as those related to the Soviet downing of an American spy plane, the U-2 in 1960. He handled press relations on Eisenhower's international trips, sometimes taking

16992-629: The presidential nomination. When the 1952 Republican National Convention opened in Chicago , Eisenhower's managers accused Taft of "stealing" delegate votes in Southern states, claiming that Taft's allies had unfairly denied delegate spots to Eisenhower supporters and put Taft delegates in their place. Lodge and Dewey proposed to evict the pro-Taft delegates in these states and replace them with pro-Eisenhower delegates; they called this proposal "Fair Play." Although Taft and his supporters angrily denied this charge,

17136-498: The pro-business Republicans had been. In 1940 FDR won 64% of non-union manual workers, 71% of AFL members, and 79% of CIO members. Union membership grew rapidly during World War II. In 1944 FDR won 56% of non-union manual workers, 69% of AFL members, and 79% of CIO members. Truman in 1948 had similar results. The more militant industrial unions, led by John L. Lewis formed the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), and split off from

17280-470: The process it legitimized a social welfare state as a bipartisan ideal. Consequently, the California experience helped push New Deal towards social welfare legislation, especially the WPA and Social Security. Sinclair's campaign gave aspiring Democratic leaders a boost, most notably Culbert Olson , who was elected governor in 1938. Needing an alternative to the New Deal's Social Security system, many Republicans around

17424-465: The race. The result in New Hampshire was a solid Eisenhower victory with 46,661 votes to 35,838 for Taft and 6,574 for Stassen. In April, Eisenhower resigned from his NATO command and returned to the United States. The Taft forces put up a strong fight in the remaining primaries, and, by the time of the July 1952 Republican National Convention , it was still unclear whether Taft or Eisenhower would win

17568-557: The reelection of President Franklin Roosevelt . Their grip on power proved short-lived: they succumbed to a united Democratic and Republican front in 1938 which swept most of them out of office, including Philip La Follette. The party effectively collapsed when Philip went off to serve in the Pacific War during World War II . During La Follette's absence, the party failed to formulate a coherent party platform and instead opted to criticize

17712-454: The reliance on expensive Army divisions. Historian Saki Dockrill argues that his long-term strategy was to promote the collective security of NATO and other American allies, strengthen the Third World against Soviet pressures, avoid another Korean stalemate, and produce a momentum that would steadily weaken Soviet power and influence. Dockrill points to Eisenhower's use of multiple assets against

17856-506: The rest dropped 7 points to 51%. Source: Gallup Polls in Gallup (1972) The big-city machines faded away in the 1940s with a few exceptions that lingered a bit such as Albany and Chicago. Local Democrats in most cities were heavily dependent on the WPA for patronage; when it ended in 1943, there was full employment and no replacement patronage source was created. Furthermore, World War II brought such

18000-553: The revolution, the United States shifted from encouraging revolt to seeking cultural and economic ties as a means of undermining Communist regimes. Among the administration's cultural diplomacy initiatives were continuous goodwill tours by the "soldier-musician ambassadors" of the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra . In 1953, Eisenhower opened relations with Spain under dictator Francisco Franco . Despite its undemocratic nature, Spain's strategic position in light of

18144-498: The right, typified by the American Liberty League led by his old friend Al Smith , spoiled the dream. Sensing how quickly public opinion was becoming more radical, Roosevelt moved left. He attacked big business. His major innovations now were social security for the elderly, the WPA for the unemployed, and a new labor relations act to support and encourage labor unions. Running for reelection in 1936, Roosevelt personalized

18288-572: The selection of his cabinet to two close associates, Lucius D. Clay and Herbert Brownell Jr. Brownell, a legal aide to Dewey, became attorney general. The office of Secretary of State went to John Foster Dulles , a long-time Republican spokesman on foreign policy who had helped design the United Nations Charter and the Treaty of San Francisco . Dulles would travel nearly 560,000 miles (901,233 km) during his six years in office. Outside of

18432-406: The situation. As the depression worsened, voters became increasingly dissatisfied with this approach and came to view President Hoover as indifferent to their economic struggles. Franklin D. Roosevelt won a landslide in 1932 and spent his time in office building a powerful nationwide coalition and keeping his partners from squabbling with each other. Over the course of the 1930s, Roosevelt forged

18576-440: The state and local level the GOP made steady gains in both White groups until reaching majority status in most of the South by 2000. Scholars debate exactly why the New Deal coalition collapsed so completely. Most emphasize a Southern Strategy by Republicans to appeal to a backlash against Democratic national support for civil rights. However, a minority of scholars consider a demographic change in addition to race. They argue that

18720-545: The superpowers had tested thermonuclear weapons by the end of 1953. Strategic bombers had been the delivery method of previous nuclear weapons, but Eisenhower sought to create a nuclear triad consisting of land-launched nuclear missiles, nuclear-missile-armed submarines, and strategic aircraft. Throughout the 1950s, both the United States and the Soviet Union developed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBMs) and intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBMs) capable of delivering nuclear warheads. Eisenhower also presided over

18864-417: The ticket and picking another running mate. Nixon responded to the allegations in a nationally televised speech, the " Checkers speech ," on September 23. In this speech, Nixon denied the charges against him, gave a detailed account of his modest financial assets, and offered a glowing assessment of Eisenhower's candidacy. The highlight of the speech came when Nixon stated that a supporter had given his daughters

19008-652: The time. Buoying off of popular discontent with both major parties, the La Follette brothers were both successful in their bids, and the party saw a number of other victories as well in the 1934 and 1936 elections, notably winning several U.S. House seats and a majority of the Wisconsin State Senate and Wisconsin State Assembly in 1936. In 1936 it was informally allied with the New Deal coalition and supported

19152-411: The two major contenders for the Republican presidential nomination were General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio . Governor Earl Warren of California and former Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota also sought the nomination. Taft led the conservative wing of the party, which rejected many of the New Deal social welfare programs created in the 1930s and supported

19296-521: The way to protest votes for Barry Goldwater , who, in 1964, was the first Republican to carry the Deep South . Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton lured many of the Southern Whites back at the level of presidential voting, but by 2000, White males in the South were 2–1 Republican and, indeed, formed a major part of the new Republican coalition. Since the 2010s, younger non-evangelical White Southerners with

19440-540: Was Truman's unpopularity. Even though Stevenson had not been a part of the Truman administration, voters largely ignored his record and burdened him with Truman's. Historian Herbert Parmet says that Stevenson: failed to dispel the widespread recognition that, for a divided America, torn by paranoia and unable to understand what had disrupted the anticipated tranquility of the postwar world, the time for change had really arrived. Neither Stevenson nor anyone else could have dissuaded

19584-726: Was a political party that briefly held a dominant role in Wisconsin politics. The Party was the brainchild of Philip La Follette and Robert M. La Follette, Jr. , the sons of the famous Wisconsin Governor and Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr. The party was established in 1934 as an alliance between the longstanding "Progressive" faction of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, led by the La Follette family and their political allies, and certain radical farm and labor groups active in Wisconsin at

19728-406: Was an isolationist and broke with Roosevelt and endorsed his Republican opponent in the 1940 election, a position demanded by the pro-Soviet far left element in the CIO. Nevertheless, CIO members voted for Roosevelt and Lewis was forced to leave the CIO, taking his United Mine Workers of America union along. City Democratic machines had a new role to play. Traditionally the goal of winning power in

19872-540: Was broader than just the Democratic Party. He admired old Progressives now in the GOP, such as George W. Norris of Nebraska and Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr. of Wisconsin. He disliked the conservativism of Wisconsin Democrats and preferred to work with the Progressive Party there. The Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota made an informal alliance with FDR and supported him in 1936; the Minnesota Democrats were

20016-520: Was decisive: 93% of the men were Republicans, 7% Democrats; relatively few had been conspicuous in elective politics. Nearly 80% of the men were Protestants, 15% Catholic, and 6% Jewish. The Cold War dominated international politics in the 1950s. As both the United States and the Soviet Union possessed nuclear weapons , any conflict presented the risk of escalation into nuclear warfare. The isolationist element led by Senator Taft would avoid war by staying out of European affairs. Eisenhower's 1952 candidacy

20160-522: Was defeated in the Republican primary by Joe McCarthy . During its heyday, the Progressive Party usually did not run candidates in the Socialists (known as the " sewer socialists ") stronghold of Milwaukee . There were strong ideological differences between the two movements as the two aligned with differing national parties. (Socialist State Representative George L. Tews said during a 1932 debate on unemployment compensation and how to fund it argued for

20304-467: Was motivated by his opposition to Taft's isolationist views in opposition to NATO and American reliance on collective security with Western Europe. Eisenhower continued the basic Truman administration policy of containment of Soviet expansion but added a concern with propaganda suggesting eventual liberation of Eastern Europe. Eisenhower's overall Cold War policy was codified in NSC   174, which held that

20448-575: Was the only person appointed from the Taft wing of the party. As the first secretary of the new Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) , Eisenhower named the wartime head of the Army's Women's Army Corps, Oveta Culp Hobby . She was the second woman to ever be a cabinet member . Martin Patrick Durkin , a Democrat and president of the plumbers and steamfitters union, was selected as secretary of labor. As

20592-466: Was thereby fundamentally upgraded from a minor ceremonial post to a major role in the presidential team. Nixon went well beyond the assignment, "[throwing] himself into state and local politics, making hundreds of speeches across the land. With Eisenhower uninvolved in party building, Nixon became the de facto national GOP leader." In his two terms he delivered about 750 speeches and conducted 193 news conferences. On January 19, 1955, Eisenhower became

20736-790: Was to tightly control knowledge of gas-centrifuge technology , which was essential to turn ordinary uranium into weapons-grade uranium . American diplomats by 1960 reached agreement with the German, Dutch, and British governments to limit access to the technology. The four-power understanding on gas-centrifuge secrecy would last until 1975, when scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan took the Dutch centrifuge technology to Pakistan . France sought American help in developing its own nuclear program , but Eisenhower rejected these overtures due to France's instability and his distrust of French leader Charles de Gaulle . During his campaign, Eisenhower said he would go to Korea to end

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