♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ on turner 20th 1953 chief justice frederick and manson administer the oath of office

to president elect dwight d. eisenhower. doug >> i, dwight d. eisenhower do solemnly swear that you will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states, that i will faithfully execute the office of the president of the united states and will, to the best of your ability, and will do the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states. >> reserve, protect and maintain the constitution of the united states. >> so help you god. >> so help me god. >> with this traditional oath, dwight d. eisenhower became the 34th president of the united states, succeeding harry as truman. affectionately known as ike, president eisenhower came into international prominence as commander in chief of allied

forces in europe during world war ii. anne he directed unified operations until the surrender of germany in 1945. after the war's end, he. returned home to a heroes welcome following -- he served briefly as president of the columbia university. in 1950 presidential men recalled ike for civilian life to organize and direct the military forces of the north atlantic treaty organization. in 1952 he signified his availability for the presidential nomination as a republican. he won the party's nomination from senator robert a taft, the highly respected leader of republican conservatives. the convention named richard nixon, senator from california as ike's presidential running mate. anne

attlee a stevenson, governor of illinois headed the democratic team. >> i don't like taxes. i doubt if anybody does. i shall do everything i can to reduce them. but i shall make no promises that i know i cannot keep. >> i campaigned successfully on the issues of reform, government decentralization and preparedness to preserve world peace. from eisenhower's first inauguration through his repeat victory over stevenson in 1956, his administration covered eight years of profound social and scientific growth and change. the new president organized an executive team of cabinet members and advisers on a staff basis. he assigned individual responsibility for administrative action, subject to his final approval and gave increased significance to the vice presidency by delegating to mr. nixon functions from the field of international

relations. one this woman became the first secretary of the new department of health, education and welfare. this department has come to sponsor broad programs of research and support and health, education and social security. the supreme court became a focal point of national interest. following the death of chief justice vincent, earlier the governor of california was appointed to succeed him. in 1950 for the court rendered a verdict -- social significance by its decision that segregation in tax supported schools and is unconstitutional. in little rock, arkansas preparations were being made by the school board for complaints for the court verdict. arkansas's governor ordered the continuance of segregated schools. violence occurred as

an anti integration it's prevented the enrollment of peoples call to all white schools. in view of continuing resistance the president serve no just of the court's decision would be firmly upheld. he ordered federal troops to arkansas for the protection of school children in the maintenance of law and order gradually, southern states move to an acceptance of the legal requirements of the constitution. on january 3rd 1950, 9:49's star was added to the united states flag when the territory of alaska climaxed almost centuries efforts to achieve statehood. admission to the union was celebrated in typical alaskan fashion. the 50th star was added when hawaii became a state on august 21st,

1959. pierre governor quinn -- hawaii's first u.s. senator persisted -- participated in a celebration. he was the first senator of chinese ancestry in congressional history. no hawaiian celebration is complete without a traditional hula. acclaimed is an anti communist hero and announced as a threat to civil liberties for his conduct of senate investigations, joseph became the most controversial political figure of the period. >> we've been holding executive >> we've been holding executive sessions covering the >> information programs dealing with the voice of america. dealing with in confidence. subversion. i might say that we have good reason to believe we will get full cooperation from the new secretary of state. i think we can be helpful to him. >> his charges of communist -- by the army led to a clash with army secretary robert stevens. both were subsequently censored

by the senate.. in 1959, the president and mrs. eisenhower joined queen elizabeth with canada's prime minister at saint-lambert near montreal in ceremonies opening the st. lawrence seaway. domestic commerce and international trade were strengthened as a major midwestern cities on the great lakes became terminal ports of transatlantic shipping. throughout the states, a vast program of highway construction was effective through matching federal funds. in the main, the eight years of eisenhower's leadership constituted a period of prosperity. production and consumption of goods reached new heights and the nation's economy enabled the president to balance the budget at the end of his first term. with the exception of coal mining and

certain -- employment levels remained generally high. the eisenhower years constituted a period of tremendous progress in the fields of scientific research and development. a major gain against infant paralysis occurred in 1956 when a vaccine proved 65 to 85% effective. a significant scientific achievement and national defense was the design and construction of the atomic powered submarine under the direction of an admiral, he shown demonstrating the model, the first atomic sub to the secretary of navy. dan campbell. on august 25th, 1958, they arrived in new york harbor after a one month cruise from hawaii across the top of the world and under the ice of the north pole. automation came into common use in the economy.

the automatic computer in the so-called electronic brain was perfected to solve not only industrial operating problems, but also for the launching and guidance of earth satellites and space capsules. see this was the period when the space age arrived. the soviets gained an early advantage by orbiting sputnik one in october 4th 1957. president eisenhower authorized the establishment of the national aeronautics and space administration, as the united states began to challenge russia's lead. american scientists perfected miniaturized instrumentation for space exploration. in 1960, they successfully launched the weather satellite demonstrating -- demonstrated here by models. it orbits the earth that high to 450 miles. it takes a series of photographs, each covering

64,000 square miles of the earth's surface. the satellite transmits these photos to earth by television. they form the basis of accurate long range weather reports, shared with the world by the united states government. by 1959, seven astronauts have been selected for manned spaceflight. the astronauts began rigorous training for their forthcoming explorations in space. test shots were fired throughout 1959 and 1960, with the mercury space capsule and preparation for orbiting a man around the earth and for inter planetary and travel. it was a period of intermittent global tension, requiring constant vigilance by the united states and other democracies to contain communist aggression and prevent so-called brush fire wars leading to the atomic destruction of civilization.

early in the eisenhower administration, one such fire was put out when a truce was negotiated, ending the korean fighting. from july 27th, 1953, the united states general mark clark, as united nations commander signed a treaty ending hostilities that began in 1950. in french indochina, communist guerrillas infiltrated north vietnam. despite u.s. aided arms and supplies, france had to accept an armistice, yielding control of the colonies to the communists. south vietnam, cambodia, laos and thailand faced a threat from the communist dominated territory. to counteract that threat, secretary of state john dulles was instrumental in organizing the southeast asian treaty organization uniting australia,

new zealand, pakistan, the philippines, thailand and the united states in a defensive alliance against communist aggression. in the middle east, a crisis erupted when the suez collateral was nationalized by egyptian premier abdul nassar. see hoax were scott as barricades, the canal was close to british, french and israeli ships. israel invaded egypt while england and france enten a military expedition to seize the canal zone. russia proposed a soviet american force to restore order. a secretary dulles prevailed to yield to a un mission pending mediation. turn a communist faction attempted to overthrow the lebanese government. it's president asked for aid from the united states. in the first application of the eisenhower doctrine, the president dispatched u.s. marines to beirut despite strong russian protests. the presence of the

marines quickly restored order. when an plan was adopted in the united nations, guaranteeing the integrity of lebanon, american troops were withdrawn in favor of a un force. a simmering international problem came to a head in 1958, when the red forces and china's mainland shelled the offshore islands -- garrisoned by troops from the republic of china. the united states seventh fleet prepare for action, though americas allies opposed intervention. sean kai-shek, president of the republic of china was persuaded by secretary douglas to disavow intentions to invade the mainland, and it dwindle to a stop leaving the china conflict unresolved. in cuba, several factions united to fight for the overthrow of the dictator bautista. during the revolt,

the american naval base and guantánamo, cuba, was reinforced as a precautionary measure, but the united states maintains a hands off policy. fidel castro, leader of the united rebel factions entered havana in january, 1959. following the flight of bautista, castro promised free democratic elections. these never materialized. brutal executions following his trials in the marxist backgrounds of his fellow rival, -- castro's chief aides made it increasingly evident that his regime was under russian influence. evidence of communist agents and latin america had previously appeared and caracas, venezuela, when mobs disrupted the goodwill tour of vice president and mrs. nixon in 1958. upon their return to washington, the nixon's were hailed by the president for their courage in

the face of political gangsterism. a crisis in the congo reflected the problems of new nations, complicated by russian interference. on june 30th 1960, the king, a belgium declared the end of the congo -- as a colony. -- he was elected premier. he demanded immediate withdrawal of belgian troops. anti western riots resulted -- congolese soldiers participated in attacks forcing them to evacuate. the premier -- supported by belgian troops remaining in his province declared secession from the central congolese government. united nations secretary general -- flew to get tangled

when -- threatened to appeal the russian aide against the belgians. he persuaded the belgians to withdraw. president joseph ousted him from premiership, and with colonel joseph mobutu expelled communist ambassadors from the congo, the country supporting him and showed, faced the problem of preventing russian interference while refraining from unduly influencing the congo's internal affairs. the united states provided world leadership against russian coal or aggression -- those tensions were heightened when russia's premier, joseph stalin died under mysterious circumstances in 1953. they succeeded to the communist leadership. during

his brief premiership he announced that russia had the hydrogen bomb shortly before the big summit conference schedule for 1955. at the conference in geneva khrushchev who deposed melon, cause represented russia with -- upon his return to washington from geneva president ivan eisenhower voiced hope for east west relations. >> no one knows but the coming months will tell. in the meantime we do know that new contacts have been established. there is evidence of a new friendliness in the world. >> in budapest, the program fostered by khrushchev was carried by -- two that threat and russian control. the hungarian puppet government tried to halt anti communist demonstrations and a revolt erupted. fighting with paving stones and small arms, the hungarians successfully resisted russian occupation troops for a brief period.

khrushchev went to hungary, extensively to parley with leaders of the revolt. as red reserves were secretly bought from czechoslovakia and romania, khrushchev stalled for time, charging that american agents had formed the uprising. the russian reserve swept across hungary, suppressing the revolt brutally. some refugees escaped into austria. others, less fortunate, were shot down by red border guards. in the united nations, ambassador henry spearheaded a vote by the general assembly condemning russian intervention in hungary. the vote was 55 to eight with 13 abstentions. the situation became critical when khrushchev demanded the evacuation of allied awesome [inaudible]. russia failed to

win support of its berlin policy in the un as britain, france and the united states stood firmly on the berlin treaty. khrushchev was forced to adopt a softer policy. in the following period of relaxed tension, vice president nixon visited an american exposition in moscow where he engaged khrushchev in an impromptu debate. >> you must not be afraid of ideas. >> we are not afraid of ideas. >> let's have more exchange. we all agree on that, right?. okay. [applause] >> he paid a return visit to the united states, the president entertain him at camp david in the interest of world peace. at that meeting, plans were developed for second second -- summit conference at paris in 1960. plans for the

summit meeting were well advanced and the big four national leaders had arrived in paris. preliminary discussions of the agenda were underway when an american u2 plane, comparable to the one shown here took off from a base in turkey. it was shot down in russia. the communist claimed that francis garry powers confessed to being on a photo spy mission. the central intelligence agency denied this claim, but the president verified powers admission. khrushchev used the incident as a reasonable withdrawing from the summit conference. throughout his administration, president eisenhower dealt

firmly with russian threats to advance the freedom of mankind in the american tradition. in accordance with the 22nd amendment gratified in 1951, president eisenhower was ineligible to seek a third term. in 1960, the republican party nominated vice president nixon. senator john f. kennedy of massachusetts was the candidate of the democrats. the democratic nominee was elected in one of the closest boats in national history. following the election, president eisenhower invited president-elect kennedy to the white house to plan the orderly transfer of executive powers. after january 21st 1960, ike retired to his farm in gettysburg, upon the completion of half a century of dedicated service to his country as soldier and as president. ♪ ♪ ♪

ladies and gentlemen, mr. walter matthau. >> you will enter the continent of europe and in conjunction with the other