DWIGHT EISENHOWER

By: Phoenix Stone

What events did Dwight Eisenhower face in during presidency?

The Cold War Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka The U-2 Spy Plane Incident 

Historical Representations of how the issue/event was addressed

Cold War: basic commitment to contain communism remained, and to that end he increased American reliance on a nuclear shield./ deployed U.S. military forces with great caution, resisting all suggestions to consider the use of nuclear weapons in Indochina, where the French were ousted by Vietnamese communist forces in 1954, or in Taiwan, where the United States pledged to defend the Nationalist Chinese regime against attack by the People's Republic of China.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka: segregation laws became almost universal in the South where previous legislation and amendments were, for all practical purposes, ignored. The races were separated in schools, in restaurants, in restrooms, on public transportation, and even in voting and holding office. The high court upheld the lower courts noting that since the separate cars provided equal services, the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment was not violated. Thus, the "separate but equal" doctrine became the constitutional basis for segregation.

The U-2 Spy Plane Incident : Eisenhower resisted the efforts of some of his advisers, including Secretary of Defense Thomas S. Gates, to acknowledge both the existence and the necessity of the U-2 program.

Unintended consequences of decisions made surrounding the events

The Cold War: One immediate effect of the conflict was to fuel domestic conservative attacks on Gorbachev, and thereby accelerate the collapse of the Soviet Union. Without its Soviet adversary, American authority unravelled. The lack of order in the international system reflects that phenomenon. 

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka : the probability of negative unintended consequences, decision-making is best left to a decentralized process. In a centralized social system, where the few make highly consequential decisions for the many, the potential is great that unintended negative effects will reverberate throughout society. 

The U-2 Spy Plane Incident:  As a result, he became trapped in his own untrue "cover story" which ultimately proved more damaging to the Administration than the existence of the U-2 program itself. The U-2 crisis serves as an historical example of how the outcome of one celebrated international incident can damage the prospects for progress between the superpowers

Intended consequences of decisions made surrounding the events

The Cold War: The Soviet Union wanted to spread its ideology of communism worldwide, which alarmed the Americans who followed democracy. The acquisition of atomic weapons by America caused fear in the Soviets. Both countries feared an attack from each other. The Soviet Union’s action of taking control over Eastern Europe was a major factor for US suspicions. The US President had a personal dislike of the Soviet leader Josef Stalin. America was annoyed by the Soviet Union’s actions in the part of Germany it had occupied. The Soviets feared that America would use Western Europe as a base to attack it.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka: separate public schools for black and white students and denying black children equal educational opportunities unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which permitted segregation

The U-2 Spy Plane Incident: to forge agreements that would ease hostilities and suspicions of military buildup and surprise attacks by any world power on any other.