He signed the federal aid-highway act. Major Domestic Policy: While in office, Eisenhower continued the programs of the New Deal and the Fair Deal. His Presidency was filled with the conflict of desegregation and the change in the treatment of African Americans. Once the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka came up in 1954, segregated schools were now integrated, allowing for both blacks and whites to attend the same public schools. Then in 1957, the first satellite made by man named Sputnik, was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union before the United States. The Soviets also beat the United States in sending animals into orbit, taking pictures of the moon, putting satellites in the moons orbit, and then the first to send man to space. Resulting from this, 6 months later, the United States then acted quickly to send the satellite, Explorer one, into orbit. The United States still did not feel equal to the Soviet Union until Neil Armstrong was stepped on the moon. Major Foreign Policy: Eisenhower's presidency consisted mostly of the push for world peace. One fear was the effects of the Domino Theory, which was when one country would fall under the leadership of Communism, and then the surrounding countries would also fall under Communist leadership, leading to the entire continent of Asia being Communist. Once Dienbienphu, who was the French fortress, lost control to the Vietnamese communist, the United States knew they had to meddle. In Geneva, a conference was set up resulting from the short war, which split Korea on the 17th line. Now both Korea and Vietnam were split in order to prevent the spread of Communism. Also, the creation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization in 1954 was enacted in order to further restrict Communism. This treaty stated that nations would "meet in order to agree on the measures which should be taken for common defense" in cause of violence. After the Vietnam War, the treaty would be interrupted and be last used in 1976. The major issue during Eisenhower's presidency was the Suez Crisis. After the International Bank and countries such as Great Britain and the United States stopped donating money towards the creation of the canal in Egypt, Nasser, who was the leader of Egypt, publicly owned the Suez Canal but refused to allowed British contact with the Canal. This resulted in a war on Israel as they declared their own war and proceeded as far into the Suez Canal as they could. Conflict rose as the French, Russians and the British all wanted to impede. The conflicts were hampered when the United Nations took over the issues and cleaned the canal. In order to fade the Cold War between the United States and the USSR, a conference was set up, but failed because of the fact that two weeks before the event the U2 American spy plane was shot down over the Soviet land when taking spy pictures. Eisenhower denied that there were spy planes until the Soviet government released a video of the crash and the plane with the pilot himself. Eisenhower could not deny the truth anymore and the Cold War continued. Major Supreme Court Decisions: • Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)-Held that school segregation was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment due to the fact that segregated areas are not equal. • Watkins v. United States (1957)-Held that Watkins conviction was unconstitutional because of the fact that he did not receive fair process on whether he would choose to refuse to answer questions while as a witness. • Yates v. United States (1957)-Held that for the Smith Act to be unconstitutional people would have to be persuaded into do something, other then to believe in something. Intellectual and Social Development: • The Korean War came to an end in 1953 as the United States was leading in Military and diplomatic affairs. • Eisenhower's modern Republicanism came about as both Democrats and Republicans intervened with the economy. • The Warren Court made dramatic changes to the judicial power as they brought about change. • There was a growth in consumer culture and military-industrial complex, causing the United States to reach its peak of success of American capitalism. • The Montgomery bus boycott occurred in 1955 as people such as African Americans, and women, Latinos and other groups fought towards civil rights. • The 1950's consisted of a baby boom as family sizes increased and were purchasing more electronics for their homes and an increase in suburbia was seen. Eisenhower's Legacy:
