1. Eisenhower and the Cold War U.S. History – Unit 6
Events and Ideas #4
Eisenhower and the Cold War
U.S. History – Unit 6

2. Essential Question
How did Eisenhower's policies shape the post WWII world?
What events happened during this time period to enable the Cold War to continue rather than end?

3. The Spread of Communism Map: 1910 - 2000
View the following map a few times, and answer these questions on your notes:
At what time period was communism at its peak?
What continent had the most communist countries?
What country in the Western Hemisphere was communist?

5. President Dwight D. Eisenhower
34th U.S. President ( ) …Republican
Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, 1st Supreme Commander of NATO (1951)
“Germany had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the land.” Eisenhower
What did Eisenhower mean by that statement?
Why did he feel it was needed?
**You will see the answer on the next
two slides
President “Ike”

6. Highway System
1919 – a young Dwight D. Eisenhower joined a convoy of military vehicles traveling from Washington DC to San Francisco
Road conditions and the conveys capabilities only allowed them to travel at 5 mph. It took 62 days.

7. General Eisenhower was impressed with Hitler's Autobahns
During WWII, where General Eisenhower oversaw the defeat of the Nazi army, the US military was able to move quickly on Hitler's autobahns

8. Federal Highway Act
Federal Highway Act - Began the Interstate Highway System (1956)
Essential to American Security during the Cold War…quick evacuation from the large cities.
Eisenhower's trip across the U.S. would now take 4 ½ days

9. President Eisenhower:
Decreased military forces
Increased massive buildup of Nuclear Weapons
Why?

10. It was cheaper to build bombs than build and keep a large military force
Why?
A strip of land 2 kilometers to either side of the military demarcation line and running approximately 151 miles from east to west is the demilitarized zone ... VS

11. Eisenhower's New Foreign Policy
If a missile fired from the USSR (or any of the Soviet Block countries) strikes any NATO European country or the U.S., the United States would immediately attack the Soviet Union

12. Eisenhower's New Foreign Policy
Any invasion of any country by a Soviet Block Country would also be considered an attack upon the US by the Soviet Union and that attack would be met with massive nuclear retaliation.
This policy of escalation assured the Soviet Union that even the smallest move on a NATO power meant all out war.

13. Brinkmanship and MAD Brinkmanship Definition:
The tactic of approaching on the verge of war in order to persuade one's opposition to retreat.
MAD Definition
Mutually assured destruction, a military strategy in which a full-scale use of high-yield weapons of mass destruction by two or more opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender.
Going to the brink of war to force the other side to back down.
i. the ultimate game of chicken.

14. Brinkmanship and MAD
During the Cold War brinkmanship was an effective tactic because neither side of a conflict could contemplate mutually assured destruction (MAD) in a nuclear war.
This acted as deterrence for both the sides.

15. President Eisenhower institutes a “New Look” policy of defense
In 1952, People thought Truman’s Containment policy wasn’t working.
Soviet Union had a firm grip on Eastern Europe.
The Soviets now had the Atomic bomb.
China had fallen to Communism.
A war was just fought in Korea.
Nuclear weapons will provide more “bang for the buck.”
i. Eisenhower didn’t want to contain Soviets with a lot of minor wars.
ii. Economic costs of fighting a conventional war was high.
iii. Nuclear weapons would provide a bigger bang for the buck.
If a Communist state seized a territory – nuke them.
i. Military spending was cut from $50 billion to $34 billion.
ii. U.S. Army is cut big-time at the end of the Korean War.
iii. Nuclear arsenal goes from 1,000 bombs in 1953 to 18,000 bombs in 1961.
10 – 100 “super bombs” (study done in 1945 – hydrogen bombs)
A recently declassified document shared by nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein gives the verdict that scientists at the Los Alamos laboratory and test site reached in They found that "it would require only in the neighborhood of 10 to 100 Supers of this type" to put the human race in peril.

16. Nuclear Weapon Build Up
President Eisenhower institutes a “New Look” policy of defense.
i. In 1952, People thought Truman’s Containment policy wasn’t working.
ii. Soviet Union had a firm grip on Eastern Europe.
iii. The Soviets now had the Atomic bomb.
iv. China had fallen to Communism.
v. A war was just fought in Korea.
Nuclear weapons will provide more “bang for the buck.”
i. Eisenhower didn’t want to contain Soviets with a lot of minor wars.
ii. Economic costs of fighting a conventional war was high.
iii. Nuclear weapons would provide a bigger bang for the buck.
If a Communist state seized a territory – nuke them.
i. Military spending was cut from $50 billion to $34 billion.
ii. U.S. Army is cut big-time at the end of the Korean War.
iii. Nuclear arsenal goes from 1,000 bombs in 1953 to 18,000 bombs in 1961.
10 – 100 “super bombs” (study done in 1945 – hydrogen bombs)
A recently declassified document shared by nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein gives the verdict that scientists at the Los Alamos laboratory and test site reached in They found that "it would require only in the neighborhood of 10 to 100 Supers of this type" to put the human race in peril.
Nuclear weapons will provide more “bang for the buck.”
Nuclear arsenal goes from 1,000 bombs in 1953 to ,000 bombs in 1961

17. Facing the Bomb
Soviets successfully tested an atomic bomb in 1949 and hydrogen bomb in 1953.
America feared a nuclear attack in the 1950s.
Facing the Bomb, page 648
America feared a nuclear attack in the 1950s.
i. Besides a fear of communist spies, America feared a Soviet atomic attack.
Soviets successfully tested an atomic bomb in 1949 and hydrogen bomb in 1953.
i. Soviets advanced their technology rapidly and America feared what they would do with it.

18. “Duck and Cover Children”
Facing the Bomb
Schools practiced “duck and cover” drills.
“Duck and cover” drills made people feel safe but they would not protect people from deadly nuclear radiation.
According to reports, for every person killed in a blast, four more would die of radiation poisoning.
Facing the Bomb, page 648
America feared a nuclear attack in the 1950s.
i. Besides a fear of communist spies, America feared a Soviet atomic attack.
Soviets successfully tested an atomic bomb in 1949 and hydrogen bomb in 1953.
i. Soviets advanced their technology rapidly and America feared what they would do with it.
Schools practiced “duck and cover” drills; families built bomb shelters in their backyards.
i. “Duck and cover” drills made people feel safe but they would not protect people from deadly nuclear radiation.
ii. According to reports, for every person killed in a blast, four more would die of radiation poisoning.
“Duck and Cover Children”

19. American Public Prepare for Nuclear Attacks
Family dug up their backyards and built bomb shelters and the stocked them with food.

20. Analyze the next two slides
Write the answer for each slide:
Slide 1: What does this graphic say about Nukes during the Cold war
Slide 2: What does this map say about Nuclear Arsenals during the Cold War?

21. U.S. and USSR/Russian nuclear weapons stockpiles/inventories, 1945–2006. The failing Soviet economy and the dissolution of the country between which marks the end of the Cold War and with it the relaxation of the arms race, brought about a large decrease in both nations stockpiles. The effects of the Megatons to Megawatts can also be seen in the mid 1990s, continuing Russia's reducing trend. A similar chart focusing solely on quantity of warheads in the multi-megaton range is also available.[4] Moreover total deployed US & "Russian" strategic weapons increased steadily from the 1980s until the Cold War ended.

23. Central Intelligence Agency
Established as a part of the National
Security Act of 1947.
The primary purpose of the CIA is to gather and analyze information about foreign governments (spy).
In part, created to match the Soviet KGB.

24. Central Intelligence Agency
CIA helps to fight Communist takeovers.
Other roles include distributing propaganda and covert (secret) operations to support U.S. goals and positions.
Anti-American leaders are ‘removed’ from office.
CIA help to fight Communist takeovers.
Shah put in place in Iran in 1953.
CIA trained forces take over Guatemala in 1954.

25. U-2 Incident
Photo: Francis Gary Powers wearing special pressure suit for stratospheric flying
Powers was discharged from the Air Force in 1956 with the rank of captain.
He then joined the CIA's U-2 program at the civilian grade of GS-12. U-2 pilots flew espionage missions using an aircraft that could reach altitudes above 70,000 feet (21,3 km), making it invulnerable to Soviet anti-aircraft weapons of the time.
The U-2 was equipped with a state-of-the-art camera designed to take high-resolution photos from the edge of the stratosphere over hostile countries, including the Soviet Union.
U-2 missions systematically photographed military installations and other important sites.
Soviet intelligence was aware of encroaching U-2 flights since 1956 but lacked effective countermeasures until On 1 May Powers's U-2, which departed from a military airbase in Pakistan was shot down by a surface-to-air missile over Sverdlovsk.
Powers was unable to activate the plane's self-destruct mechanism before he bailed out and was captured.
A total of eight were launched; one of them hit a MiG-19 jet fighter which was sent to intercept the U-2 but could not reach a high enough altitude. Its pilot, Sergei Safronov, ejected but died of his injuries
CIA Piolet Gary Powers flew a reconnaissance mission photographing targets including intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) sites in over the Soviet Union
His plane was shot down by a surface-to-air-missile

26. U-2 Incident He ejected from the plane but was captured
The incident caused a deterioration in the US relations with the Soviet Union.
Powers was convicted of espionage and was imprisoned in the USSR for two years
The 1960 U-2 incident happened during the Cold War on 1 May 1960, during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower and the premiership of Nikita Khrushchev when a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down in Soviet airspace.
The aircraft, flown by Central Intelligence Agency pilot Francis Gary Powers, was performing aerial reconnaissance when it was hit by an S-75 Dvina (SA-2 Guideline) surface-to-air missile and crashed in Sverdlovsk.
Initially the United States government tried to cover up the plane's purpose and mission, but was forced to admit its military nature when the Soviet government came forward with the U-2's intact remains and captured pilot as well as photos of military bases in Russia taken by the aircraft. Coming roughly two weeks before the scheduled opening of an East–West summit in Paris, the incident was a great embarrassment to the United States[2] and prompted a marked deterioration in its relations with the Soviet Union. Powers was convicted of espionage and sentenced to three years of imprisonment plus seven years of hard labor but would be released two years later on 10 February 1962 during a prisoner exchange for Soviet officer Rudolf Abel.[3]

27. Domino Theory 1950s to 1980s
The theory was: if one country came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect. The domino theory was used by successive United States administrations during the Cold War to justify the need for American intervention around the world.

28. Domino Theory
Though he never directly used the term "domino theory", U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower put the theory into words during an April 7, 1954 news conference, when referring to communism in Indochina:
Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the "falling domino" principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences.

29. Essential Question
How did Eisenhower's policies shape the post WWII world?
What events happened during this time period to enable the Cold War to continue rather than end?