"My first day at the president's desk," Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote in his diary on January, 21 1953. "Plenty of worries and difficult problems. But...today [just seems] like a continuation of all I've been doing since July of 1941-even before that. To Eisenhower the political game was a new exp

Yet only months later, his hopes had collapsed. The Big Four summit in Paris, where the president had looked forward to signing an arms control agreement, ended in disarray after the Soviets shot down an American U-2 spy plane over their territory. Eisenhower's influence in Congress evaporated as Democrats- and even some Republicans- voted to increase spending to improve their chances in the fall elections. The final disappointment occurred when Vice-president Richard M. Nixon lost his bid to succeed Eisenhower in the White House. A year that began with hopes of peace ended with renewed cold war tensions, recession, and repudiation.

Much to his delight, Eisenhower established a far better working relationship with the Republican congressional leadership than he had anticipated. The greatest surprise that came out of it was the friendship he developed with Senator Robert A. Taft, the republican senate majority leader. The amicability between the president and the senator, as Eisenhower noted, was "curious," since it did not ensure "compatibility of intellectual viewpoint, nor even... complete courtesy in the public discussion of political questions." For example: the two battled over Eisenhower's not consulting Taft on cabinet appointments. Taft resented his exclusion from such critical decisions, and Eisenhower detested Taft's preoccupation with patronage, a practice he considered "wicked" and dangerous to democracy. They usually agreed on domestic matters, but when the topic of foreign policy arose Taft often ended up losing his temper. Taft's death in 1953 struck Eisenhower hard. His successor as majority leader, William F. Knowland of California, was well-meaning, but "cumbersome," in Eisenhower's opinion, and unable to command great respect in the senate.

"Seven years ago I entered my present office with one long-held resolve overriding others," President Eisenhower declared in his state of the union address in January of 1960. "I was then, and remain now, that the United States shall become an ever more potent resource for the cause of peace." As his presidency neared its end, Eisenhower appeared to be within reach of achieving the goal of relaxing Cold War tensions. At home, despite facing a Congress with overwhelming Democratic majorities, he had been remarkably successful at holding the line against increased federal spending, especially in defense. He looked forward to his final year in office "full of drive, enthusiasm, and a desire to attack on all fronts."

"No one is more anxious than I am to see Negroes receive first-class citizenship in this country," claimed President Eisenhower to a group of leaders in May of 1958, "but you must be patient." This statement of let someone else change things seemed to be Eisenhower's view towards civil rights throughout his presidency. Despite his endorsement of "first-class citizenship," Eisenhower was unwilling to use his powers as president to end discriminatory practices except in those few instances in which the federal government had clear constitutional jurisdiction. Nothing was don because Eisenhower was sympathetic to the fears of white Southerner's. Eisenhower even went on to label the black leaders, who wanted to topple the system of segregation, extremists. For the first time since Reconstruction, the president ordered federal troops into the South to maintain public order and secured legislation from Congress to protect voting rights. Yet these actions were more symbolic than substantive, since they did little to ensure black access to the ballot box or to integrated public schools. Civil rights,

Some common words found in the essay are:
President Eisenhower, Soviet Union, Cold War, Robert Taft, Southerner's Eisenhower, Truman Congress, White House, Korean War, Congress Eisenhower, Jim Crow, national security, cold war, civil rights, nsc 68, white house, national security policy, security policy, president eisenhower, congressional liaison, korean war, war tensions, cold war tensions, waging cold war, vice-president richard nixon, republican congressional leadership,
Approximate Word count = 2420
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)