Channels, Fall 2020

Channels • 20 20 • Volume 5 • Number 1 Page 63 86 Eisenhower understood that in this moment, the President did not need to be painted as a “champion of civil rights but as a defender of law and order.” 87 He faced significant backlash from Southern politicians and reporters due to his actions, but also received significant praise from black leaders and civil rights supporters around the country. It was not an easy time for him, both personally and politically, for he struggled with the decision to deploy troops domestically, but he knew there was no other recourse. The situation at Little Rock High School gradually calmed, and as days passed, the events that took place there began to fade into memory. There would be many more crisis and ruptures of the peace as the Civil Rights movement continued, but Eisenhower’s presidency had weathered its largest crisis in that area. In addition to the controversies produced by the Civil Rights movement, Eisenhower had to actively deal with the situation being caused by Senator Joe McCarthy’s fearmongering. Eisenhower had a great distaste for McCarthy and all of his doings, but he could not publicly denounce the man. Rather, the President determined to ignore him. He fully believed that “nothing w[ould] be so effective in combating this particular kind of trouble - making as to ignore him… this he cannot stand.” 88 However, when Eisenhower’s tactics failed because of the grandiose scale on which McCarthy conducted himself, the administration was forced to act against him. Yet Eisenhower hesitated to attack him, for he did not see much benefit coming from that route of action. Instead, he and his administration actively worked to politically undermine McCarthy, which would eventually end with the Senate censuring McCarthy and effectively ending his influence. The last major domestic legacy that Eisenhower left the United States with was the Interstate Highway System. This is often viewed as one o f Eisenhower’s greatest contributions to his country, for it is impossible to conceive of the modern continental United States without the interstate highway system. While not an issue that he had to address, or a political figure that he needed to combat, it was a valuable service that Eisenhower provided to his country when he signed the bill that authorized the highway system in 1956. The system was meant for more than just personal interstate travel – there is a strategic military design behind it that fortunately has not yet been needed, but which undoubtedly contributed to Eisenhower’s interest in the venture, alongside a personal interest in cross-country travel. This, along with the many other accomplishments he and his administration achieved both domestically and internationally, contribute to a legacy that promotes a view of Eisenhower as a careful and forward-thinking leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world. 86 Hitchcock, The Age of Eisenhower, 370. 87 Ibid. 88 Greenstein, The Hidden-Hand Presidency, 169.