Is Eisenhower’s Standing as One of The Best Presidents Reasonable?

            Furthermore, many of Eisenhower’s actions created a great mess and increased tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. For example, Eisenhower’s coup in Guatemala not only overthrew a democratically elected government for the sole purpose of securing American economic interests in Guatemala, but the man he appointed to govern the nation was unable to govern, which caused the country to slip into a civil war that would ravage the nation for the next 30 years. Furthermore, relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were becoming better to the extent that Eisenhower and Khrushchev were to exchange visits. However, Eisenhower’s endorsed spy plane, a U-2, was shot down over Soviet territory just weeks before a summit in Paris that many thought might lead to a “peaceful coexistence” (Patterson 425). The U-2 incident completely destroyed all hopes of such a dream and increased tensions between the two nations.

            Though Eisenhower seems to be a failure, he was successful in securing American interests against the threat of Communism. After the Soviets launched Sputnik, Eisenhower refused “to be panicked by [it]” and rationally dealt with the situation by creating NASA, yet at the same time, continuing his “more bang for a buck” philosophy (820). “More bang for a buck” can also be seen as a great success because he was able to secure American military strength while at the same time keeping a cap on government spending. In essence, Eisenhower was a great president, however he does not deserve as high a ranking as many credit him to.

Scott-Smith, Giles. Politics of Apolitical Culture : The Congress for Cultural Freedom and the Political Economy of American Hegemony 1945-1955. New York: Routledge, 2001.