"My first day at the President's Desk. Plenty of worries and difficult problems. But such has been my position for a long time - the result is that this just seems (today) like a continuation of all I've been doing since July '41 - even before that!"
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 22, 1953
• First Lady: Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower, Wife
• Dates of Presidency: 1/20/1953 - 1/20/1961
• Presidency Number: 34
• Number of Terms: 2
• Why Presidency Ended: End of 2nd term
• Party: Republican
• His Vice President(s): Richard M. Nixon
First Term Cabinet Members • Second Term Cabinet Members • White House Staff • Main Events
FIRST TERM CABINET - January 20, 1953-January 20, 1957
State: John Foster Dulles, D.C., Jan. 21, 1953
Treasury: George Magoffin Humphrey, Ohio, Jan. 21, 1953
Defense: Charles Erwin Wilson, Mich., Jan. 28, 1953
Attorney General: Herbert Brownell, Jr., N.Y., Jan. 21, 1953
Postmaster General: Arthur Ellsworth Summerfield, Mich., Jan. 21, 1953
Interior: Douglas McKay, Ore., Jan. 21, 1953; Frederick Andrew Seaton, Neb., June 8, 1956
Agriculture: Ezra Taft Benson, Utah, Jan. 21, 1953
Commerce: Sinclair Weeks, Mass., Jan. 21, 1953
Labor: Martin Patrick Durkin, Md., Jan. 21, 1953; James Paul Mitchell, N.J., Oct. 8, 1953
Health Education and Welfare: Oveta Culp Hobby, Tex., Apr. 11, 1953; Marion Bayard Folsom, Ga., Aug. 1, 1955
SECOND TERM CABINET - January 20, 1957-January 20, 1961
State: John Foster Dulles, D.C., continued from preceding administration; Christian Archibald Herter, Mass., Apr. 22, 1959
Treasury: George Magoffin Humphrey, Ohio, continued from preceding administration; Robert Bernard Anderson, Tex., July 29, 1957
Defense: Charles Erwin Wilson, Mich., continued from preceding administration; Neil Hosler McElroy, Ohio, Oct. 9, 1957-1959 (?); Thomas S. Gates Jr., PA Dec. 2, 1959
Attorney General: Herbert Brownell, Jr., N.Y.; continued from preceding administration; William Pierce Rogers, N.Y., Nov. 8, 1957
Postmaster General: Arthur Ellsworth Summerfield, Mich., continued from preceding administration
Interior: Frederick Andrew Seaton, Neb., continued from preceding administration
Agriculture: Ezra Taft Benson, Utah, continued from preceding administration
Commerce: Sinclair Weeks, Mass., continued from preceding administration; Lewis Lichtenstein Strauss, N.Y., Nov. 13, 1958-June 19, 1959; Frederick H. Mueller, Mich., Aug. 10, 1959
Labor: James Paul Mitchell, N.J., continued from preceding administration
Health, Education and Welfare: Marion Bayard Folsom, Ga., continued from preceding administration; Arthur Sherwood Flemming, Ohio, Aug. 1, 1958
White House Staff Book 1953-1961
This book contains staff biographies and passport photographs with brief descriptions of the background and qualifications of those who served President Dwight D. Eisenhower during his administration 1953-1961; a biographical sketch of President Dwight D. Eisenhower; a chronology prepared by the White House staff; and National Geographic Magazine articles.
ADMINISTRATION MAIN EVENTS - IMPORTANT DATES
1953
January 1953 neutralization of Formosa by Seventh Fleet ended.
March 5, 1953 death of Josef Stalin, Premier of the Soviet Union.
March 12, 1953 the Department of Health, Education and Welfare is created.
April 22, 1953 states given title to offshore oil.
July 27, 1953 Korean war ended with signing of armistice at Panmunjon calling for demilitarized zone and voluntary repatriation of prisoners. The 38th parallel is established as boundary between North and South Korea.
August 19-22, 1953 Leftist government of Premier Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran is ousted and replaced with regime loyal to Shah Pahlevi.
Aug.-Sept. 1953 American prisoners of war in Korea repatriated.
December 4-8, 1953 President conferred at Bermuda with prime ministers of Britain and France on exchange of atomic information.
December 8, 1953 Eisenhower delivers his Atoms For Peace speech at the United Nations proposing an international atomic energy agency and peaceful development of nuclear energy.
1953-1954 Senator Joseph McCarthy, chairman of the Senate Permanent Investigation Subcommittee, conducts hearings on communist subversion in America and investigates communist infiltration of the Armed Forces.
1954
Jan. 21, 1954 first atomic submarine, U.S.S. Nautilus, launched, Groton, Conn.
Mar. 1, 1954 five representatives wounded in House of Representatives by shots fired by Puerto Rican nationalists.
May 8-July 21, 1954 Geneva Conference on Indochina results in Geneva Accords partitioning Vietnam at the 17th Parallel and provides for unifying elections in two years.
May 7, 1954 French garrison at Dien Bien Phu surrenders to the Viet Mi nh.
May 13, 1954 St. Lawrence Seaway bill authorized joint construction by the United States and Canada.
May 17, 1954 Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education, Supreme Court rules that segregated schools are "inherently unequal" and unconstitutional.
June 25-29, 1954 President and Prime Minister Churchill conferred at Washington, D.C. on world peace.
August 24, 1954 Communist party outlawed, but party membership not made a crime.
September 1, 1954 Social Security coverage extended to 10 million additional persons (farmers, professional people, etc.)
September 8, 1954 Southeast Asia Defense Treaty (SEATO) signed.
October 25, 1954 first telecast of a cabinet meeting.
1955
January 28, 1955 Congress approved presidential request to allow U.S. forces to defend Formosa against Communist aggression.
February 7, 1955 U.S. Seventh fleet helped evacuation of Communist-threatened Tachen Islands, near Formosa.
March 16, 1955 previously secret Yalta Conference papers released by State Department.
April 12, 1955 A vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk is declared "safe, effective and potent" when introduced to combat the spread of poliomyelitis.
April 21, 1955 U.S. occupation of Germany ended; troops remained on contractual basis.
May 15, 1955 Big Four foreign ministers signed treaty restoring sovereignty to Austria.
May 31, 1955 Supreme Court reaffirmed principle of school integration, ordering gradual compliance by local authorities.
July 18-23, 1955 Geneva Four Power summit conference; Eisenhower submits "Open Skies" proposal allowing mutual air reconnaissance over military installations.
September 24, 1955 President Eisenhower suffered heart attack.
October 27, 1955 Geneva meeting of Big Four foreign ministers.
December 5, 1955 AFL-CIO merger.
December 5, 1955 a boycott of city buses led by Martin Luther King, Jr. begins in Montgomery, Alabama. It lasts for 54 weeks.
1956
January 30, 1956 British Prime Minister Eden conferred with President Eisenhower at Washington, D.C.
March 12, 1956 manifesto issued by southern senators and representatives pledging use of all legal means to reverse Supreme Court integration ruling.
June 9, 1956 President Eisenhower underwent emergency ileitis operation.
June 29, 1956 Federal Highway legislation is signed authorizing funds for the interstate highway system.
July 16, 1956 The President's Council on Youth Fitness was established by President Eisenhower.
July 19, 1956 United States withdrew offers to finance construction of Aswan Dam in Egypt, precipitating Egyptian seizure of Suez Canal.
October-November 1956 Suez Canal Crisis. Israel invades Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, and British and French forces attack Egyptian bases around the Suez Canal.
October-November 1956 Armed revolt in Budapest, Hungary is crushed by Russian armed forces.
October 31, 1956 President Eisenhower, deploring Anglo-French-Israeli attack on Egypt, promised that United States would not support this action.
November 8, 1956 United States offered to admit Hungarian refugees of anti-Soviet revolt.
1957
January 10-11, 1957 Southern Christian Leadership Conference is formed by Martin Luther King, Jr. and 60 others.
March 9, 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine bill signed, authorizing use of U.S. forces to assist Middle East nations threatened by Communist aggression.
March 20-24, 1957 Bermuda Conference is held with British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan.
May 14, 1957 United States resumed military aid to Yugoslavia, halted during Tito's reconciliation with USSR.
June 1957 controversial Supreme Court decisions on cases involving loyalty, subversive activities, and Communist Party membership.
June 1957 Prime Minister Kishi of Japan visited Washington, D.C.; joint American Japanese communique issued announcing withdrawal of American ground combat forces in Japan.
July 1957 United States proposed ban on nuclear tests after establishment of inspection system
July 1, 1957 the opening of the International Geophysical Year, a joint effort by scientists of 60 nations.
July 29, 1957 United States ratified International Atomic Energy Agency (proposed by President Eisenhower in 1953) to pool atomic resources for peaceful use.
September 9, 1957 the President signs the 1957 Civil Rights Act which seeks to protect voting rights.
September 19, 1957 first underground nuclear explosion, Nevada proving grounds.
September 24, 1957 President Eisenhower sent federal troops to scene of violence at Little Rock, Arkansas, High School to enforce integration of Negro students who had been barred by national guardsmen as ordered by Governor Orval Faubus.
October 4, 1957 launching of first Soviet Sputnik set off demand for greater American efforts in defense and technology.
November 25, 1957 President Eisenhower suffered mild stroke, but recovered rapidly.
1957-1958 business recession; over 5 million unemployed before reversal of downward trend.
1958
January 31, 1958 launching of Explorer I; first American satellite.
May 1958 Vice President Nixon, on Latin American tour, attacked by anti-U.S. demonstrators.
July-October 1958 U.S. troops in Lebanon at request of Lebanese government threatened by United Arab Republic infiltration.
July-August 1958 polar voyages of atomic submarines U.S.S. Nautilus and Skate.
July 15, 1958 Eisenhower orders U.S. Marines into Lebanon at the request of President Camille Chamoun.
July 29, 1958 President signed bill establishing National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
September 1958 closing of schools in which integration had been ordered in Arkansas and Virginia.
September 2, 1958 Eisenhower signs the National Defense Education Act, providing loans for college students and funds to encourage young people to enter teaching careers.
November 1958 to early 1959 Khrushchev indicates that he plans to sign an early peace treaty with East Germany and he calls on the western powers to withdraw their forces from West Berlin. The Big Four meet to discuss Berlin and German reunification.
1959
January 1, 1959 Fidel Castro's guerilla forces overthrow the Batista regime in Cuba.
January 3, 1959 Alaska proclaimed 49th state.
March 18, 1959 President signed act admitting Hawaii as the 50th state.
April 25, 1959 St. Lawrence Seaway opens.
August 21, 1959 Hawaii becomes the 50th state.
September 15-27, 1959 Premier Khrushchev visits the United States.
1960
May 1, 1960 a U-2 reconnaissance plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers is shot down over the USSR.
May 16, 1960 the Paris Summit meeting collapses when Khrushchev demands an apology from President Eisenhower for the U-2 flights.
November 8, 1960 Senator John F. Kennedy defeats Vice President Richard M. Nixon in the presidential election.
1960 The Congo (Zaire) becomes independent from Belgium on June 30, 1960 and widespread violence leads to intervention by UN troops.
1961
January 17, 1961 President Eisenhower delivers his Farewell Address to the Nation warning of the "military-industrial complex."
