President Of The United States - 1149 Words

As president, Eisenhower adopted a style of leadership that emphasized the delegation of authority. He filled his cabinet with successful corporate executives whose gave his administration a businesslike tone. Eisenhower’s first priority was to balance the budget of deficit spending. As a moderate on domestic issues, he accepted most of the New Deals programs as a reality of modern life and even extended some of them. During his first two terms in office, social security was extended to 10 million more citizens, the minimum wage was raised, and additional public housing was built. In 1953, Eisenhower consolidated welfare programs by creating the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) under Oveta Culp Hobby, the first woman in a†¦show more content†¦Eisenhower did sign civil rights legislation in 1957 and 1960 providing federal protection for black voters; it was the first such legislation passed in the United States since Reconstruction. On his foreign pol icy, Eisenhower tried to reduce the strains of the Cold War. The signing of a truce brought an armed peace along the border of South Korea in 1953. Also that year, Eisenhower made his famous Atoms for Peace speech at the United Nations General Assembly. The United States and Russia had both recently developed atomic bombs, and the speech promoted applying atomic energy to peaceful uses, rather than using it for weaponry and warfare. He initiated the first arms limitation by voluntarily suspending above ground testing of nuclear weapons in 1958. In 1955, Eisenhower met with Russian, British and French leaders at Geneva. He proposed an â€Å"open skies† policy, in which the United States and Soviet Union would conduct air inspections of each other’s military programs; the U.S.S.R. rejected the proposal, though it won international approval. Nevertheless, the â€Å"spirit of Geneva† as the press called it, produced the first thaw in the Cold War. Eisenhower authori zed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to undertake covert operations against communism around the world. In 1953, CIA helped