MAIN EVENTS OF
THE EISENHOWER PRESIDENCY
1953-61


March  5, 1953      Death of Josef Stalin, Premier of the 
                              Soviet Union.

March 12, 1953      The Department of Health, Education and 
                               Welfare is created.

July 27, 1953       U.S. and North Korea sign armistice at 
                             Panmunjon. The 38th parallel is established 
                            as boundary between North and South Korea.

Aug. 19-22, 1953    Leftist government of Premier Mohammed 
                                Mossadegh in Iran is ousted and replaced 
                                with regime loyal to Shah Pahlevi.

Dec. 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.

1953-54             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.

Apr 26-Jul 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 Minh.

May 17, 1954        Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education, 
                              Supreme Court rules that segregated schools 
                              are "inherently unequal."

1955                A vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk is 
                        introduced to combat the spread of 
                        poliomyelitis.

July 1955           Eisenhower attends the Geneva Four Power 
                          Conference and submits his "Open Skies" 
                          proposal allowing mutual air reconnaissance 
                          over military installations.

Dec. 5, 1955        A boycott of city buses led by Martin 
                             Luther King, Jr. begins in Montgomery, AL. 
                             It lasts for 54 weeks.

June 29, 1956       Federal highway bill is signed authorizing 
                             funds for the interstate highway system.

Oct.-Nov. 1956      Suez Canal Crisis. Israel invades Gaza 
                               Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, and British 
                               and French forces attack Egyptian bases 
                               around the Suez Canal.

Oct.-Nov. 1956      Armed revolt in Budapest, Hungary is 
                               crushed by Russian armed forces.

Jan. 10-11, 1957    Southern Christian Leadership Conference is 
                                formed by Martin Luther King, Jr. and 60 
                                others.

March 20, 1957      Bermuda Conference is held with British 
                               Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.

July 1, 1957        The opening of the International 
                            Geophysical Year, a joint effort by 
                            scientists of 60 nations.

Sept. 9, 1957       The President signs the 1957 Civil Rights 
                             Act which seeks to protect voting rights.

Sept. 1957          Little Rock, Arkansas desegregation crisis.  
                           Federal troops are sent to enforce 
                           integration of Little Rock High School.

Oct. 4, 1957        Soviet Union launches first earth 
                            satellite, Sputnik, into orbit.

Jan. 31, 1958       First U.S. satellite, Explorer I, is sent 
                             into orbit.

July 15, 1958       Eisenhower orders U.S. Marines into Lebanon 
                             at the request of President Camille 
                             Chamoun.

July 29, 1958       Eisenhower signs bill creating the National 
                             Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Sept. 2, 1958       President Eisenhower signs the National 
                            Defense Education Act, providing loans for 
                            college students and funds to encourage 
                            young people to enter teaching careers.

Nov. 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.

Jan. 1, 1959        Fidel Castro's guerilla forces overthrow 
                            the Batista regime in Cuba.

Jan. 3, 1959        Alaska becomes the 49th state.

April 25, 1959      St. Lawrence Seaway opens.

Aug. 21, 1959       Hawaii become the 50th state.

Sept. 15-27, 1959   Premier Khrushchev visits the U.S.

May 1, 1960         A U-2 reconnaissance plane piloted by 
                             Francis Gary Powers is shot down over the 
                             U.S.S.R.

May 16, 1960        The Paris Summit meeting collapses when 
                              Khrushchev demands an apology from 
                              President Eisenhower for the U-2 flights.

1960                The Congo (Zaire) becomes independent from 
                        Belgium on June 30, 1960 and widespread 
                        violence leads to intervention by U.N. 
                        troops.

Nov. 8, 1960        Sen. John F. Kennedy defeats Vice President 
                              Richard M. Nixon in presidential election.

January 17, 1961    President Eisenhower delivers Farewell 
                               Address warning the nation of the 
                               "Military-Industrial Complex."



Return to Basic Eisenhower.
Return to the Eisenhower Library.
Return to PRESIDENT.