Why is Eisenhower so praised?

[EkriirkE]

I notice many liberals today praise this man as some sort of peace president. And that he wasn't as crazed as todays republicans.


His foreign policy stuff:

-supported overthrow of iran leader in 1953
-did the same thing in guatamela in 1954
-supplied arms to france when france was in vietnam
-made decisions in vietnam in the 50s that lead the to vietnam war in the 60s
-huge buildup of nuclear stockpile during his reign
-threatened china and russia with nuclear war (if you did this today, you be considered a far right gop crazy.)
-military intervention in Lebanon in 58
-planned and approved the ay of pigs invasion (kennedy executed it as this was at the end of eisnehowers presidency.)

Despite his military industrial complex speech the man had a big hand in creating it. and from the start of his presidency (iran 1953) to the end (planning and approving the bay of pigs invasion) he was complicit in it.

I just dont understand why the anti-war left praise this guy, at all.


And let's even look at some of his domestic stuff:

-was the first republian to try and court the segregation racist vote
-was against brown court ruling, did nothing to support in until the little rock nine incidient in 1957. Even shorty after that you had the lost year which all the public schools closed for a year in little rock. did nothing to stop this.
-operation ******* (even reagan gave amnestry to 3 million illegals)
-signed in legislation that put "in god we trust" on money and "under god" in the pledge of allegiance. called the communist godless (some on the left blame reagan for starting this int he GOP, but eisenhower started it)
-passed crappy civil rights legislation in 57 and 60 that just delt with voting rights, crappily enforced
-stated that he as a president didnt really want to deal with civil rights issues

So why do many liberals sing this guy praises? I just don't get it.

[SWE]

Because moderate Republican

[Mechaman]

-was the first republian to try and court the segregation racist vote

You are aware that Herbert Hoover, the Great Humanitarian, was actually the first Republican candidate to employ a Southern Strategy, right?

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy#19th_century_disfranchisement_and_rise_of_the_Solid_South
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Hoover#Presidential_election_of_1928
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1928

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

-was against brown court ruling, did nothing to support in until the little rock nine incidient in 1957. Even shorty after that you had the lost year which all the public schools closed for a year in little rock. did nothing to stop this.

But Lincoln freed the slaves, you see...

[Rockefeller GOP]

Because he was easily the best President since World War II?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Many overrate him, but he is arguably second to only Lincoln as best Republican President.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Many overrate him, but he is arguably second to only Lincoln as best Republican President.

Theodore Roosevelt?

[MATTROSE94]

Because he was easily the best President since World War II?

Eisenhower was actually an excellent President overall, though his picks of John Foster Dulles as Secretary of State and Allen Dulles as CIA director were serious mistakes in retrospect.

[politicus]

I think he is the President Republicans who hold that office strive to be like and Democrats do not talk a lot about. For most of the Eisenhower administration the economy was booming and his biggest achievement in some opinion is the interstate highway system. I think beginning in another 5 years or so GWB will begin to look a lot like an Eisenhower. Dwight Eisenhower got to the presidency the old fashioned way. He earned it.

How the economy is doing is generally unrelated to who is President and how he governs.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Because the 1950s

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

D-Day.

[Sol]

I think he is the President Republicans who hold that office strive to be like and Democrats do not talk a lot about. For most of the Eisenhower administration the economy was booming and his biggest achievement in some opinion is the interstate highway system. I think beginning in another 5 years or so GWB will begin to look a lot like an Eisenhower. Dwight Eisenhower got to the presidency the old fashioned way. He earned it.

How the economy is doing is generally unrelated to who is President and how he governs.

Wasn't actually the economy modestly weak in the late 1950s? Thus the landslide of 1958?

[Beet]

The economy was extremely volatile prior to the late 20th century compared to contemporary standards. For instance, there were three recessions during the "Roaring 20s." I am not quite sure why that is, but it may have to do with the fact that the service sector accounted for a smaller proportion of the economy and that it was less elastic than the industrial sector. In 1958 there was indeed a sharp recession, however by the end of the year it was clearly over and there was a sharp rebound in 1959. Overall, the economy of the Eisenhower 1950s can be classified as booming.

[Cubby]

I've always thought the opposite. You never hear Republicans today praise Eisenhower's time in office, they only mention Reagan ad nauseum or at most praise Ike's pre-political military service. Perhaps they don't like the fact that he didn't dismantle any of the New Deal/Fair Deal programs and policies.

[m4567]

The economy was extremely volatile prior to the late 20th century compared to contemporary standards. For instance, there were three recessions during the "Roaring 20s." I am not quite sure why that is, but it may have to do with the fact that the service sector accounted for a smaller proportion of the economy and that it was less elastic than the industrial sector. In 1958 there was indeed a sharp recession, however by the end of the year it was clearly over and there was a sharp rebound in 1959. Overall, the economy of the Eisenhower 1950s can be classified as booming.

There was another recession in 1960.

[Rockefeller GOP]

I've always thought the opposite. You never hear Republicans today praise Eisenhower's time in office, they only mention Reagan ad nauseum or at most praise Ike's pre-political military service. Perhaps they don't like the fact that he didn't dismantle any of the New Deal/Fair Deal programs and policies.

I think you're pretty off-base with that.  The GOP is certainly proud of Ike.

[Mordecai]

I've always thought the opposite. You never hear Republicans today praise Eisenhower's time in office, they only mention Reagan ad nauseum or at most praise Ike's pre-political military service. Perhaps they don't like the fact that he didn't dismantle any of the New Deal/Fair Deal programs and policies.

I think you're pretty off-base with that.  The GOP is certainly proud of Ike.

Yet no Republican politicians nowadays will refer to themselves as an "Eisenhower Republican". They all refer to Reagan when they try to bolster their conservative street cred.

[CatoMinor]

Because of his mastery of keeping his hands clean to the public while working behind the scenes. He had people fooled pretty well that his advisers ran the show and he was just there as a strong leader.

[Rockefeller GOP]

I've always thought the opposite. You never hear Republicans today praise Eisenhower's time in office, they only mention Reagan ad nauseum or at most praise Ike's pre-political military service. Perhaps they don't like the fact that he didn't dismantle any of the New Deal/Fair Deal programs and policies.

I think you're pretty off-base with that.  The GOP is certainly proud of Ike.

Yet no Republican politicians nowadays will refer to themselves as an "Eisenhower Republican". They all refer to Reagan when they try to bolster their conservative street cred.

Same reason Democrats reference Bill Clinton's years more than JFK or FDR ... More recent, more relevant and most importantly more relatable to voters.

[Maistre]

I've always thought the opposite. You never hear Republicans today praise Eisenhower's time in office, they only mention Reagan ad nauseum or at most praise Ike's pre-political military service. Perhaps they don't like the fact that he didn't dismantle any of the New Deal/Fair Deal programs and policies.

I think you're pretty off-base with that.  The GOP is certainly proud of Ike.

Yet no Republican politicians nowadays will refer to themselves as an "Eisenhower Republican". They all refer to Reagan when they try to bolster their conservative street cred.

Reagan had more influence in shaping the modern Republican Party then Eisenhower did, so it is not a stretch that Reagan is referred to more.

[tpfkaw]

I've always thought the opposite. You never hear Republicans today praise Eisenhower's time in office, they only mention Reagan ad nauseum or at most praise Ike's pre-political military service. Perhaps they don't like the fact that he didn't dismantle any of the New Deal/Fair Deal programs and policies.

I think you're pretty off-base with that.  The GOP is certainly proud of Ike.

Yet no Republican politicians nowadays will refer to themselves as an "Eisenhower Republican". They all refer to Reagan when they try to bolster their conservative street cred.

Because nobody under the age of 79 is old enough to have voted for Eisenhower?

[Nichlemn]

Because moderate Republican

This. It's usually by faux moderate Democrats who like to bring up Ike as an example of a "sane Republican".

[RINO Tom]

I notice many liberals today praise this man as some sort of peace president. And that he wasn't as crazed as todays republicans.


His foreign policy stuff:

-supported overthrow of iran leader in 1953
-did the same thing in guatamela in 1954
-supplied arms to france when france was in vietnam
-made decisions in vietnam in the 50s that lead the to vietnam war in the 60s
-huge buildup of nuclear stockpile during his reign
-threatened china and russia with nuclear war (if you did this today, you be considered a far right gop crazy.)
-military intervention in Lebanon in 58
-planned and approved the ay of pigs invasion (kennedy executed it as this was at the end of eisnehowers presidency.)

Despite his military industrial complex speech the man had a big hand in creating it. and from the start of his presidency (iran 1953) to the end (planning and approving the bay of pigs invasion) he was complicit in it.

I just dont understand why the anti-war left praise this guy, at all.


And let's even look at some of his domestic stuff:

-was the first republian to try and court the segregation racist vote
-was against brown court ruling, did nothing to support in until the little rock nine incidient in 1957. Even shorty after that you had the lost year which all the public schools closed for a year in little rock. did nothing to stop this.
-operation ******* (even reagan gave amnestry to 3 million illegals)
-signed in legislation that put "in god we trust" on money and "under god" in the pledge of allegiance. called the communist godless (some on the left blame reagan for starting this int he GOP, but eisenhower started it)
-passed crappy civil rights legislation in 57 and 60 that just delt with voting rights, crappily enforced
-stated that he as a president didnt really want to deal with civil rights issues

So why do many liberals sing this guy praises? I just don't get it.

The bolded parts are noticeably ridiculous, especially since I'm guessing you'll praise people like FDR, Truman, JFK and LBJ as sorts of civil rights pioneers.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

He was a moderate Republican who supported most of the New Deal (or at the very least didn't try to dismantle it), he worked hard to enforce desegregation after Brown v. Board, and fought to protect America from Soviet aggression.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

He had plenty of flaws, but isn't really any more conservative than Clinton or Obama.