Dewey Elected: 1956-1959

1956: After many rumors, President Eisenhower finally decided to run for reelection. Two major pieces of domestic legislation that was pushed by the Eisenhower administration was signed this year. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 which created the interstate highway system, and the Federal-Aid Air Traffic act, which created a system for Airplanes. Both were signed by President Eisenhower on June 30th, 1956. The Republican primaries were a tough contest between Robert Taft and Joseph McCarthy. After a tough and bitter primary campaign, it still wasn’t decided until the Republican Convention. McCarthy won on the 10th ballot. He chooses his political ally Owen Bruster as his VP candidate. The two’s main pledges was to fight Communism and to fight government corruption. The campaign was one of the meanest spirited in history. With attacks by both candidates on Character, Mccarthy accusing the government of having Communists working for it, and Eisenhower accusing Mccarthy of having Mental Health problems. On Election night, Eisenhower/Nixon won in a landslide. The only areas the republicans won were the north, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The Democrats also won Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut. 1957: President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon is inaugurated for the second time. President Eisenhower creates the Eisenhower doctrine, which lead to Eisenhower sending troops to Lebanon in 1958. Eisenhower ordered federal troops to desegregate a school in Little Rock, Arkansas    President Eisenhower suffers a mild stroke in the oval office. The presidency is transferred to Vice President Nixon, by order of President Eisenhower. The USSR launches the SPUTNICK satellite. Two amendments are proposed for the Constuition. One is for a two-term limit; the other is for The Presidential line of succession. Eisenhower signs the one for the line of secession, and Eisenhower doesn’t sign the one for term limits. The term limit amendment does not enter the constitution. 1958: Eisenhower orders troops into Lebanon, and he helped to create the Baghdad Pact between Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, and Iran, as well as the United Kingdom. Hawaii is admitted to the union as the 50th State. Eisenhower creates a new branch of the government just for space travel, NASA. 1959: The Last year of the decade is one of Eisenhower’s finest. Eisenhower is the first president to travel to Spain to Meet General Francisco Franco. VP Nixon has the Kitchen debate with Kruschev. For the first time, the economy is not in a recession, and the budget is balanced and surplus plus no national debt for the first time since Andrew Jackson’s administration. President Eisenhower decides to not run for reelection, while VP Richard Nixon shocks everyone by running for The American Independent Party nomination, instead of the Democratic or Republican nomination. This is already the start of a wild decade to come.