The 1950s Images

The 34th president of the United States.

Eisenhower talking to paratroopers who are about to depart for France during the D-Day landing on June 5, 1944.

Eisenhower campaigning for the presidency in 1952.

Eisenhower and Khrushchev pose at Camp David during the Soviet leader's 1959 visit to America.

Elvis Presley excites crowds at a fair in his hometown, Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1956.

James Dean exemplified and was a hero to the alienated teens of the 1950s.

The first test of a hydrogen bomb in April 1952. The ominous mushroom cloud of nuclear destruction haunted citizens of the Fifties.

In 1956 Hungarian nationalists, encouraged by the United States, revolted against Soviet domination, pulling down a statue of dictator Joseph Stalin. The rebellion was quickly crushed by Soviet tanks and troops.

Herblock cartoon criticizes Eisenhower inaction on civil rights.

Flying at an altitude of 15 miles, this fast, light spy plane carried high-tech cameras for recording images on the grounds. When the Soviets shot one down in 1960, Eisenhower's hope of a significant Cold War breakthrough evaporated.

A mob in Caracas vented their anger against the U.S. by attacking Vice President Nixon's motorcade in 1958. They smashed the windows of his limo and almost overturned it before he escaped.