Dwight D. Eisenhower in Causes of the Cold War
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), a Republican, was the popular 34th President of the United States, serving two terms from 1953 to 1961. Prior to his presidency, Eisenhower was a lifelong military man, commanding the D-Day invasion while serving as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during World War II.
As a presidential candidate in 1952, Eisenhower promised to institute a more forceful anticommunist foreign policy than that of his predecessor, Democrat Harry S. Truman. Upon taking office, Eisenhower negotiated an end to the Korean War, but also committed the United States to new covert interventions against Soviet-friendly governments in places like Iran and Guatemala. Eisenhower left office warning the American public about the dangers of the military-industrial complex growing too powerful in American life.