"modern Republicanism" This was Eisenhower’s political philosiphy. He combined conservative and moderate policies. Eisenhower was not a strong part man and often took the common-sense, compromise solution.
Eisenhower’s views on executive power Eisenhower did not exercise his power directly, but delegated authority to subordinates. He was not strong-willed and often compromised. To him, the President was one of the players on the executive team.
The Oppenheimer case Robert Oppenheimer, the head of the Los Alamos, New Mexico lab that created the atomic bomb, was investigated in 1950 by the FBI. In 1953, Oppenheimer was denied security clearance that he neede to continue working for the Atomic Energy Commission after a government hearing. Oppenheimer’s crime was that he could not recall a 1943 conversation about Soviet interest in the atomic bomb.
Army-McCarthy hearings These hearings were held by a Senate subcommittee in 1954 after Senator McCarthy accused, while on national TV, the army of shielding Communists. By a 67 to 22 vote, the Senate condemned McCarthy. McCarthy lost all of his power and turned to alcohol which caused his death by cirrhosis of the liver in 1957 at age 48.
Yates v. U.S.; Watkins v. U.S. On June 17, 1957, the Supreme Court made decisions in these two Court cases which ended judicial suppression of dissent. In Yates v. U.S., it was decided that people advocating the forceful overthrow of the U.S. government could only be convicted if they advocated revolutionary action. The preaching in itself was not a crime. In Watkins v. U.S., John T. Watkins was allowed to refuse to reveal his past to the HUAC.
Ezra Taft Benson; “soil bank” program Ezra Taft Benson was Eisenhower’s Secretary of Agriculture. In 1956, the administration tried the “soil-bank” program to end overproduction. Farmers were paid to turn part of their crop land into forest of pastrue. This program failed as per-acre yield increased, negatting the land that was converted....