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Alyssa Myers
Dr. Newton
POLS 1113 (012)
11/09/2017
Dwight Eisenhower: The President with the most Impact on America
Dwight Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States and served the in the Army from
1953 to 1961. Prior to his presidency, Dwight had risen up in the military ranks, due to his
tactical, moderate and diplomatic nature. Indeed, Eisenhower had a stellar track record in the
military not only as a commander of American troops in Europe, but also as a General who was
both diplomatic and politically responsible enough to brush shoulders with the likes of Winston
Churchill (Ambrose 3). Eisenhower was born in Texas into a poor family, and raised in Kansas.
He was the third of the seven children born to David Jacob Eisenhower and Ida Elizabeth Stover
Eisenhower (“Dwight D.”). Eisenhower is to a larger extent, the product of his parents. His
mother was of the Mennonite Church that strongly opposed war and violence while his father
was a mechanic (Kelly 8). He took the physique and strategic cue from his father, and from his
mother he got his strong social values of being a gentleman, lover, peacemaker and most
importantly trustworthy. These values and experiences would later shape the manner in which
Eisenhower made his decisions, thus making him the most impactful president in American
history.
One of the main reasons why Dwight Eisenhower is considered one of the best president
of the United States is because he played a very critical role during the Civil Rights movement
and agitation. It is important to note that Eisenhower supported segregation. “He was an infant
when Plessy v. Ferguson established the doctrine of separate but equal, making segregation the
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law of the land…” (Ambrose 8). Dwight Eisenhower is not considered a great president because
he was perfect, in fact, he was far from it. However, he is considered the most impactful because
of his ability to overcome his limitations and allow the process of democracy to work, his
opposition notwithstanding.
The issue of segregation was clearly a test of character for Eisenhower during his two–
term presidency. The president had appointed Earl Warren as Chief Justice, a decision he would
soon live to regret, probably because Warren’s Court ruled for integration in schools in the 1954
Brown v. Topeka case (Ambrose 9). Eisenhower, on his part, favored a gradual integration
process which ought to have begun taking effect on the less-sensitive social environments such
as parks and buses among others (Ambrose9). He thought that schools were a sensitive area to
test such a major social change. Even so, Eisenhower did not interfere in any way with the
