Dwight D. Eisenhower served as America’s 34th president

Dwight D. Eisenhower served as America’s 34th president. Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency as the 34th President of the United States began on January 20, 1953, and concluded on January 20, 1961. Eisenhower, a Republican from Kansas, was elected president after defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 presidential election. After winning the 1960 presidential election, John F. Kennedy succeeded him.

Eisenhower served as President of the United States during the Cold War, a time of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. During his presidency, Eisenhower's New Look policy emphasized the importance of nuclear weapons as a deterrent to military threats, and the United States built up a stockpile of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons delivery systems. Eisenhower negotiated an end to the Korean War shortly after assuming office, culminating in the partition of Korea. Following the Suez Crisis, Eisenhower issued the Eisenhower Doctrine, which strengthened the United States' commitments in the Middle East. In response to the Cuban Revolution, the Eisenhower administration severed connections with Cuba and began planning an invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles, which culminated in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.

Eisenhower easily won the presidential election in 1956 and maintained high approval ratings throughout his presidency, but the launch of Sputnik 1 and a weak economy contributed to Republican losses in the 1958 elections. Vice President Richard Nixon narrowly lost the 1960 presidential election to John F. Kennedy. Eisenhower departed office popular with the public but was considered a "do-nothing" president by many commentators. After the revelation of his private documents in the 1970s, his reputation improved. Historians and political scientists polled place Eisenhower in the top quartile of presidents.