US History: American Domestic and Foreign Policies (1953-1991)

American Domestic and Foreign Policies
Student’s Name
Institution
American Domestic and Foreign Policies
Introduction
Gorge Washington had a lasting impact on the U.S. foreign policies for over a century where the country was expected to distance itself from the affairs of other foreign nations in what was termed as isolationism (ushistory.org, n.d.). However, after the country’s remarkable involvement in World War II, isolationism was no longer viable. Post World War II, most American Presidents based their campaigns and manifestos on foreign policy issues. The success and failures of the U.S. Presidents from the mid-20th century to the last decade of the 20th century have been evaluated primarily based on their foreign policies alongside the domestic policies to safeguard the interest of the locals. Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter are the post World War II U.S. presidents whose foreign and domestic policies were rather striking and formed parts of their historic success and failures in the country’s history.
President Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961)
President Dwight Eisenhower had his tenure at a time when there was a looming crisis with the Soviet Union, the Cold War (openstax, 2019). It was during Eisenhower’s tenure that the U.S. foreign policy of containment or rather the cold war policy was strengthened to neutralize the expansion of the Soviet Union’s communism (Raymont, 2018). President Eisenhower's strategic move with the nuclear projects did not only bring the Korean War to an end but also prevented a possible confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Besides the stiffness in the foreign policies, President Eisenhower also made huge steps in domestic policies. He employed the cold war policy to push for the adoption of the Federal-Aid Highway Act that led to the development of the Interstate Highway System. Consequently, the highway system served both as a military strategy and also as an economic milestone for the United States (Raymont, 2018). Higher education was the other main focus for President Eisenhower and he pushed for more money for education systems as well as supporting the Supreme Court ruling for school integration (Raymont, 2018). It is hard to discredit President Eisenhower's effort to strengthen the U.S. socially and economically and he will go down in history as one of the best U.S. presidents with regards to both foreign and domestic policies.
President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
The election of President J.F. Kennedy was characterized by a lot of ambitions among the youths, the African Americans, the poor, and the elderly. Economic hurdles, education, and civil rights were the major domestic issues that President Kennedy intended to tackle. To address the economic issues, Kennedy’s administration embarked on a mission to fine-tune the fiscal and monetary policies including tax cuts, increased minimum wage, and also pumping resources to businesses and housing (Selverstone, 2016). To bolster the education system, President Kennedy initiated a social program to provide aid to all social institutions including schools (Selverstone, 2016). Despite the tussle with Congress, President J.F. Kenn...