21: On the Edge of Armageddon Part I (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

Few people today can recall the major events or accomplishments of Eisenhower’s presidency. To many, he is a mere transitional figure, the president who served during the stale and cookie cutter 1950s, between years of war under FDR and Truman and social upheaval under Kennedy and Johnson. But Eisenhower was no mere interlude. Like Truman, his presidency was one of crises—when American credibility and nuclear war were constantly at stake. Every decision he made involved the delicate balance of terror that could mean either peace or annihilation. How Eisenhower maintained that peace and avoided Armageddon is the subject of this episode of This American President.

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