Dwight Eisenhower Timeline: Presidential Timeline of Important Events |
| 1953 | His inauguration as 34th President of the United States on January 20, 1953 at the age of 62 followed the Presidency of Harry S. Truman. He inherited the Korean War and the Cold War |
| 1953 | The Cold War was the struggle between communism and democracy, a state of intense political, ideological and military rivalry between the United States and Soviet Union that stopped short of full-scale war |
| 1953 | April 16, 1953: Communists attack "Pork Chop Hill". The President threatens a nuclear attack |
| 1953 | Cold War: Over 300,000 East Germans flee to West Berlin and then to West Germany. |
| 1953 | The End of the Korean War: The Korean War (1950-1953) was the first armed conflict in the Cold War and ended with the United States, the People's Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea agreeing to an armistice. The result of the Korean War was a military stalemate resulting in the continued division of Korea. |
| 1954 | The Brown v. Board of Education held that school segregation violated the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The following year the Court ordered desegregation "with all deliberate speed". |
| 1954 | The Civil Rights Movement begins |
| 1954 | The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) assists in overthrowing Guatemala's communist-influenced government. |
| 1954 | The Vietnam War begins after Vietnam is divided into communist North Vietnam and non-communist South Vietnam. The US later becomes involved from 1963 - 1973 |
| 1954 | SEATO: The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was formed on September 8, 1954 as the Southeast Asian version of NATO aimed at preventing the spread of communism |
| 1955 | The Warsaw Pact is formed by the Soviet Union and communist countries in eastern Europe as a military defense organization to counter NATO. |
| 1955 | The actions of Rosa Parks led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted for eighteen months between 1955 - 1957. |
| 1956 | The Interstate Highway System is created |
| 1956 | The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was formed in 1957. Dr Martin Luther King became president of the SCLC which aimed at eliminating the practice of segregation |
| 1957 | Federal troops are sent to Little Rock to enforce integration |
| 1957 | The Eisenhower Doctrine promised military or economic aid to any Middle Eastern country needing help to resist communist aggression |
| 1957 | The Soviet launch of Sputnik I, the world's first artificial satellite, on October 4, 1957 triggered the Space Race. |
| 1958 | The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established to keep U.S. space efforts abreast of Soviet space efforts. NASA began its operations on October 1, 1958 |
| 1958 | Pioneer 1 is the first NASA launch from Cape Canaveral on October 11, 1958 |
| 1959 | Cuba becomes communist under Fidel Castro. |
| 1960 | The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was formed 1960 by Civil Rights activist Ella Baker. |
| 1960 | The Pop Art movement began in America |
| 1960 | 1 May 1960: U-2 Incident - USAF spy aircraft, piloted by Gary Powers, shot down over USSR |
| 1961 | His presidency and term in office ends on January 20, 1961. The next US President was John F. Kennedy |
Presidential Timeline of important Events |