President Eisenhower in the Cold War

President Eisenhower (1953-1961)

Policies:

• Massive retalliation - military doctrine and nuclear strategy to be totally rid of the Soviet Union if needed through a nuclear attack. This would be done before the USSR could do the same.
• Brinkmanship - policy used during negotiations with the USSR involving threatenining to use nuclear force as close as possible to fully committing to do so in order to achieve aims. This worked to pressure the Soviets into acting.
• Mutually assured destruction (MAD) - the idea that while the US had the nuclear capability to strike and blow the USSR, they had the same capacity. This meant that both superpowers were more able to talk with the assurance that the other understood this.
• New Look - national security policy that emphasised reliance on strategic nuclear weapons to deter potential threats, both conventional and nuclear, from the Eastern Bloc of nations headed by the Soviets. It reflected the President's concern for balancing the Cold War military commitments with the nation's financial resources. The policy was initiated due to defense budget cuts in late 1953.
• Open Skies - a non-aggressive policy that would allow "space-crafts of any state to overfly all states, a region free of military posturing and launch Earth satellites to explore space"

Korean War:

Inherited from his predecessor, Truman, a main aim of Eisenhower's was to end the war in Korea or at least American involvement in the country. Eisenhower used the UN heavily.
The President himself went to Korea on 29 Nov 1952. With the UN's acceptance of India's proposed Korean War armistice, the KPA, the PVA, and the UN Command ceased fire with the battle line approximately at the 38th parallel. Upon agreeing to the armistice, the belligerents established the Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), which has since been patrolled by the KPA and ROKA, United States, and Joint UN Commands.

The United Nations Command, supported by the United States, the North Korean People's Army, and the Chinese People's Volunteers, signed the Armistice Agreement on 27 July 1953 to end the fighting. The Armistice also called upon the governments of South Korea, North Korea, China and the United States to participate in continued peace talks. The war is considered to have ended at this point, even though there was no peace treaty. 
The war was not a win for the US, but was not a complete failure as capitalism was preserved in South Korea and the government under Syngman Rhee was firmly anti-Communist and pro-American.

Relations with China:

Eisenhower continued Truman's policy of recognizing the Republic of China (Free China) as the legitimate government of China, not the Beijing regime. This was the government in exile in Taiwan.

The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty with the Republic of China was signed in December 1954. Eisenhower requested and secured from Congress their "Free China Resolution" in January 1955, which gave him unprecedented power in advance to use military force at any level of his choosing in defense of Free China and the Pescadores. The…