Eisenhower, Presidential Leadership, and Policy Towards the Soviet Union, 1953-1961.

PhD Theses.This thesis explores the mode and quality of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidential leadership by analysing his contribution to American policy towards the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1961. Using archival material from a range of sources, including the Eisenhower Presidential Library, U.S. National Archives, the Library of Congress, and the Seeley-Mudd Library, Princeton, the research builds on the extensive and wide-ranging existing scholarship to examine whether Eisenhower adhered to a coherent, unique, and effective form of leadership, which is central to the dominant trend of historiographical interpretation known as ‘Eisenhower Revisionism’. The research takes a chronological approach to trace the evolution of Eisenhower’s leadership in response to the policy challenges he faced. An extended case study of policy towards the Soviet Union is uniquely placed to inform an appraisal of Eisenhower’s leadership that is capable of contributing significantly to the historiography. It was a consistently pertinent policy issue during his eight years in office; it was the central issue to which he applied himself; and, most critically, it placed Eisenhower in a variety of situations that tested different elements of leadership. Amongst the facets of leadership explored are strategy, crisis handling, communication, and staff management. The research covers major events and crises of the period but also explores thematic issues such as the ‘contacts agenda’ and Eisenhower’s perceptions of Kremlin politics, both of which are more integral to this assessment of his leadership than has often been the case. Overall the research contends that so-called ‘post-revisionism’, which has receded within the historiography since the 1990s, needs reinvigorating. Post-revisionism provides a more credible interpretation of Eisenhower as a leader compared to the predominant revisionist approach, which too often presents him as a more purposeful and deliberate leader than was the case