Commander in Chief: Prior to his presidency, Eisenhower had become one of Americas greatest military commanders during World

War II. He excelled in his army career and served under various generals. After the Pearl Harbor bombing, Eisenhower was called to Washington to command Allied forces in North Africa. He was also the supreme commander of the troops invading France on D-Day. During his presidency he exercised his military powers as the Commander in Chief. During the Korean War, Eisenhower sent troops into southern Korea to aid to non-communists. The Allied forces and Republic of Korea were mostly successful in driving out the communists until China intervened and pushed them back to the 38th parallel. At this point of the war a stalemate was already determined and an armistice was therefore signed to end the fighting. The Korean Armistice Agreement created a DMZ which is a fortified buffer zone between North and South Korea. Another incident where Eisenhower took military action was in the Vietnam War. Similar to the Korean War, police action was applied to Vietnam as well. Eisenhower, as the Commander in Chief, had the authority to send troops into Vietnam without the approval of Congress. At the end of the First Indochina War, Vietnam was still split, and the non-communist Republic of Vietnam lead by Ngo Dinh Diem was offered military and economic assistance by Eisenhower. Eisenhower also acted upon conflicts in the Middle East. The Suez Canal crisis represents one of Eisenhowers most stressful military positions. Should he had sent troops to the Suez Canal to fight; the world would have been engaged in another major global crisis. But instead, Eisenhower put his troops on hold as he engaged in diplomatic affairs and managed to resolve the problem by announcing the actions of Britain and France as a violation of self-determination. With Britains and Frances eventual agreement along with the consent of the United Nations, a cease-fire was enacted and the immediate withdrawal of the invading troops was called.

Chief Legislator: President Eisenhower, although unfamiliar with politics, happened to pass promising and good laws. As a promoter of civil rights, he pushed for the Civil Rights Act of 1957. This bill was the first civil rights legislation that was passed since Reconstruction. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was primarily a voting bill. It maintained that all Americans may exercise their right to vote. This was a response to the voting restrictions on Africans Americans in the South due to white supremacists who participated in discriminatory practices such as literacy tests and poll taxes. In order to strengthen and enforce this, near the end of his administration, Eisenhower passed the Civil Rights Act of 1960 through Congress. This bill was a federal law stating that local voter registration polls are subject to federal inspection. Also this law introduced penalties to those who prohibited anothers registration to vote. In accord with the Korean War and Vietnam War, Eisenhower passed various legislations that were needed to ensure tranquility and containment in Asia. Also he passed legislation regarding the disputes in the Middle East. The Eisenhower Doctrine stated that any country may request US for economic assistance or military aid if the country was being threatened by armed aggression of another state. The most important legislation that was passed was the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. This act created the United States Interstate Highways. Eisenhower based this system of his experience in Germany where he saw the use of the German autobahn system. He was impressed with the speed of which vehicles can use these connected roadways to quickly transport munitions and food supplies across the country.