He Failed to Improve the Plight of the American Farmer.
The goal of his farm policy was to get government out of agriculture and strengthen the family farmer. He failed at both.
4. He Failed to Moderate the Republican Party.
This was a personal goal of Eisenhower's. He wanted to reenergize and modernize the Republican Party, making it less conservative and more acceptable to mainstream America. His failure became evident when Republicans nominated the conservative Barry Goldwater as their presidential candidate in 1964.
3. He Failed to Provide Leadership in Civil Rights.
One could argue this, and many do. It’s fair to say Eisenhower was not considered a champion of civil rights at the beginning of his first term. His response to the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown decision to abolish segregation in public schools was less than enthusiastic and he failed at first to speak out against racial violence in the South. But he went on to desegregate Washington DC, send the Army into Little Rock to desegregate Central High School, and sign the 1957 Civil Rights Act. Perhaps most importantly, he appointed liberal judges to the southern federal courts who would be instrumental in upholding the civil rights legislation of the 60s. Although he certainly failed at times to demonstrate leadership on civil rights issues, he grew more supportive of civil rights as his presidency progressed.
2. He Failed to Denounce Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Had he publicly condemned McCarthy and his investigations, there would have been much less damage inflicted on innocent lives and the country's morale. But Eisenhower believed that to personally confront McCarthy would demean the Presidency and give McCarthy exactly what he craved: more publicity.
AND EISENHOWER'S NO.1 FAILURE AS PRESIDENT:
1. He Failed to Defuse the Cold War.
He certainly tried. And he seemed to be on the verge of success when the Premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, visited the U.S. in 1959 and agreed to a Paris Peace Conference for the following spring. But then the Soviets shot down the U-2 spy plane, Khrushchev scuttled the peace conference, and all hope of deflating the Cold War ended. When Eisenhower left office, the Cold War was even more threatening than when he embarked upon the presidency eight years before.
