The presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower began on January 20, 1953, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was inaugurated as the 34th president of the United States, and ended on January 20, 1961.
1953 January 20 – First inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower January 21 – President Eisenhower meets with Herbert Brownell Jr. in the Oval Office for discussions on business. This is President Eisenhower's first appointment since taking office. George M. Humphrey is sworn in as the 55th United States Secretary of the Treasury, Douglas McKay is sworn in as the 35th United States Secretary of the Interior, Martin Patrick Durkin is sworn in as the 7th United States Secretary of Labor, Sinclair Weeks is sworn in as the 13th United States Secretary of Commerce, Ezra Taft Benson is sworn in as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture, and Arthur Summerfield is sworn in as the 54th Postmaster General of the United States during a ceremony at the White House in the evening. January 22 – President Eisenhower appoints Charles Erwin Wilson as the 5th United States Secretary of Defense during the evening. Wilson agrees beforehand to abandon his General Motors stock that was worth $2 and a half million. Agriculture Secretary Benson pledges to overhaul and cut expenses of the Agriculture Department and regroups the twenty agencies into four. January 27 – Committees vote for President Eisenhower to reorganize the government and for Congress to have an easier time vetoing reorganization moves. January 27 – The Senate confirms Harold Stassen for Director of the Mutual Security Agency. January 27 – During an evening address in Washington, Secretary of State Dulles predicts the Soviet Union regime may collapse from human rights violations . April 16 – Chance for Peace speech May 4 – President Eisenhower meets with governors of U.S. states and territories along with other federal officials behind closed doors at the State Department for what is called by Eisenhower a discussion on the peace and security of the United States. May 4 – Secretary of State Dulles warns that other countries will be pushed toward trade with Communist regions in the event of U.S. tariff barriers against imports being tightened and advocates for the bill by Representative Richard M. Simpson intended to bolster tariff protection for American industries in a countering of competition from less costly foreign goods. May 4 – The United States nominates Pakistan as the neutral custodian for Korean War prisoners declining to go home in the aftermath of an armistice. June 18 – President Eisenhower announces the US will be submitting 50 million dollars to West Berlin for what he says will strengthen the economy and prevent West Berlin citizens from succumbing to "the great pressures to which they are constantly exposed." Vice President Nixon breaks two-tie breaking votes in the Senate. June 30 – A voice vote in the Senate enables President Eisenhower to shift foreign aid funds with thinner restrictions. July 27 – Korean War ends. July 28 – Secretary of State Dulles says the US will not buy the unification of Korea if it means Communist China will receive admission to the United Nations during a news conference. July 29 – The Senate votes 63 to 30 in favor of emergency administration admitting 209,000 aliens to the US. August 12 – Soviet Union conducts first test of a thermonuclear weapon. October 30 – Eisenhower approves NSC 162/2, which defines Cold War national security policy during the Eisenhower administration. November 1 – In a Los Angeles appearance, Senator Joseph McCarthy says a member of the loyalty appeal board of the office of Army Secretary Stevens would be called to appear before his committee for questions on communist affiliations. McCarthy does not name the board member. November 2 – Agriculture Secretary Benson tells newsmen of his plans for the reshuffle of the Agriculture Department and his willingness to resign if President Eisenhower requests him to. November 3 – Senator McCarthy says a man suspected to be Abraham Brothman is working at a radar plant and announces he will be called as a witness at a subcommittee the following day. November 4 – President Eisenhower holds a news conference on foreign policy. December 8 – Eisenhower delivers "Atoms for Peace" speech to United Nations in New York.
1954 January 2 – It is disclosed that President Eisenhower will submit tax programs to Congress that have been modified in a message shortly after he delivers the State of the Union address and regular budget messages. January 4 – President Eisenhower issues a memorandum on the Red Cross to the heads of departments and agencies. President Eisenhower states his wishes for a continuation of the "consistently high standard of generous giving" to the Red Cross that has traditionally been supplied by the federal government's personnel. January 4 – In an evening address from the Broadcast Room of the White House, President Eisenhower notes accomplishments of the administration over the last eleven months of its existence and the goals of the administration. January 5 – Eisenhower orders that a "blank wall" be placed between physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and all areas of operation of the Department of Defense. January 6 – President Eisenhower attends morning special church services marking the reconvening of Congress at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington. Other government officials including members of the president's cabinet and Congress were invited. January 7 – President Eisenhower delivers the 1954 State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress. Eisenhower outlines a program to bolster American military might and that of countries fighting communism while maintaining a healthy economy in the United States. January 7 – The State Department announces that the next few days will see the United States and Russia begin preliminary discussions on the atomic pool proposal by President Eisenhower. May 17 – Brown v. Board of Education July 7 – In prepared testimony, U.S. Chamber of Commerce spokesman A.D. Marshall advocates for a bill in the House to be revised to broaden social security coverage for eight million people presently ineligible. July 7 – Senator Joseph McCarthy announces that he will turn over information to the Hoover Commission that will validate his claim that Communists have infiltrated the Central Intelligence Agency. July 7 – The federal government announces that employment has increased by nearly one million in the period between May and June while unemployment showed little increase. July 8 – Secretary of State Dulles announces that if necessary the United States will use its own veto to keep Red China out of the UN Security Council during a news conference. July 8 – President Eisenhower names the membership of a board that will investigate the atomic energy plant workers' strike. July 8 – American delegation officials confirm the indefinite continuance of super bomb tests on Eniwetok and Bikini while expressing regret for the injuries caused by the tests in the Marshall Islands. July 10 – President Eisenhower signs a bill granting disposal abroad of surplus farm commodities of up to $1 billion, Eisenhower in a statement saying the legislation is intended to assist nations friendly to the United States and form new markets. July 10 – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee votes to end foreign aid to France and Italy by December 31 unless the two countries ratify the European Defense plan or an alternative before the aforementioned deadline. July 10 – An American embassy spokesman in Prague states that the embassy is attempting to secure the release of seven American soldiers that were seized by Czech frontier guards the previous July 4. July 13 – The Senate Finance Committee votes to authorize farm operations and professionals to decide whether they wish to be covered by the compulsory Social Security coverage, the vote conflicting with the wishes of the Eisenhower administration. July 14 – The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a closed-door session with acting United States Secretary of State Walter Bedell Smith and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Arthur W. Radford on the Eisenhower administration's foreign aid program. July 14 – It is disclosed that the United States has agreed to send Undersecretary of State Walter Bedell Smith to Geneva again after instigation from Britain and France. September 8 – 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. October 1 – United States Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks arrives in Kansas for a Republican centennial dinner. October 2 – Supreme Allied Commander Europe Alfred Gruenther says Russia would be defeated if launching an attack on western Europe at this time and that the western allies would have a good chance of stopping a Soviet onslaught within the next three to four years. October 2 – The Denver White House announces that the United States will send a navy-led expedition to the Antarctic and that the decision is in line with continued American interest in the area. October 4 – It is disclosed that India told Pakistan that American aid to Pakistan would bring consequences that would make it necessary for India to maintain forces in anticipation of aggression. October 4 – The Commerce Department announces the allocation of over $20 million in airport improvements within 164 communities. October 4 – George McConnaughey is sworn in as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission by Harold Burton. October 4 – Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission Lewis L. Strauss says that atomic tests have indicated that "spinach removes calcium from the body" during a discussion with the District of Columbia League of Republican Women. October 5 – Mobilization officials maintain that the newest attempt of the Eisenhower administration to steer new defense industries into cities stricken with unemployment would not be authorized to obstruct the industrial dispersion program. October 5 – The government of Jordan announces its intent to create tourist offices in the United States and Europe for better organization for Jordan in international affairs. October 5 – The United States Army issues a draft call for 23,000 men in December. October 6 – Vice President Nixon delivers a morning address at Commodore Perry Hotel on the midterm elections, saying that the fundamental issue is the same as the 1952 elections. October 6 – Attorney General of the United States Herbert Brownell Jr. forms a new unit in the criminal division of the Justice Department to handle the increased number of scandals in the Federal Housing Administration. October 6 – The Senate-House Atomic Energy Committee makes public a telegram from the Atomic Energy Commission to the congressional committee requesting a waiver of the legal provision that would authorize the contract for feeding private power into the Tennessee Valley Authority from taking effect the following year unless the Senate-House Atomic Energy Committee approves an earlier date. October 6 – Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov proposes the United States, France, Russia, and Britain concurrently resolve an agreement that would lead to the cessation of the occupation of East and West Germany and declares that Russia is ready to discuss proposals made earlier in the year during the Berlin conference. October 7 – Internal Revenue Commissioner T. Coleman Andrews states that the government has a chance to collect more taxes from "windfall profits" after collecting from postwar building projects and gives appraisal to the Senate Banking Committee.