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12 Axes Test
Portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower

Thirty-fourth US president

Dwight D. Eisenhower’s political views

The thirty-fourth president, who ended the Korean War, signed the law that built the Interstate highways and the first civil rights bill since Reconstruction, and warned of the military-industrial complex.

Presidency
34th, 1953–1961
Party
Republican
Lived
1890–1969
Scored on
8 of 12 axes

Strongest documented leanings

  1. Acceleration75%
  2. Unitary72%
  3. Religious72%
Where Eisenhower stood on the twelve axes
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Where Eisenhower stood on the twelve axes

Each bar is one axis, between its two poles. Only axes with a documented position are scored; the others are shown as faint stubs on the icon and listed below, never as neutral.

Based on his record from 1953 to 1961. His security-risk order and the Civil Rights Act of 1957 point in opposite directions, so the freedom axis sits near the middle.

  • Federal vs UnitaryUnitary 72%
    FederalUnitary

    Signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act on 29 June 1956, with the federal government paying 90% of the cost of the Interstate system, and sent 1,000 paratroopers of the 101st Airborne to Little Rock on 24 September 1957.

  • Security vs FreedomSecurity 55%
    SecurityFreedom

    Executive Order 10450 of 27 April 1953 made security risk a ground for dismissing federal employees, while he signed the Civil Rights Act of 9 September 1957, the first since Reconstruction.

  • Nationalism vs InternationalismInternationalism 65%
    NationalismInternationalism

    Pressed Britain, France and Israel to withdraw from Egypt during the 1956 Suez crisis, and proposed “Atoms for Peace” in December 1953.

  • Militarist vs PacifistMilitarist 58%
    MilitaristPacifist

    Ended the Korean War with the armistice of 27 July 1953 and warned in his farewell address of 17 January 1961 about the military-industrial complex, yet approved CIA-backed coups in Iran in 1953 and Guatemala in 1954.

  • Assimilationist vs MulticulturalistMulticulturalist 50%
    AssimilationistMulticulturalist

    His administration ran Operation Wetback, the 1954 drive against undocumented Mexican immigrants, and he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

  • Collectivize vs PrivatizeCollectivize 60%
    CollectivizePrivatize

    Expanded Social Security to millions more Americans in the 1950s and signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which built the Interstate system from a federal Highway Trust Fund.

  • Irreligious vs ReligiousReligious 72%
    IrreligiousReligious

    Signed the law adding “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance on 14 June 1954, and the law making “In God We Trust” the national motto in July 1956.

  • Acceleration vs BioconservativeAcceleration 75%
    AccelerationBioconservative

    Signed the law creating NASA on 29 July 1958, after the Soviet launch of Sputnik.

No documented position, so not scored: Democratic vs Autocratic, Planned vs Laissez-faire, Isolationism vs Globalism, and Progressive vs Traditional.

What shaped the scores

Dated actions from the record. Each is tied to the axis it informs.

  1. The armistice that ends fighting in Korea is signed.

    Militarist vs Pacifist

    Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower · Wikipedia

  2. Eisenhower signs Executive Order 10450, which replaces Truman’s loyalty program with security-risk reviews of all federal employees.

    Security vs Freedom

    Executive Order 10450 · Wikipedia

  3. He signs the law adding “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance on Flag Day.

    Irreligious vs Religious

    Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower · Wikipedia

  4. He signs the Federal-Aid Highway Act, authorising 41,000 miles of Interstate highways and creating the Highway Trust Fund.

    Federal vs Unitary

    Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 · Wikipedia

  5. He orders the 101st Airborne to Little Rock to enforce school integration.

    Federal vs Unitary

    Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower · Wikipedia

  6. In his farewell address he warns of “unwarranted influence” by the military-industrial complex.

    Militarist vs Pacifist

    Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell address · Wikipedia

Eisenhower compared with other presidents

Measured on the axes both presidents are scored on, with the same rules as the quiz.

Most like

Least like

Questions about Dwight D. Eisenhower’s politics

The thirty-fourth president, who ended the Korean War, signed the law that built the Interstate highways and the first civil rights bill since Reconstruction, and warned of the military-industrial complex. On our twelve axes, the strongest documented leanings are Acceleration 75%, Unitary 72%, Religious 72%.

Those labels changed meaning over time, so this site describes Eisenhower on twelve axes instead. On the economy, Eisenhower’s record sits between government action and free markets. The scores above give the evidence behind each axis.

Dwight D. Eisenhower was a Republican. Eisenhower was the 34th president, serving 1953–1961.

On the axes they are both scored on, Eisenhower is closest to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Abraham Lincoln and furthest from James Madison, Andrew Jackson, Ronald Reagan.

In his farewell address of 17 January 1961 he warned against “the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex”. He also named the risk of a “scientific-technological elite” and warned about deficit spending.

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Sources and credits

Main source: Farewell Address · The Avalon Project

Also read

Portrait: White House, 1959 · Public domain

Scores are editorial estimates from the public record, not measurements. A place on this site is not praise.

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