Dwight D. Eisenhower

=== Presidential campaign of 1952 ===
{{Main|1952 United States presidential election}}
{{See also|Draft Eisenhower movement}}
[[File:I Like Ike button, 1952.svg|thumb|upright|Eisenhower button from the 1952 campaign]]
President Truman sensed a broad-based desire for an Eisenhower candidacy for president, and he again pressed him to run for the office as a Democrat in 1951. But Eisenhower voiced his disagreements with the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] and declared himself to be a Republican.<ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|1983|p=512}}</ref> A "[[Draft Eisenhower]]" movement in the Republican Party persuaded him to declare his candidacy in the 1952 presidential election to counter the candidacy of non-interventionist Senator [[Robert A. Taft]]. The effort was a long struggle; Eisenhower had to be convinced that political circumstances had created a genuine duty to offer himself as a candidate and that there was a mandate from the public for him to be their president. [[Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.]] and others succeeded in convincing him, and he resigned his command at NATO in June 1952 to campaign full-time.<ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|1983|pp=524–528}}</ref>
[[File:1952 Ike For President Ad.webm|thumb|"I Like Ike" televised campaign ad, 1952]]
Eisenhower defeated Taft for the nomination, having won critical delegate votes from Texas. His campaign was noted for the simple slogan "[[I Like Ike]]". It was essential to his success that Eisenhower express opposition to Roosevelt's policy at the [[Yalta Conference]] and to Truman's policies in Korea and China—matters in which he had once participated.<ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|1983|p=530}}</ref><ref name="time 2008">{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1857862,00.html|magazine=Time|date=November 10, 2008|title=When New President Meets Old, It's Not Always Pretty|first=Nancy|last=Gibbs|access-date=November 12, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081111030347/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1857862,00.html|archive-date=November 11, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> In defeating Taft for the nomination, it became necessary for Eisenhower to appease the right-wing Old Guard of the Republican Party; his selection of Richard Nixon as the vice-president on the ticket was designed in part for that purpose. Nixon also provided a strong [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] reputation, as well as youth to counter Eisenhower's more advanced age.<ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|1983|pp=541–546}}</ref>
[[File:ElectoralCollege1952.svg|thumb|upright=1.25|1952 electoral vote results]]

Eisenhower insisted on campaigning in the [[Southern United States|South]] in the general election, against the advice of his campaign team, refusing to surrender the region to the Democrats. The campaign strategy was dubbed "K<sub>1</sub>C<sub>2</sub>" and was intended to focus on attacking the Truman administration on three failures: the Korean War, [[Red-baiting|Communism]], and [[Corruption in the United States|corruption]].<ref>Herbert H. Hyman, and Paul B. Sheatsley, "The political appeal of President Eisenhower." ''Public Opinion Quarterly'' 17.4 (1953): 443-460 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2746036 online].</ref>

Two controversies tested him and his staff, but they did not damage the campaign. One involved a report that Nixon had improperly received funds from a secret trust. Nixon [[Checkers speech|spoke out adroitly]] to avoid potential damage, but the matter permanently alienated the two candidates. The second issue centered on Eisenhower's relented decision to confront the controversial methods of Joseph McCarthy on his home turf in a Wisconsin appearance.<ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|1983|pp=556–567}}</ref> Eisenhower condemned "wickedness in government", an allusion to gay government employees who were [[lavender scare|conflated with communism]] during McCarthyism.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Lavender Scare |first=David K. |last=Johnson |date=March 22, 2023 |isbn=978-0226825724 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |page=121 }}</ref>

Eisenhower defeated Democratic candidate [[Adlai Stevenson II]] in a landslide, with an electoral margin of 442 to 89, marking the first Republican return to the White House in 20 years.<ref name="time 2008" /> He also brought a Republican majority in the House, by eight votes, and in the Senate, evenly divided with Vice President Nixon providing Republicans the majority.<ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|1983|p=571}}</ref>

Eisenhower was the last president born in the 19th century, and he was the oldest president-elect at age 62 since [[James Buchanan]] in 1856.<ref name="'70s">{{harvnb|Frum|2000|p=7}}</ref> He was the third commanding general of the Army to serve as president, after [[George Washington]] and [[Ulysses S. Grant]], and the last not to have held political office prior to becoming president until [[Donald Trump]] entered office in January 2017.<ref>{{cite web| last=Crockett| first=Zachary| title=Donald Trump is the only US president ever with no political or military experience| url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/11/13587532/donald-trump-no-experience| website=vox.com| date=January 23, 2017| access-date=January 8, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106051351/http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/11/13587532/donald-trump-no-experience| archive-date=January 6, 2017| url-status=live}}</ref>