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Author Mieczkowski, Yanek, author

Title Eisenhower's Sputnik moment : the race for space and world prestige / Yanek Mieczkowski
Published Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2013

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Description 1 online resource
Contents What was the Sputnik "panic"? -- The most fateful decision of his presidency? -- Eisenhower's reaction to Sputnik -- Space and Eisenhower's principles -- Cheerleader-in-chief -- Gloom, gloom, gloom -- High in space, low on earth -- Eisenhower's rival -- Radical moves -- Order from chaos -- Defeat and a score -- Priorities versus prestige -- Satellites, Saturn, spacemen -- Voyages, images, mirages -- Space and prestige in the 1960 race -- Eisenhower versus Kennedy
Summary "In a critical Cold War moment, Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency suddenly changed when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first satellite. What Ike called "a small ball" became a source of Russian pride and propaganda, and it wounded him politically, as critics charged that he responded sluggishly to the challenge of space exploration. Yet Eisenhower refused to panic after Sputnik - and he did more than just stay calm. He helped to guide the United States into the Space Age, even though Americans have given greater credit to John F. Kennedy for that achievement
In Eisenhower's Sputnik Moment, Yanek Mieczkowski examines the early history of America's space program, reassessing Eisenhower's leadership. He details how Eisenhower approved breakthrough satellites, supported a new civilian space agency, signed a landmark science education law, and fostered improved relations with scientists. These feats made Eisenhower's post-Sputnik years not the flop that critics alleged but a time of remarkable progress, even as he endured the setbacks of recession, medical illness, and a humiliating first U.S. attempt to launch a satellite. Eisenhower's principled stands enabled him to resist intense pressure to boost federal spending, and he instead pursued his priorities - a balanced budget, prosperous economy, and sturdy national defense. Yet Sputnik also altered the world's power dynamics, sweeping Eisenhower in directions that were new, even alien, to him, and he misjudged the importance of space in the Cold War's "prestige race." By contrast, Kennedy capitalized on the issue in the 1960 election, and after taking office he urged a manned mission to the moon, leaving Eisenhower to grumble over the young president's aggressive approach."--Publisher's description
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-344) and index
Notes In English
Description based on print version record
In Druckausg.: Mieczkowski, Yanek. Eisenhower's Sputnik moment
Subject Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969.
SUBJECT Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969 fast
Eisenhower, Dwight D. 1890-1969 gnd
DJ Sputnik gnd
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 1890-1969. (NL-LeOCL)068715471 nta
Subject Artificial satellites, Russian -- Political aspects -- United States
Sputnik satellites -- History
Astronautics and state -- United States -- History
55.61 history of space flight.
HISTORY -- United States -- 20th Century.
HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- General.
Astronautics and state
Politics and government
Sputnik satellites
Raumfahrtpolitik
Spoetnik.
Ruimtevaart.
SUBJECT United States -- Politics and government -- 1953-1961. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140468
Subject United States
Verenigde Staten.
Genre/Form Electronic book
History
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2019725126
ISBN 9780801467929
0801467926
0801467934
9780801467936