November 29

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
U.N. votes for partition of Palestine, 1947
American Revolution
Congress creates Committee of Secret Correspondence, 1775
Automotive
Last day at VW for Jose Ignacio Lopez, 1996
Civil War
Native Americans are massacred at Sand Creek, Colorado, 1864
Cold War
Eisenhower goes to Korea, 1952
Crime
Dr. Conrad Murray receives four-year sentence in Michael Jackson's death, 2011
Disaster
Dust storm causes massive pileup in California, 1991
General Interest
Byrd flies over South Pole, 1929
Chinese overwhelm Allies in North Korea, 1950
Johnson establishes Warren Commission, 1963
Hollywood
Actress Natalie Wood drowns, 1981
Literary
Sue Miller is born, 1943
Music
Silver Convention "earn" a #1 pop hit with "Fly, Robin, Fly", 1975
Old West
Colorado militia massacre Cheyenne at Sand Creek, 1864
Presidential
LBJ forms commission to investigate Kennedy assassination, 1963
Sports
The legendary Eddie Robinson coaches his last game, 1997
Vietnam War
McNamara resigns as Secretary of Defense, 1967
Communists vow to smash Phoenix program, 1968
Americal Division stands down and departs, 1971
World War I
American nurse Maude Fisher writes to mother of war casualty, 1918
World War II
Coffee rationing begins, 1942

Cold War

Nov 29, 1952:

Eisenhower goes to Korea

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Making good on his most dramatic presidential campaign promise, newly elected Dwight D. Eisenhower goes to Korea to see whether he can find the key to ending the bitter and frustrating Korean War.
During the presidential campaign of 1952, Republican candidate Eisenhower was critical of the Truman administration's foreign policy, particularly its inability to bring an end to the conflict in Korea. President Truman challenged Eisenhower on October 24 to come up with an alternate policy. Eisenhower responded with the startling announcement that if he were elected, he would personally go to Korea to get a firsthand view of the situation. The promise boosted Eisenhower's popularity and he handily defeated Democratic candidate Adlai E. Stevenson.
Shortly after his election, Eisenhower fulfilled his campaign pledge, though he was not very specific about exactly what he hoped to accomplish. After a short stay he returned to the United States, yet remained mum about his plans concerning the Korean War. After taking office, however, Eisenhower adopted a get-tough policy toward the communists in Korea. He suggested that he would "unleash" the Nationalist Chinese forces on Taiwan against communist China, and he sent only slightly veiled messages that he would use any force necessary (including the use of nuclear weapons) to bring the war to an end unless peace negotiations began to move forward. The Chinese, exhausted by more than two years of war, finally agreed to terms and an armistice was signed on July 27, 1953. The United States suffered over 50,000 casualties in this "forgotten war," and spent nearly $70 billion.
The most frustrating war in U.S. history had come to an end. America's first experience with a "limited war," one in which the nation did not seek (and did not obtain) absolute victory over the enemy, did not bode well for the future. Conflict in Vietnam was just around the corner.

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This Week in History, Nov 29 - Dec 5

Nov 29, 1952
Eisenhower goes to Korea
Nov 30, 1981
The United States and U.S.S.R. open talks to reduce intermediate-range nuclear forces
Dec 01, 1959
Antarctica made a military-free continent
Dec 02, 1961
Castro declares himself a Marxist-Leninist
Dec 03, 1989
Bush and Gorbachev suggest Cold War is coming to an end
Dec 04, 1945
Senate approves U.S. participation in United Nations
Dec 05, 1978
USSR and Afghanistan sign "friendship treaty"

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