Eisenhower Doctrine Declared (1957)

Sat Jan 05, 1957

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Image: American Marine in a foxhole outside Beirut

On this day in 1957, President Eisenhower declared the “Eisenhower Doctrine”, authorizing commitment of U.S. forces to any nation threatened by “international communism”. In 1958, 14,000 U.S. troops occupied Lebanon during a political crisis. On this basis, just a year later, 14,000 U.S. troops politically intervened in the 1958 Lebanon Crisis, an action named “Operation Blue Bat”.

Following the Lebanese intervention, some U.S. Senators accused Eisenhower of exaggerating the threat of communism to the region. Eisenhower later privately admitted that the real goal behind the policy was combating Arab nationalism.