Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 – 1969) was the 34th President of the United States. He was an Army General during World War II. In 1954, he articulated the "domino theory" of global communism, believing that if the communists were allowed to prevail in one country, it would cause a succession of countries to fall. This ideology ultimately proved false, but not before massively escalating the Cold War. Under Eisenhower, the CIA deposed the leaders of Iran and Guatemala. In February 1955, Eisenhower dispatched the first American soldiers to Vietnam as military advisors to president Diem's army. In 1958, he sent 15,000 U.S. troops to Lebanon to prevent the pro-Western government from falling to a revolution. In his 1961 farewell address to the nation, Eisenhower expressed his concerns about future dangers of massive military spending, especially government contracts to private military manufacturers, stating: "We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military–industrial complex."
