1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
Dwight D. Eisenhower had promised during his presidential campaign that if elected he would go to Korea to see whether he could find the key to ending the bitter and frustrating Korean War. He kept his plans vague yet on this day in 1952, the president-elect traveled for a short stay in the country. After taking office, 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 moved 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 U.S. suffered over 50,000 casualties in this “forgotten war,” and spent nearly $70 billion. It was also America’s first experience with a “limited war,” one in which the nation neither sought nor obtained absolute victory over the enemy.
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