Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. His reliance on aerial photography as Allied Commander in Chief in World War II was reaffirmed by postwar bombing surveys, which concluded that a significant portion of useful intelligence came from overhead reconnaissance. Upon becoming president, he was concerned about the lack of aerial intelligence on the Soviet Union and ordered the CIA to address this.¹

Eisenhower authorized a daring reconnaissance program, primarily targeting the Soviet Union, and assigned the development of the revolutionary U-2 Spy Plane jointly to the CIA and the Air Force. The U-2 became operational in July 1956, providing crucial intelligence on Soviet military and nuclear programs.¹

Eisenhower and his administration, including John Foster Dulles and Allen Dulles, were angered by Israel's attempt to mask its military buildup before the 1956 Suez Crisis. The U-2 continued to monitor sensitive areas, including the Middle East, and by 1958, CIA photo interpreters observed significant activity at an Israeli Air Force practice bombing range south of Beersheba, which turned out to be the early signs of the Dimona nuclear reactor.¹

Despite being sympathetic to Israel's precarious international position in 1958, Eisenhower secretly authorized the U.S. Air Force to provide fighter pilot training and courses in aerial reconnaissance and photo interpretation to the Israelis. However, when presented with clear evidence of the secret nuclear reactor at Dimona in late 1958 or early 1959, Eisenhower showed no interest in a follow-up investigation, a decision that puzzled intelligence officials like Arthur C. Lundahl and Dino A. Brugioni.¹