at home and abroad. At home his biggest
challenge was the integration of
schools. Some people thought that African
American students should not be
allowed to attend the same schools as
white students. In 1954 the Supreme
Court had said they should be allowed
to attend the same schools. But in 1957
the governor of Arkansas kept nine African
American students from entering a
high school in Little Rock. Eisenhower
sent federal troops to protect the students
from angry whites.
Also in 1957 the Soviet Union launched
the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1,
into space. The United States raced to
put its own satellite, Explorer 1, into
orbit in 1958. That year Eisenhower
approved the creation of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA).
Hoping to improve relations with other
countries, Eisenhower toured many
parts of the world. In 1959 he
welcomed Soviet premier Nikita
Khrushchev to the United States. After
the Soviets shot down a U.S. spy plane
over Soviet territory, however, Eisenhower
did not make his planned visit to
the Soviet Union.
October 14, March 28,
1890 1943 1952 1957 1959 1961 1969
Eisenhower
is born in
Denison, Texas.
Eisenhower
gains command
of the Allied
forces in
Europe during
World War II.
Eisenhower is
elected
president.
Eisenhower
forces Little
Rock, Arkansas,
to allow black
students into an
all-white school.
The leader of
the Soviet Union
meets with
Eisenhower in
the United
States.
Eisenhower’s
second term
ends.
Eisenhower
dies in
Washington,
D.C.
T I M E L I N E
118 Eisenhower, Dwight D. BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Retirement
Eisenhower’s vice president, Nixon, lost
to John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, in the
election of 1960. The following January
Eisenhower retired to his farm in Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania. He died of heart
failure inWashington, D.C., on March
28, 1969.
#More to explore
Kennedy, John F. • KoreanWar • Nixon,
Richard M. • North Atlantic Treaty
Organization • United States •World
War II
Electoral College
Every four years, millions of citizens
vote for president and vice president of
the United States. But the citizens’ votes
(called popular votes) do not directly
elect these leaders. Their votes actually
elect the 538 members of a group called
the electoral college. The electoral college
then elects the president and vice
president.
How Electors Are Chosen
The electoral college is organized by
states. Each state gets a certain number
of electors—the people who vote in the
electoral college. A state’s number of
electors equals its number of senators
and representatives combined. Every
state has two senators. The number of
representatives is based on the population
of the state, though every state has
at least one representative. In addition,
the District of Columbia (Washington,
D.C.) gets three electors.
The United States has two main
political groups, or parties (the
Democrats and the Republicans). Each
political party chooses a candidate for
president and a candidate for vice
president. In each state, each party also
chooses a group, or slate, of electors.
The electors promise to vote for their
party’s candidates. When citizens vote
for the candidates of one party, they are
actually choosing that party’s electors
for their state.
In most states, the party that wins the
most popular votes sends all its electors
to vote in the electoral college. (Maine
and Nebraska choose electors slightly
differently.) The electors for every state
then vote for their party’s candidates.
The candidates with the most electoral
All the electors
do not meet in
one place to
vote. Instead,
every state has
its own
gathering.
A certificate from Alabama
shows the signatures of the
state’s electors in 2000. The nine
electors voted for George W.
Bush.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Electoral College 119
votes become president and vice
president.
History
The electoral college came about partly
because the people who wrote the U.S.
Constitution did not trust the common
voters. In most elections there have been
few complaints about the process. Usually,
the candidates who win the most
popular votes also win the most votes in
the electoral college. But this is not
always so. In the 2000 election, more
citizens voted for Al Gore than for
GeorgeW. Bush. However, Bush
became president. This happened
because Bush’s party won in enough
states to send the most electors to the
electoral college. Besides Bush, two
other U.S. presidents have been elected
with fewer popular votes than their
opponents. They were Rutherford B.
Hayes in 1876 and Benjamin Harrison
in 1888.
#More to explore
Political Party • United States
Constitution
Electricity
Electricity is a form of energy. It can be
seen in nature in a bolt of lightning.
Scientists have also learned how to generate,
or create, electricity. This is useful
because electricity that is generated can
be controlled and sent through wires. It
can then power such things as heaters,
lightbulbs, and computers. Today electricity
provides most of the energy to
run the modern world.
How ElectricityWorks
Everything in the universe is made of
tiny particles called atoms. Each atom
has even tinier particles called protons
