EISENHOWER, KENNEDY, AND THE MISSILE GAP - DETERMINANTS OF US MILITARY EXPENDITURE IN THE WAKE OF THE SPUTNIK SHOCK

The article examines the factors that influenced America's defense bud get in the wake of Sputnik. It concludes that both Eisenhower and Kenn edy for political purposes proposed bigger defense expenditure to Cong ress than they thought was justified from a military standpoint, Both were strongly influenced in their decisions by political and psycholog ical considerations related to the credibility of the United States as a superpower and security guarantor, The importance of military expen diture as a signal of resolve grew parallel to the end of the age of A merican invulnerability. With the advent of mutual nuclear plenty, the impact of public - and in particular allied - perceptions on defense budget decisions multiplied. The fact that both Eisenhower and Kennedy perceived military expenditure as a means to reassure allies and dete r adversaries put them into an essentially defensive position in their effort to contain bureaucratic and domestic political forces in favor of a larger defense budget.