ABSTRACT
The Hungarian Revolution had produced a reassertion of repressive Soviet control over the East European satellites. The United States continued its policy of encouraging any nationalistic or liberalising tendencies within East European countries, but the Eisenhower administration accepted that the prospect of inducing any significant change in the immediate aftermath of the Hungarian Revolution was very limited. In 1953, the Eisenhower administration placed strong emphasis on liberalised trade as the preferable means for assisting the developing countries rather than direct economic aid - trade, not aid, as the slogan put it. Eisenhower strongly supported economic aid to developing countries, both as a means to keep them out of the Communist camp and as a desirable social and moral goal in itself. The poor performance of the Republicans in the 1958 elections, together with a lack of much progress in foreign policy, meant that the end of 1958 was the lowest point in Eisenhower's presidency.
