About the Program
David Nichols, former academic dean of Southwestern College, presents a history of the Suez Canal Crisis. The author recounts that nine days prior to the 1956 presidential election, Israel, Britain and France attacked Egypt who had recently nationalized the Suez Canal, the transportation artery for 2/3 of Western Europe's oil supply. The Soviet Union soon announced their intentions to intervene in the Middle East, which resulted in President Dwight Eisenhower's decision to place American military forces on high alert and condemn the attacks on Egypt at the United Nations. Mr. Nichols utilizes Oval Office and National Security Council minutes to recount the tenuous foreign policy negotiations, which resulted in a cease-fire announced on Election Day, November 6, 1956. David Nichols speaks at the Atlanta History Center.