Eisenhower, Dwight
1953–1961

Eisenhower built the interstate highway system, signed civil rights legislation, warned against the military-industrial complex, kept the New Deal intact, governed by consensus, and famously hated factionalism. He was strongly pro-NATO, pro-alliance, pro-trade, and pro-immigration (expanding refugee admissions). Almost every Eisenhower value — institutional respect, civility, alliance-keeping, anti-faction, infrastructure investment, fiscal responsibility paired with social-program preservation, free trade — runs against Paxton's record. Paxton gets two points on national-defense framing alone. Talarico would be recognizable to Eisenhower on infrastructure investment, rural focus, alliance restoration, free trade, anti-corruption, and the coffee-with-the-NRA-member instinct; Ike would dislike Talarico's more progressive economic agenda but respect the civility.