during the beginning of his first term, he oversaw a ceasefire (which stopped the fighting) during the korean war. he created nasa (the united states space program) which began a space race against the soviet union. eisenhower believed that the united states should not try to fight wars overseas, but instead that united states should make more nuclear weapons so it could have an advantage in the cold war. the united states was able to keep the soviet union in check without spending a lot of money. for this reason, the u.s. government had balanced budgets during his presidency and did not have to borrow money.