President Trump was not the first U.S. President challenged with warfare on a waterway in the forever-difficult Middle East. In 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower confronted the Suez Canal crisis. How he responded—whether wisely or adversely—is still debated.
The Suez Canal is an official sea-level passage (it has no locks) extending 120 miles across the Sinai Desert, between Port Said and the Port of Suez. Completed in 1869, the canal shortened trade routes between Europe and Asia while becoming indispensable to international commerce. By mid-century 40 ships per day were sailing across, transporting 100 million tons of cargo.
An Egyptian canal company together with France constructed the Suez Canal. When financial problems forced Egypt to sell her shares to Britain, she and France assumed control of the Canal’s finances and operations. They retained control for 87 years.
