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| 1954, Jan. 12 |
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| Secretary of State John Foster Dulles declared that the basis of U.S. defense policy was “a great capacity to retaliate” against an aggressor “instantly by means and at places of our own choosing.” | 1 |
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| March 1 |
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| A hydrogen bomb was exploded in the Marshall Islands testing grounds. | 2 |
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| March 16 |
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| Secretary of State Dulles declared that the NATO and Rio treaties empowered the president, without needing to consult Congress, to order instant retaliation in Europe and the Western Hemisphere if an ally was attacked. | 3 |
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| May 7 |
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| Secretary of State Dulles declared that a distinct possibility existed that the U.S. might be forced to intervene militarily in Indochina, in association with other free nations. | 4 |
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| May 17 |
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| The Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, unanimously held that public school segregation was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. | 5 |
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| May–June |
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| McCarthy climaxed his campaign against communism with 35 days of televised hearings before his subcommittee on “investigations” of government operations. | 6 |
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| June 1 |
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| The Atomic Energy Commission's personnel security board unanimously found Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer “loyal” and “discreet” in handling atomic secrets, but recommended, in a 2–1 decision, that he not be reinstated as a government consultant. | 7 |
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| June 25–29 |
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| Pres. Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles conferred with Sir Winston Churchill and Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden on Anglo-American differences, particularly concerning Communist action in Southeast Asia. The British agreed not to approve or condone Communist conquests, nor to press at this time for the admission of Communist China to the UN. | 8 |
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| Aug. 9 |
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| The Senate passed the Agriculture Act, which set up a flexible scale of price supports for farm products. | 9 |
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| Aug. 24 |
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| Pres. Eisenhower reluctantly signed the bill outlawing the Communist Party. | 10 |
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| Sept. 9 |
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| The Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act went into effect; it authorized sale or gift of surplus farm products to needy foreign nations and American families. | 11 |
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| Dec. 2 |
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| The Senate passed a resolution, 67–22, condemning some of Sen. McCarthy's actions. The November elections, by returning a Democratic majority, deprived him of his chairmanship of the Senate Internal Security Committee. | 12 |
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