geeky
Eisenhower's speech is best remembered for his warning about the "military industrial complex", but there was more to it than that. He opened by commenting that "Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country," he would leave the Presidency, and wished "to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen." He wished his successor well, and expressed his hope "the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all." He also said that the nation expected the President and Congress to "find essential agreement on issues of great moment".
Eisenhower reflected on his long career from his days as a cadet at West Point to the Presidency and said that "Congress and the Administration have, on most vital issues, cooperated well, to serve the national good rather than mere partisanship". He said that he "official relationship with the Congress ends in a feeling, on my part, of gratitude that we have been able to do so much together."
He then moved on to the subject of world peace, commenting that "We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country" and that "America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world." He said that this position of power required wise use "in the interests of world peace and human betterment." He saw America's "basic purposes" as being "to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations." He added, "To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people." He observed that achieving these goals was difficult in modern times, as America faced "a hostile ideology--global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method", one that posed a danger which "promises to be of indefinite duration."
Eisenhower said that meeting this challenge called for sacrifices. He said that in meeting these challenges, "there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties". But he cautioned that a balanced approach had to be taken to consideration of these costly solutions:
"Balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage, balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable, balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual, balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration."
Eisenhower then turned to the subject of oversight of "our military establishment." While he acknowledged the need for military preparedness to meed the challenges faced by the nation, he noted how the nature of military conflict had changed. Previously, "the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well." But he cautioned:
"We can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations."
Eisenhower then advised Americans to be alert to the rising power and influence of "an immense military establishment and a large arms industry" and cautioned "we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications." He then uttered the most quoted words from his address:
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
This pronouncement was all the more remarkable for the fact that it was coming from a man who had reached the pinnacle of military authority. Coming from such a credible source, the nation knew that the threat Eisenhower spoke of was real.
He then discussed " the technological revolution during recent decades" and how military research had become "more formalized, complex, and costly." He said:
"Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present--and is gravely to be regarded."
Once again calling for a balanced approach, Eisenhower said that oversight should not be too great, and that "we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite." He said that it was "the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system--ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society."
Eisenhower stressed the importance of keeping an eye on the future and of resisting "the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow." He said, "We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."
Eisenhower discussed how all nations should be respected and how "The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we". He saw disarmament as "a continuing imperative." He injected his personal feeling and experience into the progress that had been made in this regard thus far, stating:
"I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war, as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years, I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight. Happily, I can say that war has been avoided. Steady progress toward our ultimate goal has been made. But, so much remains to be done. As a private citizen, I shall never cease to do what little I can to help the world advance along that road."
Eisenhower concluded by thanking the nation for the opportunities given to him to be of "public service in war and peace". He I said that everyone needed to remain strong in their faith and diligent in pursuing the goals he had spoken of. He ended with this prayer:
"We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love."
Eisenhower's farewell address remains one of the most thought-provoking and the most eloquent. Its wisdom remains relevant over half a century after its words were spoken.