Ike and the Military Industrial Complex
On January 17, 1961 (50 years ago, this past Monday) President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his final televised Address to the Nation from the Oval Office. Eisenhower had served two full terms as President and would vacate the office in three days time. In his farewell speech to the nation, Eisenhower raised the issue of the Cold War and role of the U.S. armed forces. He described the Cold War saying: "We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose and insidious in method." But rather than being a call to arms for the nation to gird its loins for battle against the communist menace, Eisenhower had another message. In the speech he warned about what he saw as unjustified government spending proposals and continued with a warning that "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex." Though he said that "we recognize the imperative need for this development," he cautioned that "the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist... 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."
The full text of the speech can be found here. The paragraph most quoted is this one:
"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."
In an earlier speech, Eisenhower had warned, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense, a theft. The cost of one modern, heavy bomber is this: a modern, brick school in more than 30 cities." This quote is etched in marble beside Eisenhower's gravesite in Abilene, Kansas.
In marking the anniversary of the speech, journalist Adam Hanft wrote:
"In retrospect, it was more than a farewell speech. It was a goodbye to a president using his exit to warn a nation and to grapple, publicly, with important ideas -- like the concentration of power, like the relationship between the public and private sectors. It was a goodbye to a presidential message that is pointed and shocking, one whose importance is reflected in its relentless, single-minded focus on a single theme. That's something we'd never see today, in our era of the media industrial complex."
An excellent documentary about this speech and how its dire prediction has come true is the 2006 film Why We Fight. I highly recommend it.
Below is a YouTube Video of the speech.
The full text of the speech can be found here. The paragraph most quoted is this one:
"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."
In an earlier speech, Eisenhower had warned, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense, a theft. The cost of one modern, heavy bomber is this: a modern, brick school in more than 30 cities." This quote is etched in marble beside Eisenhower's gravesite in Abilene, Kansas.
In marking the anniversary of the speech, journalist Adam Hanft wrote:
"In retrospect, it was more than a farewell speech. It was a goodbye to a president using his exit to warn a nation and to grapple, publicly, with important ideas -- like the concentration of power, like the relationship between the public and private sectors. It was a goodbye to a presidential message that is pointed and shocking, one whose importance is reflected in its relentless, single-minded focus on a single theme. That's something we'd never see today, in our era of the media industrial complex."
An excellent documentary about this speech and how its dire prediction has come true is the 2006 film Why We Fight. I highly recommend it.
Below is a YouTube Video of the speech.