Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the Nation in 1961
On January 17, 1961, President Dwight. D. Eisenhower shared his final thoughts with his countrymen in his poignant farewell address. The America Eisenhower envisioned is drastically different from the America of today. Perhaps the older generation of Americans still remember Ike's leave-taking speech with some nostalgia. It is a chilling commentary on how far the U.S. has strayed from its course. Ike must be turning over in his grave...These are some excerpts:
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Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now 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.
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence - economic, political, even spiritual - is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
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.
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Read Ike's full address here (Nuclear Files: Library)
posted by Annamarie at
8:09 PM
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