These days, we hear a lot of talk about wars. We hear talk about the metaphorical wars, like the "war on drugs," and we hear talk about genuine wars involving real troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A man who fought in both world wars and was president when the cease–fire went into effect in Korea, Dwight Eisenhower, died 40 years ago today. He went to school at West Point (where he played football and once tackled the great Jim Thorpe, but a knee injury cut short his athletic career).
It can truly be said that few — if any — presidents in American history have seen as much war or as much killing as Eisenhower did.
And few may have loved peace as much.
"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can," Eisenhower said nearly seven years before becoming president, "only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity."
So, when Eisenhower was about to leave office, he warned his fellow Americans about what he called the "military–industrial complex."
Maybe it was his background as a soldier that enabled him to see things that others never did. But the "military–industrial complex" has played a significant role in American life since long before Eisenhower's farewell address.
And it continues to influence policies and budgets.
When Eisenhower sought the presidency in 1952, he apparently didn't mind being called "the General," although he seems to have preferred the more relaxed and informal "Ike," but when he left office, he was proud of his administration's record in foreign affairs. "The United States never lost a soldier or a foot of ground in my administration," he said. "We kept the peace. People asked how it happened — by God, it didn't just happen, I'll tell you that."
As his presidency was nearing its end, Ike tried to caution his countrymen about the new internal threat that existed. Did they heed his warning?
"This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience," he said. "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."
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