Archive for March 29th, 2010

Eisenhower warns about the power of the military industrial complex

Here, President Eisenhower, former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during World War II and first supreme commander of NATO, warns of the growing power and influence of defense contractors in American politics. This is his farewell speech as he prepares to leave the presidency in January of 1961.

The test of the full speech can be found here: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Eisenhower%27s_farewell_address

What had happened to defense specnding during the Eisenhower years that prompted Eisenhower to make such a prominent warning a part of his farewell address?

A few days after this farewell address, Kennedy gave his inaugural sppech. How do these two speeches compare?