How Eisenhower Stood Up To His Generals

Ike And The Generals -- How Eisenhower Stood Up To His Own Wilitary -- Evan Thomas, Time

Dwight Eisenhower loved the army, in which he served for almost all of his adult life. His favorite form of relaxation, after golf, was to sit down for a drink and swap war stories with some old West Point classmates. When he left the White House in 1961, he puzzled his successor, John F. Kennedy, by asking to be returned to his five-star army rank, which meant that in retirement he would be referred to as “General,” not “Mr. President.”

But to know and love the military was not necessarily to trust it, at least when it came to spending money or deciding when to go to war. As president, Eisenhower kept a skeptical eye on “those boys down at the Pentagon,” as he called them. Eisenhower believed in what he called “The Great Equation,” the balance of security and economic needs. Eisenhower knew, from long experience, not the least as Supreme Allied Commander in World War II, that the military was skillful at getting politicians to pay for unnecessary weapons systems by exaggerating the threat.

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My Comment: What helped Eisenhower the most against his generals was that (after-all) he was the Commander in Chief .... and he had the power to promote or fire his generals. President Obama is definitely no Eisenhower, but he does have the same authority and powers .... and I hope the wisdom to apply Eisenhower's approach to the military.

Remembering President Eisenhower And His Warnings On The Rise Of The Military Industrial Complex

Photo: President Eisenhower

The Tyranny Of Defense Inc. -- The Atlantic

In 1961, Dwight Eisenhower famously identified the military-industrial complex, warning that the growing fusion between corporations and the armed forces posed a threat to democracy. Judged 50 years later, Ike’s frightening prophecy actually understates the scope of our modern system—and the dangers of the perpetual march to war it has put us on.

American politics is typically a grimy business of horses traded and pork delivered. Political speech, for its part, tends to be formulaic and eminently forgettable. Yet on occasion, a politician will transcend circumstance and bear witness to some lasting truth: George Wash- ington in his Farewell Address, for example, or Abraham Lincoln in his Second Inaugural.

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My Comment: A rather long post .... but I love history, and how America transformed during this time to become the power that it became has always fascinated me.

Remembering The 50th Anniversary Of President Eisenhower's Farewell Address

President, Dwight Eisenhower’s ‘Farewell’ Address to the nation, January 17, 1961.

Looking Back On Ike's Farewell Address -- Will Inboden, Shadow Government/Foreign Policy

The 50th anniversary of President Eisenhower's farewell address is approaching. Eisenhower's Jan. 17, 1961 speech -- next to George Washington's farewell address, perhaps the most significant valedictory in presidential history -- is most remembered for his warning against the "military-industrial complex." Its concerns remain salient today, and not merely on the defense budget.

President Eisenhower's overriding concern in the speech, and throughout his presidency, was over how his beloved nation could preserve its exceptional character, liberty, and strength, while protecting itself against new foes. His description of the communist foe was unsparing: "We face a hostile ideology -- global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method."

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My Comment: The full speech can be read here.