IKE BIDS FAREWELL, WARNS AGAINST MILITARY-ARMS INDUSTRY INFLUENCE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 17, 1961, Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his "Farewell Address*" as 34th President of the United States from his desk in the Oval Office at the White House.
The address, historically acclaimed along with the Farewell Address of President George Washington, was broadcast live on national radio and television.
The text went through as many as 21 drafts and work began as early as 1959. Mr. Eisenhower's primary speechwriters who took part in the process were Malcolm Moos**, Political Science professor at Johns Hopkins University; Ralph Williams***, the President's naval aide; and Milton Eisenhower.
The President had long been concerned about the growth and expense of the Nation's military, particularly of the U.S. Air Force. He expressed the desire to his speechwriters that he wanted to include this concern in his final address.
As delivered on January 17, 1961, President Eisenhower said...
"Like every...citizen, I wish the new President...Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity..."
Later comes the best remembered part of the address, depicted in the opening of Oliver Stone's 1991 movie "JFK,"...
"We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. The conjunction of an immense military...and a large arms industry is new in the American experience.
We must guard against the acquisition of influence...by the military-industrial complex."
*Ike actually had two Farewell addresses, the other & much less well known is his "Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union." That one was read to a near-empty chamber by the House clerk on January 12, 1961.
**Malcolm Charles Moos (1916-1982) was born in St. Paul, MN, earned 2 degrees at the University of Minnesota & PhD at U of C Berkely. MCM was president of UM 1967-1974.
***Ralph E. Williams (1917-2009) was born in Pecos, TX, earned his BBA at the University of Texas, Austin, 1938 & served in the US Navy in WWII.
SOURCES
"Eisenhower's farewell address: A speechwriter remembers," by Stephen Hess, January 9, 2017, Brookings, www.brookings.edu/
"Transcript of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address (1961)," www.ourdocuments.gov/
