Essay: President Dwight Eisenhower

On January 17, 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower delivered an outstanding speech on his political farewell to the American people on national television. On this supposed day in 1961, President Eisenhower was to end his presidential term and as he left the office warned his people informing them about the increasing power of the military-industrial complex. The farewell speech video is very astonishing to watch because whatever is said by the President makes complete sense to the modern United States. In the speech, Dwight Eisenhower urged his heir to strike a balance between a really strong national defense and politeness in dealing with their enemies.

 

Eisenhower’s remarks, which was televised all across the house of his fellow citizens bidding farewell were particularly significant since he had famously served the nation as military commander of the Allied forces during World War II. The audience for this broadcast were the citizens of the United States. The President encourages the citizens to help stop the industry and the military from fighting and also told them to not interfere in their feud but instead help create peace. He encourages the citizens to do this because less democracy would takeover which would eventually lead to less corruption. In the councils of government, one 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.

According to the reading and viewing the actual speech, one would agree with the decision take by Eisenhower. The main concern behind Eisenhower having to take such a decision was because he was worried that the manufacturers of weapons and arms i.e. The military would then dictate US policy which would then create war between countries in order to make more capital.This was the premise for the Vietnam war. The other reason why one would agree with Eisenhower is because a massive collaboration was to take place that could have occurred between the defense department and the defense industries which could have mutually benefit from excessive spending. This, obviously is a loss for the citizens and a benefit for the industries. The prospect of making more money can change the nature of how decisions about conflict resolutions are made, which not necessarily bad, but Eisenhower thought of it to be something that the general public should be wary of.

The tone throughout the Farewell Address is earned and many ominous undertones are given throughout the speech but also in the text itself. He mostly uses metaphors to persuade his audience. He tries to persuade the audience by talking about what the future impact would be for what is being done then in the past by using metaphors. Eisenhower urged his heir to strike a balance between a really strong national defense and politeness in dealing with their enemies. He used a metaphor in which is said how the rise of technology is replacing computers in place of blackboards. He used this sentence to compare with the the weapons used by the military. He said since the rise of technology the military will also evolve. He warns his citizens that they should not take the advancement of technology for granted because that would then harm them. In other words, he cautioned that the federal government’s collaboration with an alliance of military and industrial leaders, though necessary, was vulnerable to abuse of power.

Fifty six years ago, President Eisenhower feared the threat that nuclear war would take place in this world and in our country, and expressed his desire for peace by saying “As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war – as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years – I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight.” In this sentence he had recognized that many things are to be done to “reach the goal of peace with justice.” This sentence is true and has remained with each and every fellow American to this day!

So, from this documentary one could conclude that the President wants American democracy to be safe and warns the public about the surrounding about them. Eisenhower tells the future successors to keep the democratic problems under control and guard the American democracy. President Eisenhower to this day is remembered to be one of the best President the United States has ever had, because of the impact that he left behind.