Posted on 01/16/2011 10:23:21 AM PST by Kaslin
Anyone having the opportunity to interact with someone who is, say, more than eighty years old—and therefore remembers the Great Depression—knows that people back in those days thought differently about money and material things than most of us do today.
Fifty years ago this weekend, a few days before the torch of leadership would be passed to a much younger man representing a new generation of Americans, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the thirty-fourth President of the United States, said farewell to the nation via a televised speech. It remains the most memorable such goodbye ever uttered by a chief executive, largely for a warning about the dangers inherent in what Ike called, “the military-industrial establishment.”
But something else the great man said that evening has been largely overlooked in the decades since, though hiding in plain sight. It was also a warning, one very relevant to our political situation five decades later.
Until recently, most biographies of General Eisenhower (his preferred title in retirement) have described the speech as somewhat of an afterthought prompted by a suggestion from Norman Cousins, a liberal journalist and editor of The Saturday Review. He was an out-spoken advocate of nuclear disarmament. The story goes that Cousins called the White House in mid-December 1960 with the idea that the President should deliver a televised farewell address, one that would, in Cousins’ words, be “a great, sweeping document.”
That’s how the tale has been told—until a few months ago.
Evidence surfaced in a boathouse near Hackensack, Minnesota, of all places, that debunks that myth in the form of a letter written by Eisenhower’s secretary. The correspondence said: “The idea of trying to get anyone like Norman Cousins working on it would be dreadful. How in the world do we diplomatically thank him, but say No?”
The letter was part of a discovery by a man named Grant Moos, son of the late Malcolm Moos. The elder Moos served as a speechwriter for President Eisenhower. He had donated most of his papers to the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas many years ago, but six cardboard boxes were squirreled away in his boathouse. And these boxes contained—along with pinecones, acorns, and mouse droppings—interesting information about that farewell speech, one nearly as famous-for-a-phrase as Churchill’s about an “Iron Curtain” and Kennedy’s “Ask not” effort.
Eisenhower himself actually came up with the idea nearly eighteen months before his second term was over. He called it “one speech he would like very much to make…a ten-minute farewell.” He told this to Malcolm Moos who began making notes. Ultimately, the address underwent nearly thirty drafts, twenty-one of which were unknown until those boxes in the boathouse were found.
So—what else did President Eisenhower say on January 17, 1961? It is something that speaks to us today:
“Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we – you and I, and our government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without asking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.”[Emphasis added]
Most historians characterize Eisenhower’s political bent as moderate. And this is likely accurate. Certainly during the mid-1960s he was no fan of Barry Goldwater’s conservative approach, nor was he thought to lean all that far to the right when he occupied the Oval Office.
But his personal approach to life was, in fact, very conservative and traditional, especially when it came to financial frugality. He and his wife Mamie came from modest backgrounds and never even owned a home until just two years before he was elected President when they bought their beloved Gettysburg, Pennsylvania farm (the property was generously deeded by the Eisenhower’s to the U.S. government upon their deaths).
When President Eisenhower began his first term as President of the United States in 1953 the national debt was around 260 billion dollars. By the time he died in 1969 it had grown by about 90 billion dollars to a little over 353 billion, this during the peak of the Vietnam War and with the bills for Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society beginning to come due.
Today the national debt is well over 14 trillion dollars.
David Schwartz is the author of the children's book How Much Is a Million? To help young minds grasp the concept of large numbers he says: “One million seconds comes out to be about 11½ days. A billion seconds is 32 years. And a trillion seconds is 32,000 years.”
To put this in up to date political terms, a trillion seconds is the length of time required for elected officials to figure out how bad things are.
Certainly Mr. Eisenhower was right—even prophetic—about the whole “military-industrial-complex” thing. But the other warning he delivered that day, the one about mortgaging the material assets of our grandchildren, should have been revisited and heeded long ago.
Military-Industrial-Government (MIG) complex.
I always knew the MIGs would get us.
The Democrats characterized Eisenhower as dumb. As usual, history reveals who’s really dumb.
Ike had it correct. Iraq and Afghanistan are pointless when you have a Saudi puppet installed in a coup in 2008. Are guys are just target practice for the muslims now. See Ft. Hood massacre.
How many empires went broke in wars in Afghanistan?
Ike had no idea that the infant industry of TV would be even worse. The most amazing tool for propaganda and brainwashing.
I think we are headed towards the bankruptcy the USSR had. I think it will be worse for us. When the USSR imploded amazing mineral and energy resources were divided among a small group. The USSR’s version of Soc Security and Medicare were ditched and the money became worthless.
Excellent point
Earl Warren.
My apologies for profanity on the forum.
We also need to remember that we are a Republic, not just a Democracy. If we forget that, we are finished. Look at other countries that claim that they are a Democracy but never claim that they are a Republic.
In my mind, I always thought Eisenhower a truly great President, and because he came before Reagan, I always put him ... well ... before Reagan.
Certainly in fiscal matters, his administrations were a great deal more fiscally responsible than Reagan's, who of course had a much more intransigent socialist opposition.
The great tragedy of Vietnam would certainly never have occurred if the fraudulently elected Kennedy had followed Eisenhower's advice. It was the beginning of the subsequent lack of international respect our country has increasingly suffered since then, culminating in the slaps in the national face we receive from all quarters today. (E.G., The Administration's do-or-die fight to pass the Nuclear Arms Reduction, only to have Putin laughingly reject it! May the RINOs who supported it rot in Hell, Amen)
Speaking of Kennedy, imho, there is one great black mark against my hero: i.e., his failure to support Nixon's claim to the Presidency by giving the Democrats a pass on the outrageous; outrageous and criminal fraud perpetrated by the Democrat/Mafia machine in Illinois, and Texas.
Kennedy=imho the dividing line between somewhat rational leadership and the triumph of incandescent, media-driven bullshiite in our national political life.
The only thing that I feared more than “The Military-Industrial Complex” was the Soviet Military-Industrial Complex.
Ike did more damage to the country with that one phrase than the Democrats could have ever dreamed of. We’re still paying the price.
“One million seconds comes out to be about 11½ days. A billion seconds is 32 years. And a trillion seconds is 32,000 years.”
And i can’t remember his name, but yesterday i say a repub house budget committee leader on Stossils show on Fox Business channel. When Stossil asked him about some specific things he would cut, the first thing he mentioned was a 2 MILLION dollar program. Stossil didnt take his insulting bait.
These bastards (pardon my vitriol) need a bitter lesson. I am already thinking the repubs will need the full TEA treatment. They think the election was that we missed them and wanted them back.
Is there time to correct this problem?
Eisenhower said that appointing Earl Warren and Joseph Brennen was the biggest mistake of his Presidency.
Exactly what I am thinking. I think we’ve got one bad shot at correcting things before it implodes. The dominoes are falling and maybe, maybe we can pull one out before it gets away from us.
The end result is exactly as you say. SS and Medicare will be things of the past as federal government is no longer to maintain credibility with it’s debtors and voters.
We don’t know if it will be corrected. It could reasonably go either way at this point. What I have done is lock in my mortgage rate and made sure I have enough savings in dollars to cover temporary crises. Looking long term, next month, before the debt limit is reached, I will move what I can afford to lose from my 401k into metals (about 20%). Either way, I and my immediate family will be okay.
My Mom and In-laws are retired. My Mom depends on her investments, Medicare and SS. My in-laws depend on a government pension, Medicare and SS. Either way, those who depend on others (pensions, stock market, SS) are in for a very bad time. I’ll do what I can for them without sacrificing my children’s future.
I think he knew very well what he was doing, just as he did in allowing Montgomery to waste so many lives in Market Garden. "Mistake" was just a cover.
Interesting coincidence that the boxes now have mouse dung in them, because some of the papers probably mention the like-named Chinese Communist leader, Mao Tse-tung.
I thought it could be corrected but not anymore. The left/elites controls the masses with TV. Fox is no better.
O is telegraphing where we are headed but the masses are clueless. We are headed down the same path as the USSR going broke. 50% of baby boomers voted for this along with 43% of people over age 60. Nice job. I hope they like dog food and dying early.
What?! JFK’s father helped rig the election. You think JFK would stand up for Nixon? Joe Kennedy was fully in bed with the mob. The mob owned Cuba and wanted it back.
LBJ saw a bigger Vietnam War as a way to become even richer. LBJ was a shareholder in Brown & Root taht got all the construction contracts, Johnson Fence company - many defense companies were in Texas including Bell, North American, General Dynamics - you name it. McNamara’s Mattel battle rifle.
LBJ left office as the second wealthiest President adjusted for inflation. Washington was a billionaire based on his land holdings.
Nixon left office broke. LBJ got a lot richer of Vietnam.
Ike was right about defense contractors or the military-industrial complex.
Our troops are getting played as we speak.
Throw Mama from the train a kiss, split infinitive, etc. etc.
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