And further down in President Eisenhower’s address are these two paragraphs that warn of another elite, just as dangerous the often quoted “military-industrialists:”
“Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.”
“The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.”
The speech was mainly about the need to maintain a military-industrial complex, while warning about letting spending get out of hand. Since defense spending never went below 10% of the economy throughout his two terms, that level was presumably fine with him. We are now spending just under 4%. Before WWII, it was 1%. That's why we got our clocks cleaned at Pearl Harbor, and had our asses kicked at Kasserine Pass. In the nuclear age, starting off on defense will have far more severe consequences, none of them good.