James Ledbetter - Unwarranted Influence: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Military-Industrial Complex

ONE
Tracking the Unwarranted Influence

TWO
Intellectual Origins

THREE
War, Peace, and Eisenhower

FOUR
Eisenhowers Contentious Second Term

FIVE
The Speech

SIX
Interpretations and Embellishments

SEVEN
In Full Fury

EIGHT
Eisenhower Must Be Rolling Over in His Grave

APPENDIX
Eisenhowers Farewell Address

The man who most made this book possible is Jonathan Brent, former editorial director at Yale University Press and now executive director and CEO of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Over an engaging lunch, Jonathan not only grasped how this topic merited its own book but offered several penetrating insights that shaped how I approached my research and writing. His successor at Yale University Press, William Frucht, gave the manuscript a thoughtful and disciplined edit, banishing my more academic constructions. And production editor Jack Borrebach was indispensable in helping to organize the text and shepherd it to print.

Amy Tennery applied her dogged reporting skills to helping with some of the research. Sara E. Berndt was able to provide a crucial document on a tight deadline. Mark Gimein was generous enough to read the draft manuscript and provide key criticisms and suggestions. Stephen Hess and Charles Griffin were gracious with their recollections and insights.

Of the many things I owe my literary agent Chris Calhoun, one of them is my deep gratitude for suggesting that I come up with ideas for Yales Icons of America series. The entire project has been rewarding, from the initial brainstorming through the research and the final publication. The entire staff at the Eisenhower Presidential Library was friendly and helpful, but this book has especially benefited from the aid and scholarship of James W. Leyerzapf. I have also been ably aided by the staff at Columbia Universitys Oral History Research Office; by the Special Collections Staff at UCLAs Charles Young Library; and, most consistently, at the New York Public Library.

Most of all I thank my wife, Erinn Bucklan, whose enthusiasm and encouragement enrich my writing more than she can know.

ONE

That Dwight David Eisenhower should be rememberedx for any speech at allparticularly one delivered late in his lifeis something of a wonder. A world-renowned general, an Ivy League college president, an undefeated politician, and even a best-selling author, he was nonetheless not a great orator. Particularly after the 1955 heart attack and 1957 stroke he suffered, Eisenhower was known as a rambling, bumbling public speaker, especially when speaking without notes; in his press conference responses he often trailed off into half-sentences and non sequiturs. While some have suggested that he did so strategically, it is clear that much of his oratorical clumsiness was beyond his control. He once explained the effect of his

This is not to say that Eisenhower did not give significant, even great speeches. A few days before Election Day in 1952, he brilliantly encapsulated his authority on foreign policy and his predecessors inaction with a simple, decisive (and cannily vague) statement: I shall go to Korea. His sweeping Chance for Peace speech, delivered in 1953 in the wake of Joseph Stalins death, had a dramatic worldwide impact. Even if, as many have maintained, its purpose was largely propagandistic, the text remains one of the seminal arguments against the expense and absurdity of a nuclear arms race. A somewhat related 1953 speech, often called Atoms for Peace, is a rhetorical gem that has been closely examined for its multifaceted messages about Cold War strategy.

Only one of Eisenhowers speeches, the one he gave just before he left the White House in 1961, has earned a permanent place in the public memory. Like any important address, it contained multiple messages and nuances, but its fame rests on a single sentence: In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.

How has it happened that this rather dark sentence contains the most-cited words of a man who towered over American public life for some twenty years? This instance of historical concisionsome might say elisionis remarkable for a variety of reasons. First, when thinking of memorable phrases from American presidents, the nonhistorian can rarely recall anything that presidents said upon leaving office. The most notable exception is Washingtons farewell speech, which, as schoolchildren are taught, warned against permanent alliances. But most easily recalled presidential addresses draw their power from some other situation than departure. Lincolns Gettysburg Address and FDRs rendezvous with destiny request for congressional action are memorable in large part as expressions of leadership during wartime. John F. Kennedy set the bar high for speeches of exhortation with his inaugural challenge to Americans to ask not what your country can do for youask what you can do for your country. Books have been published about Jimmy Carters malaise speech and Ronald Reagans demand at the Bran-denburg Gate: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.