Friday, September 27, 2013

What is Eisenhower Trying to Say?

Eisenhower's farewell address comes across as a cautionary tale to his successor about the proliferation of nuclear weapons that took place under his leadership.  He clearly admits that the United States has entered a new era--that the buildup of such weaponry during peacetime has been unprecedented.

Is Eisenhower defacing his decisions or justifying them?  What seems to be the point of his warning of the potential dangers of the 'military industrial complex?'

10 comments:

  1. In his farewell speech, Eisenhower proves once again that he thinks everything can be solved by being the most powerful military nation. But indeed, it almost seems as if he is defending himself for that in this speech. Especially the parts where he talks about evil powers, which sometimes sounded like a dark prophecy. For him, there is no other way to secure peace than to have strong military, "ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk its own destruction."

    ReplyDelete
  2. "a vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment" Eisenhower is certainly endorsing his decisions regarding military action, i.e. the Korean War. although he is certainly no 'defacing' his decisions in this speech, the words carry a sense of introspection and self judgement none the less. Eisenhower's warnings regarding the 'military industrial complex' consists of stating that we must always be wary of the potential of misplaced power and just how deeply intertwined our 'military industrial complex' is to our livelihood and daily lives.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think Eisenhower is justifying his actions, so that if these "grave implications" become reality in the future, the American people would not blame Eisenhower, they would commend him for predicting this. My question though is: why is this his farewell speech? Does he just recognize this upon exiting presidency or his timing deliberate?
    I think his major point is that although we can consider ourselves the strongest country in the world, we also have to go beyond the "riches and material strength" and focus our attentions more on the "interests of world peace and human betterment." I think Eisenhower sees the danger in new technology and a military industrial complex. He thinks we will become too materialistic, too dominant, and too scientific, and as it seems now in this "post-modern" era, he was right.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Eisenhower is definitely justifying his actions. I think he is trying to create understanding and spread awareness. He emphasized the power of the US and the military; which is what he did since he stepped foot into office. The point of his warning of potential dangers of the "military industrial complex" is that the US should always expect the unexpected and be ready at any moment. Also, the US should not get complacent when it comes to military power.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think that Eisenhower is justifying his decisions to build up our armaments. His reasons are because we can not rely solely on improvisation when the next war starts. If we are not as ready or better prepared then the other guy then we will lose. He is also warning the next president that we must put a limit on how much we will prepare. Eisenhower is trying to say that he doesn't want america to be so competitive or scared of other countries power's that it becomes a war hungry country with the firepower to rule the world. He doesn't want the average american's life to revolve around the fear of it all ending today and having half the world blown to pieces. Eisenhower still wants to protect the lives of Americans and keep it as normal as it can be with keeping the best interests of the nation in mind as well. Eisenhower knows that it is a tough balancing act but he can do nothing more about it and gives his advice to the next president.

    ReplyDelete
  6. A large portion of time for each president must be spent thinking about their legacy; what will the history books say about their decisions? So, as many have pointed out before me, Eisenhowers farewell speech may have been a last ditch attempt to justify his decisions and to also be apart of the future. He talks about the attainment of a more peaceful and therefore unified world (or vise versa). he also mentions the dangers in more technologically advanced military equipment and of subsequently having a dominant standing in the global community, which work to justify the moves he made in his foreign policy.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Eisenhower is justifying his decisions. Eisenhower firmly believes that military presence is an important way of keeping order, and his opinion may be skewed because of his own partiality to military action. As Nicki said, he is essentially covering his own tracks and making it seem as though he is foreseeing a problem and helping the people rather than causing a problem.

    ReplyDelete
  8. As everyone else has said, I also believe Eisenhower is justifying his actions. He is essentially saying we must take action to have any chance in defending ourselves. He is emphasizing the "military industrial complex"'s importance in maintaining power and defending democracy, although he does later mention the importance of "world peace and human betterment"...So, he is somewhat contradicting himself, although I think both beliefs are true.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think that Eisenhower is definitely justifying his actions.it is evident that his beliefs involve the importance of the military. I think he is trying to describe to the people his thoughts. How if there is an attack on us, we must be prepared. We cannot let them run all over us and loose what we have spent so long to gain. As nicki said, he is covering his tracks and letting everyone know he is preparing for the worst and not generating a global problem.

    ReplyDelete
  10. There would be no point for a President to deface his own decision and shoot himself right on the foot, therefore, he was defending, justifying and rationalizing his calls about his plan to build up and improve american armaments to apply the precautionary theory he dwelled about how modern military complex could posibelly lead to devious danger and threat that usa would not want to be the one get caught in a vicious battle with weapons on the ground.

    ReplyDelete