Summary and Key Points: “In the councils of government, we 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.” Dwight Eisenhower said that on January 17, 1961, three days before his presidency ended. He was the 34th president, elected in 1952, and before that the general who had commanded Allied forces in Europe — which is what gives the warning its weight. A civilian complaining about arms manufacturers is a political position. The supreme commander of Operation Overlord saying it on his way out the door is something else. What almost nobody remembers is that Eisenhower had already made the argument in numbers, a few paragraphs earlier: “We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Warning
Quote of the Day: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.” – Dwight Eisenhower, January 17, 1961
Fans of Oliver Stone’s movie JFK likely remember that the film begins with the audio of President Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell address and his warnings about the influence of the “Military-Industrial Complex.” Stone meant that as an accusation that this complex had conspired behind the scenes to assassinate President John F. Kennedy, but one doesn’t need to believe in such expansive conspiracy theories to heed Eisenhower’s warning.
Eisenhower, the World War II general elected the nation’s 34th president in 1952, served eight years and spent most of the 1950s in the White House.
He delivered his farewell address on January 17, 1961, three days before his presidency ended, and spoke for less than ten minutes.
According to the National Archives, Eisenhower opted against giving an “old soldier” speech like Gen. Douglas MacArthur might have done, but instead warned against undue influence by the emergence of what he called the “military-industrial complex.”
“We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations,” Eisenhower noted.
The Speech
The most famous part of the speech is the warning near the end.
“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience,” Eisenhower said in the speech. “The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications.”
What were those implications?
“Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we 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.”
The Context
The National Archives analysis says that Eisenhower, despite his background as one of the most famous generals in American history, had “slowed the push for increased defense spending despite pressure to build more military equipment during the Cold War’s arms race,” although the military continued to grow through the 1950s despite his efforts.
Dwight D. Eisenhower. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Former General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
In January 2017, shortly after President Barack Obama’s farewell address, Stephen Hess, who had been on Eisenhower’s speechwriting staff, shared his remembrances of being in the room when that speech was planned.
Malcolm Moos was the chief speechwriter, while Hess joined ahead of the 1958 midterm elections. Hess, he said, did not work directly on the farewell address (“except for some early kibitzing”), which Moos and Ralph Williams authored, with “massive additions and corrections” from the president’s brother, Milton.
The Eisenhower speechwriting staff, Hess said, followed the “passion for anonymity” rule, which meant individual speechwriters did not claim credit for individual lines from speeches, although this rule has not always been followed in subsequent presidencies.
However, decades later, Hess gave Williams most of the credit for the famous phrase.
“I think the ‘complex’ part of it came—you know, you get to the end of a sentence, and you don’t know how to end it up and this word comes to you and you write it in, and that’s the way it fits, and that’s the way it came out,” was the reasoning shared by Hess, who noted that “military-industrial complex” became the speech’s most famous phrase.
Eisenhower also, Hess wrote, delivered a second, less-well-known farewell, the “Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union,: which was delivered in written form to Congress.
Was Eisenhower Right?
In 2011, for its 50th anniversary, NPR looked back on the speech and noted that Robert Gates, then Secretary of Defense, was a fan of Eisenhower’s, even keeping a portrait of Ike in his office.
In 2024, Dan Grazier wrote for Responsible Statecraft, in favor of retiring the “military-industrial complex” phrase.
“The Pentagon, Congress, the defense industry, think tanks, lobbyists, and industry-sponsored media outlets are all very real. When combined, they make up what is better termed the ‘National Security Establishment,’ which Americans see in action all the time,” he wrote.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
