He called on “alert and knowledgeable citizenry” to balance the need for effective defense against the nations peaceful “methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together” (Eisenhower’s Farewell”). Efforts to control the expansion of the military-industrial complex have failed (“Eisenhower”). The end of
Eisenhower’s term as president ended the 1950s and also the government era.. A new and younger generation would be rising to power. His address was a warning to his successors of one of the many things they would have to be worried of in the coming years. As well as, expressing concerns about planning the futures of dangers of massive spending, especially deficit spending. In contrary, The people spent more than twice as much on national security in 2011 than they did in Eisenhower’s final year in office.
Eisenhower was concerned about the growing size and cost of the American defense establishment since he became president in 1953. He expressed some of those concerns in his previous address, which shocked some of his listeners. He began with how the U.S. Could no longer afford the “emergency improvisation” that characterized its preparations for war …show more content…
His speech was very straightforward and concise and very positive and sincere. He knew the main points he wanted to make before leaving the office in the hands of Kennedy. He spoke mostly about the controversial stuff about the military-industrial complex/scientific- technological elite, which was mentioned in between the part of the speech about how the country’s great, how scary the Soviet Union is, and how much he is looking forward to going golfing on his spare time. Eisenhower’s tone wasn’t exactly what the listeners expected. They believed that that man who led the country to victory in Europe in World War II and guided the nation through some of the darkest moments of the Cold War was too negative toward military complex. For most listeners, however, it seemed obvious that Eisenhower was stating what everybody already knew. World War II and the Cold War resulted in the development of a large and powerful defense establishment. Although development was needed, Eisenhower warned, this new military-industrial complex could either help or drastically hurt the institutions and principles it was designed to protect