Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 presidential farewell speech to the nation is remembered almost exclusively for a phrase he coined, one that seemed to be contrary to his entire career.
In that speech, Eisenhower warned the American people of an emerging “military-industrial complex” and the political power it could attain. Left unchecked, he said, it could threaten the principles the nation was founded upon.
That warning, coming as it did from one of America’s most decorated military men – five-star general and Supreme Allied Commander and architect of D-Day, the largest amphibious attack in history – must have raised eyebrows all over the nation. No one could seriously question Ike’s love of the U.S. military or his understanding of its importance.
The timing of that warning seemed odd, too, given that the U.S. was engaged in a Cold War that would reach something close to critical mass within a few years with the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cold War the nation found itself waging in 1961 would not end for another 30 years.
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex,” Eisenhower warned.
It was a warning our nation has consistently ignored. It led us into pointless wars in Vietnam and Iraq and for decades has relentlessly absorbed an enormous portion of the nation’s wealth, regardless of which party was in control of the White House or Congress.
Prior to World War II, our military consisted of layman soldiers equipped by a manufacturing industry that, in essence, turned plowshares into swords. The times changed. They had to change.
The emergence of a professional military equipped by what Ike called “the military-industrial complex” constituted a potential threat to our democracy, he believed.
We didn’t listen then. We’re still not listening now.
With the approval of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” we now have a peacetime military budget of more than $1 trillion, the first time that has ever happened.
As the military budget climbs from one administration to the next without regard to which political party holds the reins of power, you have to wonder if we are ever going to pause for a moment and apply reason to how we fund our military.
No patriotic American wants a weak, unprepared, poorly equipped military. Politicians know this. Every national politician vows to strengthen our military although in truth the U.S. military has been the best trained, best equipped and damn-sure best funded military in the world for as long as anyone can recall.
Even before this week, the U.S. budget was the largest in the world and by no small margin. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute data, the United States’ $997 billion budget is larger than the budgets of the nine nations that rank 2 through 10 in military spending. We spend more than three times the amount China spends on its military despite being constantly warned that the Chinese military threatens to eclipse ours.
The U.S. accounts for more than a third of the world’s entire military spending. Of the 10 nations that spend the most on their militaries, only Ukraine, engaged in a desperate war of existence, spends a higher percentage of its GDP on the military than the U.S. (3.4%).
If it were any other budget category, we would be demanding to know what we are getting for our money.
If our nation’s military is compromised, it’s certainly not for a lack of spending.
So, as Congress hacks away at Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and anti-poverty programs that directly impact tens of millions of Americans under the guise of being fiscally responsible, we continue, without even a passing thought, to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into a bloated military budget that enriches the military-industrial complex but does nothing to make our military stronger anywhere outside the halls of Congress, which keeps the money flowing.
Ike tried to warn us. If we haven’t learned by now, I suppose we never will.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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