President Dwight D. Eisenhower Farewell/"Military-Industrial Complex" Speech History Documents (1959 -1985)
101 pages of documents, include memos, letters, drafts, and Eisenhower’s post-presidential papers, dating from May 1959 to 1967, regarding President Eisenhower's famous farewell speech given on January 17, 1961.
The speech will always he most famous for President Eisenhower’s use of the term, "military-industrial complex."
On January 17, 1961, President Eisenhower gave his final address as president, televised to the nation from the White House's Oval Office. In his farewell speech, Eisenhower raised the issue of the Cold War and role of the O.S. armed forces. He described the Cold War saying: "We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose and insidious in method..."
He went on to concentrate on what he believed was unjustified government spending proposals and continued with a warning that "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex." Though he said that "we recognize the imperative need for this development, " he cautioned that "the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist... Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
The papers in this collection document the development and the writing of the farewell address. Planning for the speech began in May 1959, nineteen months before it was given. Documents include the teleprompter feed Eisenhower read from while giving the speech and an audio copy of the speech. Some of these documents were lost for 50 years. They were discovered in the Moos family cabin in Minnesota. Malcolm Moos was a special assistant to President Eisenhower and his chief speechwriter.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Memo for the record regarding last speech. May 20, 1959
Outline of subjects for presidential talks. May 22, 1959
Memo for the President and Dr. Milton Eisenhower from Malcolm Moos regarding presidential speeches, May 24, 1959
Letter from the President to Dr. Milton Eisenhower regarding farewell address, May 25, 1959
Memo regarding George Washington's farewell address, April 5, 1960
October 31, I960 Memo for the file regarding the State of the union 1961
Memo to Malcolm Moos regarding address topics, no date
Typescript speech draft labeled "Commencement," no date
Speech draft, December 21, 1960
January 7, 1961 Draft of the speech with handwritten editing by Milton Eisenhower
January 17, 1961 Press release containing the text of the address Reading copy of the speech
Audio recording of the Farewell Address
March 17, 1961 Memo from Bryce Harlow for Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon regarding Congressional reaction to the address
January 17, 1966 Letter from Stanley Karson (Chairman, Special Committee on Military-Industrial Complex, American Veterans Committee) to Dwight D. Eisenhower
January 19, 1966 Congressional Record - Senate, Significance of President Eisenhower's Speech on the Military-Industrial Complex
February 7, 1966 Reply from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Stanley Karson (Chairman, Special Committee on Military-Industrial Complex, American Veterans Committee)
June 13, 1967 Letter from Professor Theodore R. Kennedy to Dwight D. Eisenhower
June 21, 1967 Reply from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Professor Theodore R. Kenney
December 28, 1985 Letter from Ralph Williams to Martin Teasley regarding origin of term "military-industrial complex"
