IKE's Farewell Address

[Olde Europe]

You are so impressed with Ike's common sense message for the future yet you refuse to list a single word he said nor to attempt to discuss it. This isn't about my rhetorical devices, this is proof that you have nothing of your own to say.

To anyone with an ounce of integrity and some reading comprehension, Ike's message is clear enough. Whoever doesn't get it, doesn't want to.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing inspiration:

We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.​

President "Shithole Country" couldn't be a starker contrast.

 

[Compost]

You are so impressed with Ike's common sense message for the future yet you refuse to list a single word he said nor to attempt to discuss it. This isn't about my rhetorical devices, this is proof that you have nothing of your own to say.

To anyone with an ounce of integrity and some reading comprehension, Ike's message is clear enough. Whoever doesn't get it, doesn't want to.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing inspiration:

We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.​

President "Shithole Country" couldn't be a starker contrast.

I asked the OP specifically what he liked about Ike's speech and exactly how it is different than Trump's point of view. You, like Wry claim it is obvious but refuse to explain it in your own words. That shows no integrity.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

"Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology -- global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger is poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle -- with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment."

That's the part of the speech that uses Ike's worldview regarding the Soviets and Red Chinese that quite presciently points to today's modern Communists, embodied here and now by our "progressive" Democratic Party.

 

[Compost]

You are so impressed with Ike's common sense message for the future yet you refuse to list a single word he said nor to attempt to discuss it. This isn't about my rhetorical devices, this is proof that you have nothing of your own to say.

The Address is impressive, maybe you support trump and feel that IKE has criticized trump from the past. That is my figurative take, along with his sincere logos, pathos and ethos.

Yes, the address was impressive. Pity you still haven't pointed out ANYTHING Ike actually said. All you got is jabs against Trump, and some fancy figurative flopsap in. Congrats on a thread that says nothing.

What is it with you guys, do you meed a mentor to see what is clear? Why do I need to point out the disparity between IKE's vision and trump's? I'll give you one, and a simple one:

IKE spoke of putting the house in order, trump in every way and every day is divisive.

Ike spoke of balance and focus on what is best for America and her future. That is not different than Trump. Ho hum. You still can't be specific. Now you've lapsed into cliches.

The entire address is absolutley 180 degrees different than Trump's behavior. Some highlighted sections maybe instructive:

My fellow Americans:

Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor.

This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen.

Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all.

Our people expect their President and the Congress to find essential agreement on issues of great moment, the wise resolution of which will better shape the future of the Nation.

My own relations with the Congress, which began on a remote and tenuous basis when, long ago, a member of the Senate appointed me to West Point, have since ranged to the intimate during the war and immediate post-war period, and, finally, to the mutually interdependent during these past eight years.

In this final relationship, the Congress and the Administration have, on most vital issues, cooperated well, to serve the national good rather than mere partisanship, and so have assured that the business of the Nation should go forward.So, my official relationship with the Congress ends in a feeling, on my part, of gratitude that we have been able to do so much together.

II.

We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.

III.

Throughout America's adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad.

Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology -- global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger is poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle -- with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment.

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research -- these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs -- balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage -- balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.

The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of stress and threat. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. I mention two only.

IV.

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. 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. 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.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. 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.

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific technological elite.

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.

V.

Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

VI.

Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war -- as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years -- I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight.

Happily, I can say that war has been avoided. Steady progress toward our ultimate goal has been made. But, so much remains to be done. As a private citizen, I shall never cease to do what little I can to help the world advance along that road.

VII.

So -- in this my last good night to you as your President -- I thank you for the many opportunities you have given me for public service in war and peace. I trust that in that service you find some things worthy; as for the rest of it, I know you will find ways to improve performance in the future.

You and I -- my fellow citizens -- need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nation's great goals.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing aspiration.

I heard it, now I've read it. Thank you for coloring in some lines. Since you appear to be incapable of expressing yourself without using other people's words, that was a very thoughtful compromise on your part. Yes. It's a nice speech. You still don't explain how it is so different than Trump's desire to make America great again. Surely America was great in 1961. It seems to me that you are so blinded by your dislike of Trump's manner that you fail to see that he fundamentally agrees with Ike.

 

[Olde Europe]

I asked the OP specifically what he liked about Ike's speech and exactly how it is different than Trump's point of view. You, like Wry claim it is obvious but refuse to explain it in your own words. That shows no integrity.

What the OP liked, quite obviously, was the stark contrast to president "Shithole Country". That contrast is obvious.

If you need everything spoon fed to you, you may also need a diaper change. And, you should get out of here and no longer bother those who are grown up enough to think on their own. So, why don't you kindly piss off?

 

[Likkmee]

Dont't bother with the vid " Translation. " Flag waving fuckheads are FUCKED"
G'bye and good luck.

 

[Compost]

I asked the OP specifically what he liked about Ike's speech and exactly how it is different than Trump's point of view. You, like Wry claim it is obvious but refuse to explain it in your own words. That shows no integrity.

What the OP liked, quite obviously, was the stark contrast to president "Shithole Country". That contrast is obvious.

If you need everything spoon fed to you, you may also need a diaper change. And, you should get out of here and no longer bother those who are grown up enough to think on their own. So, why don't you kindly piss off?

Piss off? Golly, that's as divisive as using the term Shithole Country, isn't it? Thanks for swooping in to help Wry defend his own premise by insulting someone asking for clarification. Bravo! You ooze integrity.

 

[Olde Europe]

I asked the OP specifically what he liked about Ike's speech and exactly how it is different than Trump's point of view. You, like Wry claim it is obvious but refuse to explain it in your own words. That shows no integrity.

What the OP liked, quite obviously, was the stark contrast to president "Shithole Country". That contrast is obvious.

If you need everything spoon fed to you, you may also need a diaper change. And, you should get out of here and no longer bother those who are grown up enough to think on their own. So, why don't you kindly piss off?

Piss off? Golly, that's as divisive as using the term Shithole Country, isn't it? Thanks for swooping in to help Wry defend his own premise by insulting someone asking for clarification. Bravo! You ooze integrity.

... and off.

Better now.

 

[Wry Catcher]

"Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology -- global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger is poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle -- with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment."

That's the part of the speech that uses Ike's worldview regarding the Soviets and Red Chinese that quite presciently points to today's modern Communists, embodied here and now by our "progressive" Democratic Party.

LOL, you truly are brainwashed. Nice attempt to spin IKE's words on totalitarian nation-states into modern day Democrats. Next time you build a spinner, don't use triangular bearings, it hums but it doesn't spin.

 

[Muhammed]

Well worth listening to, especially on the Fourth of July in the year 2019.

I would hope that the reader will listen, and learn from our history, and President Eisenhower's message to the nation in Jan. 1961.

A speech of common sense and a message to the future, sadly his lifetime learning and wisdom has been ignored by too many.



This address to the nation was only 16 minutes, I hope it opens the mind to the reader, and they consider IKE's remarks within the framework of messages by President Trump in this third decade of the 21st Century.

What exactly did you like about the speech? All you offer are generalities and Trump bashing. He talked about balance between the necessary and the desirable, balance in spending, balance between private and government and the importance of keeping a military at the ready.
"Industrial military complex" bad, science good! Did you like that part?

My take was it was a refutation of Trumpism; I suggest you never write reviews, you seem to have not gotten the message from IKE or me.

"The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite."

Obviously Trump is aware of that danger as evidenced by his wise decision to pull out of the Paris agreement.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

"Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology -- global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger is poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle -- with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment."

That's the part of the speech that uses Ike's worldview regarding the Soviets and Red Chinese that quite presciently points to today's modern Communists, embodied here and now by our "progressive" Democratic Party.

LOL, you truly are brainwashed. Nice attempt to spin IKE's words on totalitarian nation-states into modern day Democrats..

Not at all. Study Marx. Study Democrat history.

2+2=4, regardless of what the would-be State says.

 

[Wry Catcher]

The Address is impressive, maybe you support trump and feel that IKE has criticized trump from the past. That is my figurative take, along with his sincere logos, pathos and ethos.

Yes, the address was impressive. Pity you still haven't pointed out ANYTHING Ike actually said. All you got is jabs against Trump, and some fancy figurative flopsap in. Congrats on a thread that says nothing.

What is it with you guys, do you meed a mentor to see what is clear? Why do I need to point out the disparity between IKE's vision and trump's? I'll give you one, and a simple one:

IKE spoke of putting the house in order, trump in every way and every day is divisive.

Ike spoke of balance and focus on what is best for America and her future. That is not different than Trump. Ho hum. You still can't be specific. Now you've lapsed into cliches.

The entire address is absolutley 180 degrees different than Trump's behavior. Some highlighted sections maybe instructive:

My fellow Americans:

Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor.

This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen.

Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all.

Our people expect their President and the Congress to find essential agreement on issues of great moment, the wise resolution of which will better shape the future of the Nation.

My own relations with the Congress, which began on a remote and tenuous basis when, long ago, a member of the Senate appointed me to West Point, have since ranged to the intimate during the war and immediate post-war period, and, finally, to the mutually interdependent during these past eight years.

In this final relationship, the Congress and the Administration have, on most vital issues, cooperated well, to serve the national good rather than mere partisanship, and so have assured that the business of the Nation should go forward.So, my official relationship with the Congress ends in a feeling, on my part, of gratitude that we have been able to do so much together.

II.

We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.

III.

Throughout America's adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad.

Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology -- global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger is poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle -- with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment.

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research -- these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs -- balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage -- balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.

The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of stress and threat. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. I mention two only.

IV.

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. 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. 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.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. 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.

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific technological elite.

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.

V.

Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

VI.

Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war -- as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years -- I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight.

Happily, I can say that war has been avoided. Steady progress toward our ultimate goal has been made. But, so much remains to be done. As a private citizen, I shall never cease to do what little I can to help the world advance along that road.

VII.

So -- in this my last good night to you as your President -- I thank you for the many opportunities you have given me for public service in war and peace. I trust that in that service you find some things worthy; as for the rest of it, I know you will find ways to improve performance in the future.

You and I -- my fellow citizens -- need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nation's great goals.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing aspiration.

I heard it, now I've read it. Thank you for coloring in some lines. Since you appear to be incapable of expressing yourself without using other people's words, that was a very thoughtful compromise on your part. Yes. It's a nice speech. You still don't explain how it is so different than Trump's desire to make America great again. Surely America was great in 1961. It seems to me that you are so blinded by your dislike of Trump's manner that you fail to see that he fundamentally agrees with Ike.

My eyes are wide open, Trump is a narcissistic megalomaniac if you doubt my assessment get your hands on, or look on the internet the DSM-V and read the chapter on Personality Disorders. Listed under Form A and Form B are terms of the behaviors which need to be ruled out (the ones which cannot, IMO, to be ruled out are: (Cluster A: Paranoid & Schizotypal. Cluster B: Antisocial, Histrionic, Narcissistic.

I do post on issues I know something about, and I refresh my understanding on these issues by reading history and philosophy and, yes, quoting those who have/had forgotten more than I know.

 

[Compost]

Yes, the address was impressive. Pity you still haven't pointed out ANYTHING Ike actually said. All you got is jabs against Trump, and some fancy figurative flopsap in. Congrats on a thread that says nothing.

What is it with you guys, do you meed a mentor to see what is clear? Why do I need to point out the disparity between IKE's vision and trump's? I'll give you one, and a simple one:

IKE spoke of putting the house in order, trump in every way and every day is divisive.

Ike spoke of balance and focus on what is best for America and her future. That is not different than Trump. Ho hum. You still can't be specific. Now you've lapsed into cliches.

The entire address is absolutley 180 degrees different than Trump's behavior. Some highlighted sections maybe instructive:

My fellow Americans:

Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor.

This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen.

Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all.

Our people expect their President and the Congress to find essential agreement on issues of great moment, the wise resolution of which will better shape the future of the Nation.

My own relations with the Congress, which began on a remote and tenuous basis when, long ago, a member of the Senate appointed me to West Point, have since ranged to the intimate during the war and immediate post-war period, and, finally, to the mutually interdependent during these past eight years.

In this final relationship, the Congress and the Administration have, on most vital issues, cooperated well, to serve the national good rather than mere partisanship, and so have assured that the business of the Nation should go forward.So, my official relationship with the Congress ends in a feeling, on my part, of gratitude that we have been able to do so much together.

II.

We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.

III.

Throughout America's adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad.

Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology -- global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger is poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle -- with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment.

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research -- these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs -- balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage -- balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.

The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of stress and threat. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. I mention two only.

IV.

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. 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. 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.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. 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.

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific technological elite.

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.

V.

Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

VI.

Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war -- as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years -- I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight.

Happily, I can say that war has been avoided. Steady progress toward our ultimate goal has been made. But, so much remains to be done. As a private citizen, I shall never cease to do what little I can to help the world advance along that road.

VII.

So -- in this my last good night to you as your President -- I thank you for the many opportunities you have given me for public service in war and peace. I trust that in that service you find some things worthy; as for the rest of it, I know you will find ways to improve performance in the future.

You and I -- my fellow citizens -- need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nation's great goals.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing aspiration.

I heard it, now I've read it. Thank you for coloring in some lines. Since you appear to be incapable of expressing yourself without using other people's words, that was a very thoughtful compromise on your part. Yes. It's a nice speech. You still don't explain how it is so different than Trump's desire to make America great again. Surely America was great in 1961. It seems to me that you are so blinded by your dislike of Trump's manner that you fail to see that he fundamentally agrees with Ike.

My eyes are wide open, Trump is a narcissistic megalomaniac if you doubt my assessment get your hands on, or look on the internet the DSM-V and read the chapter on Personality Disorders. Listed under Form A and Form B are terms of the behaviors which need to be ruled out (the ones which cannot, IMO, to be ruled out are: (Cluster A: Paranoid & Schizotypal. Cluster B: Antisocial, Histrionic, Narcissistic.

I do post on issues I know something about, and I refresh my understanding on these issues by reading history and philosophy and, yes, quoting those who have/had forgotten more than I know.

You got yourself a DSM and think that qualifies you to diagnose a man you've never met. Yep. Your eyes are wide open alright. So were this guy's.

 

[Muhammed]

"Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology -- global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger is poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle -- with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment."

That's the part of the speech that uses Ike's worldview regarding the Soviets and Red Chinese that quite presciently points to today's modern Communists, embodied here and now by our "progressive" Democratic Party.

LOL, you truly are brainwashed. Nice attempt to spin IKE's words on totalitarian nation-states into modern day Democrats. Next time you build a spinner, don't use triangular bearings, it hums but it doesn't spin.

Ike warned us about "creeping socialism" in America. There are now Democrats in congress who are openly socialists. Many Democrats don't even try to hide it anymore.

 

[whitehall]

Ike's forces could have taken Berlin at the closing of WW2 but FDR ordered them to halt and allow the Russian hoard to take the city. How did that work out? "I like Ike" was the 20th century best political slogan. Republicans had promised to nominate the other General that the media loved better but it didn't work out for MacArthur when Korean Vets voiced outrage. Ever the vindictive darling of the media, Mac ran as a 3rd party candidate even though he must have known that it would siphon votes from a fellow republican General. Ike beat liberal academic Stephenson in a landslide.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

Well worth listening to, especially on the Fourth of July in the year 2019.

I would hope that the reader will listen, and learn from our history, and President Eisenhower's message to the nation in Jan. 1961.

A speech of common sense and a message to the future, sadly his lifetime learning and wisdom has been ignored by too many.



This address to the nation was only 16 minutes, I hope it opens the mind to the reader, and they consider IKE's remarks within the framework of messages by President Trump in this third decade of the 21st Century.

It was indeed a great speech.Not a fan of Ike in the least but a a great speech nonetheless. what he was saying back then so much applies today.He was warning us about these evil organizations the CIA,FBI,DIA and pentagon that have taken control over the government and run our lives. Ike knew what was coming.,Kennedy did as well,he tried to stop them,he was stepping on some very powerful toes in washington,the toes that Ike was warning us all about and he paid the deadly price for it by doing so.

The problem with Ike’s speech is he was a terrible warmonger as prez. His words ring hollow. He did nothing to stop the takeover of our government, by the MIC.

Yeah thats why I dont like him.He had everybody fooled big time,back then everybody trusted their government and did not realise the evil presidents do as Ike did. In this day and age he would be under a microscope as president with the media we have now and he would never have fooled so many as he did back then.

I think in the end,he developed a conscience on all his wrongdoings though which is why he gave that speech in his farewell address.

too little too late though to avoid his place in hell obviously though.

 

[GLASNOST]

.... This address to the nation was only 16 minutes, I hope it opens the mind to the reader, and they consider IKE's remarks within the framework of messages by President Trump in this third decade of the 21st Century.

What does Trump have to do with it? The evil Eishenhower warned of came true as soon as he left office and has grown larger ever since.

 

[GLASNOST]

Ike's forces could have taken Berlin at the closing of WW2 but FDR ordered them to halt and allow the Russian hoard to take the city. ....... .

Bull shit. The Soviets won the war fair and square.

 

[Picaro]

Ike did nothing about any of it while in office, so who cares what he said in 1961on his way out, after presiding over the Cold War. He wasn't about to hurt his own elections over anything to do with 'military industrial complexes n stuff'. He just proved generals make lousy Presidents and politcians, as usual.

 

[Picaro]

Ike's forces could have taken Berlin at the closing of WW2 but FDR ordered them to halt and allow the Russian hoard to take the city. ....... .

Bull shit. The Soviets won the war fair and square.

Rubbish. They were crushed by the time the Brits rescued them. They were just the hired help kept alive by Roosevelt.

As for Whtiehall's usual BS FDR bashing, it's rubbish, too; Ike determined where we would stop, he chose that line at the beginning of the war. Berlin was not an important military objective, so no need to take it,it was rubble. Ike chose to stop at a defensible line, is all. FDR let him make the decision.