Historic Voices Podcast: Global History And Culture

The President’s speech is typical for many of the recent U.S. presidents. He began with a quick review of the past and especially the world wars the U.S. has been engaged and the role of the country as peacemaker to help build a better future. Then, he turns to the new challenges which are domestic rather than international. Eisenhower expresses his worry that the U.S. has embraced a permanent armaments industry with the export of weapons around the world. This was a radical change in the U.S. which previously only turned to building of weapons when the country faced immediate aggression. He introduces a new world to the U.S. vocabulary, “industrial-military complex”. Building weapons has become as important as building cars and appliances for the average American. Eisenhower worried that American universities seemed more interested in attracting huge government military contracts that engaged in scientific discovery. He also was concerned about Congress and how they were being influenced by the industrial-mi