From Seeming Contradiction to Logical Sequence: Eisenhower’s Warning against the Military-Industrial Complex vis-à-vis his Presidency
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2022-06-24
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en
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When President Dwight Eisenhower warned against “unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex (MIC)” in his farewell to the American people on January 17, 1961, he spoke words that would echo in public and academic circles for decades to come. Ever since, historians have pointed at the paradoxicality or even hypocrisy of this message in the face of an eight-year expansion of US military might that Eisenhower had just presided over. No studies have yet explored whether this seeming contradiction also constitutes real contradiction when subjected to thorough historical examination. This thesis seeks to fill that gap and broaden the horizon of academic and popular understandings of the Eisenhower presidency and the MIC. By means of a threefold empirical analysis of the period 1953-1961, it mapped the evolution of the MIC, weighed the president’s resilience to (potentially MIC-rooted) pressure in perilous times, and interpreted the evolution of the CIA under Eisenhower. The central argument that has culminated from this setup is that though perhaps paradoxical, Eisenhower’s MIC warning carried no identifiable contradiction vis-à-vis his presidency. Even though Eisenhower strengthened all MIC components, he did so in accordance with a coherent security policy that prescribed avoidance of overt warfare and pursued peace through deterrence. Furthermore, Eisenhower consistently displayed wariness and restraint toward potentially dangerous pressure by the military establishment. Finally, evidence suggests that Eisenhower de facto circumvented the MIC by heavily relying on the alternative of covert action. These findings, in combination with Eisenhower’s concerns about an inexperienced successor who held diametrically opposed foreign policy views, debunk suggestions of contradiction and instead reveal harmony between Eisenhower’s MIC warning and his presidency.
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