Why Is Dwight D Eisenhower Effective

Dwight D. Eisenhower is mainly known as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961, but he was an American politician and army general. He was the third son born in 1890 in Denison, Texas to his parents, David Jacob and Elizabeth Stover. In 1911, Dwight earned an appointment to the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, in which he got accepted. Eisenhower graduated in 1915 and was commissioned a second lieutenant and then promoted to first lieutenant on July 1st, 1916. That same day he got married to Mamie Geneva. By 1920, Eisenhower was promoted to major, after volunteering for the Tank Corps the previous year. In 1926 at the Army’s prestigious graduate school, the Command and General Staff School at Ft. Leaven,
Kansas, Eisenhower graduated first in his class of 245. From 1927 to 1929 Eisenhower served under General John Perishing in 1927 to 1929 and served under General Douglas MacArthur from 1935 to 1939. In the early 1940s, Eisenhower returned to the United States and began working in the states and was promoted to major general in 1942. He also led Operation torch, as commander in chief. Eisenhower retired from active service in 1952. He then regressed back to Abilene, which he announced his running for the Republican party.. He easily won the election and became the 34th president of the United States. He was even reelected in 1956 for a second term, winning by an even larger margin. He has many accomplishments during his two terms but two bigger accomplishments include creating the U.S. Information Agency and establishing Alaska and Hawaii as states. Eisenhower supported the creation of the Interstate Highway System and was also responsible for signing the bill to form the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He also signed the Civil Rights Act and setting up a permanent Civil Rights Commission. He became the first Supreme Allied Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1951. In January of 1961, he gave his famous “Farewell Address” as he was leaving the office, and passing the presidency down to John F. Kennedy. After running his two terms as president, Eisenhower, along with his wife, Mamie, retired in Gettysburg.. Eisenhower resigned his commission when he became president, but Kennedy reactivated it as he moved into office. Eisenhower died in March of 1969 at Walter Reed hospital in Washington D.C. following a long period of suffering from a heart-related illness (“Dwight“).
Eisenhower’s “Farewell Address” was intended to warn the nation against the dangers of the Cold War “military-industrial complex”.
He called on “alert and knowledgeable citizenry” to balance the need for effective defense against the nations peaceful “methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together” (Eisenhower’s Farewell”). Efforts to control the expansion of the military-industrial complex have failed (“Eisenhower”). The end of
Eisenhower’s term as president ended the 1950s and also the government era.. A new and younger generation would be rising to power. His address was a warning to his successors of one of the many things they would have to be worried of in the coming years. As well as, expressing concerns about planning the futures of dangers of massive spending, especially deficit spending. In contrary, The people spent more than twice as much on national security in 2011 than they did in Eisenhower’s final year in office.
Eisenhower was concerned about the growing size and cost of the American defense establishment since he became president in 1953. He expressed some of those concerns in his previous address, which shocked some of his listeners. He began with how the U.S. Could no longer afford the “emergency improvisation” that characterized its preparations for war
against
Germany and Japan. Instead, the United States was “compelled to create permanent armaments industry” and a huge military force. He admitted that the Cold War made clear the “imperative need for this development,” but he was concerned about the “acquisition of unwarranted influence…by the military industrial complex” (“Eisenhower’s Farewell”). In particular, he asked the American people to guard against the “danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite” (“Shmoop”).
Eisenhower showed an emotion of loving America and everything to stand for in his lifetime.
His speech was very straightforward and concise and very positive and sincere. He knew the main points he wanted to make before leaving the office in the hands of Kennedy. He spoke mostly about the controversial stuff about the military-industrial complex/scientific- technological elite, which was mentioned in between the part of the speech about how the country’s great, how scary the Soviet Union is, and how much he is looking forward to going golfing on his spare time. Eisenhower’s tone wasn’t exactly what the listeners expected. They believed that that man who led the country to victory in Europe in World War II and guided the nation through some of the darkest moments of the Cold War was too negative toward military complex. For most listeners, however, it seemed obvious that Eisenhower was stating what everybody already knew. World War II and the Cold War resulted in the development of a large and powerful defense establishment. Although development was needed, Eisenhower warned, this new military-industrial complex could either help or drastically hurt the institutions and principles it was designed to protect
(“Shmoop”).
Surely Eisenhower would be disappointed to see how this country has been running, as well as the military complex and bases.. At the same time, academia and the mainstream media provide support and cover to keep public funds flowing for wars and their preparations (“President”).
Eisenhower’s Farewell Address was not only a warning to the people but an eye opener to the country. Not only did the country not listen to Eisenhower, but as a whole, faced the consequences.