Unwarranted Influence: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Military-Industrial Complex (Icons of America)

A fascinating analysis of one of the most important political and economic ideas of our time: the ties between Americas military and its economy In Dwight D. Eisenhowers last speech as president, on January 17, 1961, he warned America about the military-industrial complex, a mutual dependency between the nations industrial base and its military structure that had developed during World War II. After the conflict ended, the nation did not abandon its wartime economy but rather the opposite. Military spending has steadily increased, giving rise to one of the key ideas that continues to shape our countrys political landscape. In this book, published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Eisenhowers farewell address, journalist James Ledbetter shows how the government, military contractors, and the nations overall economy have become inseparable. Some of the effects are beneficial, such as cell phones, GPS systems, the Internet, and the Hubble Space Telescope, all of which emerged from technologies first developed for the military. But the military-industrial complex has also provoked agonizing questions. Does our massive military establishmentbigger than those of the next ten largest combinedreally make us safer? How much of our perception of security threats is driven by the profit-making motives of military contractors? To what extent is our foreign policy influenced by contractors financial interests? Ledbetter uncovers the surprising origins and the even more surprising afterlife of the military-industrial complex, an idea that arose as early as the 1930s, and shows how it gained traction during World War II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam era and continues even today.

In Dwight D. Eisenhower’s last speech as president, on January 17, 1961, he warned America about the “military-industrial complex,” a mutual dependency between the nation’s industrial base and its military structure that had developed during World War II. After the conflict ended, the nation did not abandon its wartime economy but rather the opposite. Military spending has steadily increased, giving rise to one of the key ideas that continues to shape our country’s political landscape.

In this book, published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Eisenhower’s farewell address, journalist James Ledbetter shows how the government, military contractors, and the nation’s overall economy have become inseparable. Some of the effects are beneficial, such as cell phones, GPS systems, the Internet, and the Hubble Space Telescope, all of which emerged from technologies first developed for the military. But the military-industrial complex has also provoked agonizing questions. Does our massive military establishment—bigger than those of the next ten largest combined—really make us safer? How much of our perception of security threats is driven by the profit-making motives of military contractors? To what extent is our foreign policy influenced by contractors’ financial interests?

Ledbetter uncovers the surprising origins and the even more surprising afterlife of the military-industrial complex, an idea that arose as early as the 1930s, and shows how it gained traction during World War II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam era and continues even today. In Dwight D. Eisenhowerʹs last speech as president, on January 17, 1961, he warned America about the "military-industrial complex," a mutual dependency between the nationʹs industrial base and its military structure that had developed during World War II. After the conflict ended, the nation did not abandon its wartime economy but rather the opposite. Military spending has steadily increased, giving rise to one of the key ideas that continues to shape our countryʹs political landscape. In this book, published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Eisenhowerʹs farewell address, journalist James Ledbetter shows how the government, military contractors, and the nationʹs overall economy have become inseparable. Some of the effects are beneficial, such as cell phones, GPS systems, the Internet, and the Hubble Space Telescope, all of which emerged from technologies first developed for the military. But the military-industrial complex has also provoked agonizing questions. Does our massive military establishment--bigger than those of the next ten largest combined--really make us safer? How much of our perception of security threats is driven by the profit-making motives of military contractors? To what extent is our foreign policy influenced by contractorsʹ financial interests? -- Publisher description Tracking the unwarranted influence Intellectual origins War, peace, and Eisenhower Eisenhower's contentious second term The speech Interpretations and embellishments In full fury "Eisenhower must be rolling over in his grave" Appendix : Eisenhower's farewell address.