Ike had run for president as a Republican on the platform of ending the Korean War and being less reactionary to the Soviets. Ike cut defense spending from $44 billion annually to $33 billion annually by 1956; that was a whopping "prosperity dividend" of 25%.
Under Ike and Wilson's prosperity dividend, the economy boomed like never before! Who could complain about that? The Pentagon and the Democrats, that's who:
"[Eisenhower] has failed to seek peace with determination, for his disarmament policy has failed to strike hard at the institution of war...budget balancing and tax reduction now come before the wants of our national security... Republicans have slashed our own armed strength, weakened our capacity to deal with military threats, stifled our air force, starved our army...We stand for strong defense forces so clearly superior in modern weapons." Democratic Party Platform, August 13, 1956.
When the Democrats gained in control of Congress in 1956, defense spending sky rocketed to $41 billion annually by 1958. When Ike left office in 1961, the Pentagon budget was $51 Billion. John F. Kennedy's 1962 presidential platform was to "close the missile gap" with the Soviet Union and increase defense spending.
"we must first restore our national strength-military, political, economic, and moral...our military position today is measured in terms of gaps--missile gap, space gap, limited-war gap...A first order of business of a Democratic Administration will be a complete re-examination of the organization of our armed forces"Democratic Party Platform, July 11, 1960.
By the end of the Vietnam War 1975 defense spending was at $90 billion annually. People were beginning to understand what Ike had warned us about in his 1961 farewell speech:
"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,-- [Which should be seen and heard in its entirety. ]
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