Unwarranted Influence: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Military Industrial Complex

Fifty years after the 34th president delivered his best known address, Ledbetter (Starving to Death on $200 Million) deconstructs the origins of the term "military-industrial complex" and weighs its contemporary meanings and misinterpretations. Eisenhower, a WWII legend, feared that deepening the relationships between government officials, lawmakers, and weapons producers would ultimately undermine democracy. The president’s fears were not new, but Ledbetter makes a convincing case that the 1957 launch of Sputnik by the Soviets cemented the unholy alliance—long before the phrase became popular in the Vietnam era. Ledbetter deftly connects the dots between these two sectors, documenting how military appropriations were linked to job creation projects in congressional districts; how the "revolving door" for employment between the military and the firms providing weapons to the Defense Department endures; and how government-funded university research activities undermined traditional notions about academic freedom. Ledbetter makes a disturbingly persuasive case that Ike was right. (Jan.)