American Veterans Committee Asks Eisenhower to Reflect on His Warning About the Military-Industrial Complex (1966)

Date: January 17, 1966

Created By: Stanley Karson

Original or Replica: Original

Era: The Statesman

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: DDE’s Post-Presidential Papers, 1966 Principal File, Box 36, K (3); NAID #16972242

In this January 17, 1966 letter, Stanley G. Karson, chairman of the American Veterans Committee’s Special Committee on the Military-Industrial Complex, writes to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower on the fifth anniversary of his Farewell Address. Karson recalls Eisenhower’s nationally televised final address as president and specifically highlights his warning about the existence and consequences of what Eisenhower called the “military-industrial complex.” The organization congratulates Eisenhower for bringing the issue to the attention of the American public and argues that his experience as both a military commander and civilian leader gave him unusual authority to address the subject.

Karson explains that the American Veterans Committee, an organization founded during World War II, was considering a long-term study of the implications of the military-industrial complex. He asks Eisenhower to provide his current views on the subject five years after issuing his original warning. The letter places the issue within the broader Cold War struggle, emphasizing the need to maintain an effective national defense while also protecting freedom against tyranny. The document demonstrates the continuing influence of Eisenhower’s Farewell Address after he left office and shows how veterans and other Americans continued to debate the relationship between military power, defense industries, national security, and democratic government during the 1960s.