I recently watched AMERICAN EXPERIENCE about Eisenhower, and he said some really good stuff.

[raccoon]

Some things he said seem especially appropriate for the present time.

"Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion."

"If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom."

"We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security."


These two are interesting, considering Nixon’s presidency:

"Well, when you come down to it, I don't see that a reporter could do much to a president, do you?"

"This desk of mine is one at which a man may die, but from which he cannot resign. "


And of course, this one, which I consider the best:

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/dwight_d_eisenhower.html

[leftofthedial]

1. in his day, even repukes were to the left of where "democrats" are now

on many issues.

[T Wolf]

2. Ike may have been the last GOPer that I would not like to see dead. He cared about the country

and its people. His experience in war taught him that it is not a game, something the chickenhawks that permeate the repuke party now will never understand.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. I'm old enough to remember Liberal Republicans...

...like Jacob Javits.

[Uncle Joe]

4. And this one from his farewell address.

"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."

Dwight D. Eisenhower

I believe Eisenhower knew the same fundamental truth of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, that being the extreme dangers posed to the nation from the concentrated power of mega-corporations. Lincoln called them "moneyed interests", TR referred to them as "trusts", and Eisenhower specifically addressed the "military industrial complex", but it's essentially the same dynamic.

I also believe Dick Cheney and his cabal are the nightmare come true of Abraham's, Teddy's and Ike's fears, an administration not accountable to the American People anymore, only to their corporate masters.

Thanks for the thread, raccoon.

[SoCalDem]

5. Eisenhower was NOT an idealogue,,

He was a war-hero/lifelong military ..He was wooed by both parties when he flirted with the idea of running for president..

He grew up quite humbly, and was not a wild-eyed partisan, by any stretch..