The Wisdom of Dwight David Eisenhower

[RickSp]

In a letter to his brother Edgar Newton Eisenhower, on 8 November 1954, President Dwight David Eisenhower wrote:

Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are.... a few .... Texas oil millionaires ..... Their number is negligible and they are stupid.

Document #1147; November 8, 1954 , To Edgar Newton Eisenhower

Eisenhower was a classic "small government" Republican who warned about the power of the "military-industrial complex" before it took control of our government.

Ironically in the same leter he makes a passing reference to the Iran, where the CIA engineered a coup the year before to replace the democratically elected government with the Shah. If we had stayed out and supported democracy then we might not have faced Ayatollah Khomeini nor felt justified in supporting Saddam again Khomeini's Iran. So perhaps Dwight's wisdom here applies more to Social Security than national security.

[Nono]

Once, when referred to in his presence as a "conservative", Eisenhower objected indignantly, saying he was a right-thinking liberal like everyone else.

[RickSp]

Quote by: Nono Once, when referred to in his presence as a "conservative", Eisenhower objected indignantly, saying he was a right-thinking liberal like everyone else.

Yes and Dubya and his foolish followers call themselves "conservatives", which once meant small government and a respect for the individual (unless the individual was having sex, doing drugs or not of an approved religion.) Dubya is a conservative only if you go back to the days of a previous King George. Dubya is closer to the imperial merchantilist than the American model of a conservative.