Bombardier
06-06-2005, 10:11 AM
In the interests of finding something that people of all political affiliations can agree on, I thought I'd post something here about Dwight Eisenhower, American president from 1953-61.
People that wonder why some of us don't like Bush might want to read up a bit on another Republican who successfully managed to keep the planet in one piece during what might have been the most serious crisis in world history if you consider the consequences of screwing up (global nuclear war).
The conflict with Soviet Russia was a million times tougher to deal with then the "war on terrorism" and called for a sophisticated approach. Eidenhower managed to come to terms with Soviet leaders without comprimising the principles of his country and keep us all out of total war.
Among his other accomplishments:
- Pursuading the USSR to pull out of Austria, which turned into a prosperous democratic nation in the heart of the Iron Curtain.
- Promoting and enforcing the desegregation of southern schools (his quote: "There must be no second class citizens in this country")
- Continuing with New Deal policies while keeping up a prosperous economy and maintaining a balanced budget
Eisenhower, you might be surprised to hear, is the man who coined the term "military-industrial" complex. This is from his bio on whitehouse.gov:
"Before he left office in January 1961, for his farm in Gettysburg, he urged the necessity of maintaining an adequate military strength, but cautioned that vast, long-continued military expenditures could breed potential dangers to our way of life."
What I'm trying to get at is that Eisenhower, staunch Republican that he was, was warning against many of the things that the current Bush administration is doing right now. Also consider how the current reactionaries in power would have acted in Eisenhower's time, and where we might be now as a consequence.
He wasn't perfect, of course. His most glaring mistake was looking the other way when senator McCarthy was prosecuting innocent people on fradulent charges of being "communists". But here was a man who was educated, even-handed, and acted in the best interests of his country at all times.
Can you say that about anyone in the current administration? Be honest now.
The bio of Eisenhower on whitehouse.gov is surprisingly complete. Obciously it's a bit sugar-coated but it covers a lot of ground and is quite well-written:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/de34.html
People that wonder why some of us don't like Bush might want to read up a bit on another Republican who successfully managed to keep the planet in one piece during what might have been the most serious crisis in world history if you consider the consequences of screwing up (global nuclear war).
The conflict with Soviet Russia was a million times tougher to deal with then the "war on terrorism" and called for a sophisticated approach. Eidenhower managed to come to terms with Soviet leaders without comprimising the principles of his country and keep us all out of total war.
Among his other accomplishments:
- Pursuading the USSR to pull out of Austria, which turned into a prosperous democratic nation in the heart of the Iron Curtain.
- Promoting and enforcing the desegregation of southern schools (his quote: "There must be no second class citizens in this country")
- Continuing with New Deal policies while keeping up a prosperous economy and maintaining a balanced budget
Eisenhower, you might be surprised to hear, is the man who coined the term "military-industrial" complex. This is from his bio on whitehouse.gov:
"Before he left office in January 1961, for his farm in Gettysburg, he urged the necessity of maintaining an adequate military strength, but cautioned that vast, long-continued military expenditures could breed potential dangers to our way of life."
What I'm trying to get at is that Eisenhower, staunch Republican that he was, was warning against many of the things that the current Bush administration is doing right now. Also consider how the current reactionaries in power would have acted in Eisenhower's time, and where we might be now as a consequence.
He wasn't perfect, of course. His most glaring mistake was looking the other way when senator McCarthy was prosecuting innocent people on fradulent charges of being "communists". But here was a man who was educated, even-handed, and acted in the best interests of his country at all times.
Can you say that about anyone in the current administration? Be honest now.
The bio of Eisenhower on whitehouse.gov is surprisingly complete. Obciously it's a bit sugar-coated but it covers a lot of ground and is quite well-written:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/de34.html