Eisenhower's farewell address

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 11 February 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In January 1961, US President Dwight Eisenhower ended his time in the White House with a farewell address regarded as one of the greatest speeches made by a US president.

He warned Americans against the "military-industrial complex", a phrase that he coined.

In 2018, Louise Hidalgo looked back on the speech with Dwight Eisenhower's grandson, David Eisenhower, and one of his speechwriters, Stephen Hess.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: President Dwight Eisenhower. Credit: Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:38.0	sounds.
0:44.1	Hello and welcome to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service.
0:49.3	We're going back to January, 1961, and the farewell speech given by U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower,
0:56.2	who'd been the Allied Supreme Commander in Europe during the Second World War.
1:00.6	Eisenhower was being succeeded by his Democratic rival, the young John F. Kennedy.
1:05.7	In 2018, Louise Hidalgo looked back on the historic speech.
1:09.9	Oh, say, can you see by the door? Louise Hidalgo looked back on the historic speech.
1:22.9	Three days from now, after half a century, in the service of our country,
1:29.9	I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony,
1:34.6	the authority of the presidency is vested in my successor.
1:43.8	It was a wonderful speech.
1:46.4	It was the greatest speech he ever gave,
1:51.6	and it was a speech that I think goes among the finest speeches ever given by a president.
1:56.6	Stephen Hess was the youngest of Dwight Eisenhower's three speechwriters. The speech got instant attention because of one line about the military industrial complex.
2:05.5	It was a wonderful phrase, and it was particularly notable coming from the mouth of a five-star general.
	...

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