“We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved: so is the very structure of our society.
“In the council 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.”
[Congressman Edward Hebert, of Louisiana, had made a good many comments on the military-industrial complex, and he had conducted a fine investigation documenting some of the problems. But the record indicated Chairman Hebert had not received full co-operation from the Eisenhower administration. Now President Eisenhower was expressing as much concern as Hebert.]
“We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes,” President Eisenhower warned. “We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
“Partly because of the huge costs involved, a Government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
“The prospect of domination of the Nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is very present—and is gravely to be regarded.”
President Eisenhower might have added that the arbitrary withholding of information from Congress and the public was the quickest way to give this military-industrial combination the control he believed to be so dangerous. He apparently had never understood the secrecy problem in his administration in such a way that he could see the connection between the increase in secrecy and the decrease in liberty and other essential elements of democracy. Chairman Hardy, I myself, and others hoped the new President would.
CHAPTER XVI
Kennedy Makes a Wobbly Start
President John F. Kennedy had been in office only ten days when he gave his “State of the Union” address on January 30, 1961. His comments on making information available to Congress were general in nature and seemingly consistent with his campaign pledges. President Kennedy said:
“Our Constitution wisely assigns both joint and separate roles to each branch of the Government; and a President and a Congress who hold each other in mutual respect will neither permit nor attempt any trespass. For my part, I shall withhold from neither the Congress nor the people any fact or report, past, present, or future, which is necessary for an informed judgment of our conduct or hazards. I shall neither shift the burden of executive decisions to the Congress, nor avoid responsibility for the outcome of those decisions.”