this post was submitted on 26 May 2026
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Was Ike the last great republican president? (media.piefed.social)
submitted 1 week ago by JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social to c/quotes@quokk.au
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I don't have any 'deep-dive' here, just that I've always been impressed by how prescient and progressive this leader seemed to be, considering...

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[–] BenLeMan@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

Well, that was when political leaders still had a shred of integrity.

He was certainly public-minded and tried to serve his country well. He enforced desegregation and ended the Korean War.

But he also oversaw the creation of the military industrial complex, which he would famously (if somewhat ironically) lament in his farewell address. And that's arguably where America's current problems with money in politics started.

The rise of the CIA and its support of antidemocratic regimes is also part of Eisenhower's legacy. Operations TPAJAX and TPSUCCESS were done with his close support and involvement. He also sponsored the government of Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam which refused to implement the 1956 Geneva Accords, leading to the disaster of the Vietnam War.

Overall, he cemented the turn away from New Deal era social democratic policies that had already begun in the Truman years as the Red Scare was finally taking hold of the United States.

[–] njm1314@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Define "great" one hypocritical quote surely doesn't make him great.

[–] rockSlayer@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Well I mean he also called in the national guard to force the integration of schools. On the other hand, he also overthrew the democratically elected socialist leader of Guatemala at the behest of Chiquita

[–] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 week ago

Gotta keep those bananas cheap and labor cheaper!

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

“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."

  • Eisenhower

https://www.npr.org/2011/01/17/132942244/ikes-warning-of-military-expansion-50-years-later

[–] njm1314@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Sure would have been nice if he practiced what he preached.

[–] WalleyeWarrior@midwest.social 2 points 1 week ago

Yeah hard to take him at his word when he was ramping up nuclear weapons and funneling money to France to fight Ho Chi Minh in French Indochina.

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social -1 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I'm sure I don't know, but he has a number of great, socially-progressive quotes to his name, as well as famously admitting (and pointing out) how the military-industrial complex works.

But go ahead and slam him over specifics-- that should be fun, right?

[–] njm1314@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Well yes that is what you're supposed to judge people on. You don't judge them on little sayings they say as they go out the door but on the things they did while in office. Did Eisenhower stop the rise of the military industrial complex? Shit no. He engaged in it. He expanded it.

Am I not supposed to judge a Man based on his support of terrorism and assassinations? Am I not supposed to judge him based on his arming of fascist military groups? Is that what greatness is?

[–] TomMasz@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

He'd be considered a socialist by today's GOP. It's hard to overstate how far right the party has become.

[–] SwingingTheLamp@piefed.zip 6 points 1 week ago

Hell, this quote is too far left for Democrats.

[–] TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today 3 points 1 week ago

I mean he's arguably responsible for the current war the US finds themselves in, so I'd say his legacy is somewhat tainted.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

I'm not sure if Ike was "great" or not, but he was certainly the last acceptable one!

[–] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Don't worry, that's why the industrial-military complex sends them to the fronts, ergo anyone left behind is either unfit or unpatriotic (or, a spy —most likely a spy) 😶‍🌫️

[–] iocase@lemmy.zip 3 points 6 days ago

Your meat grinding scars are deemed by the VA to not be meat grinder connected.

[–] EggInDisguise@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Hilariously, my dad served on the Dwight D Eisenhower in the navy.

I wonder what the man himself might have to say on that.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

Let’s not paint the man as perfect in order to tear him down. Nobody’s saying he was perfect. Eisenhower had a lot of issues, among which he presided over the country at a time where we still had segregated water fountains as a rule, allowed McCarthy’s Red Scare witch hunt to proceed mostly unchecked which destroyed people's lives, of which a byproduct was helping Roy Cohn to notoriety, and that horrible human being was basically a Trump pal and mentor. That said, he was far better viewing government as a tool to improve the societal infrastructure of the country and the lives of the less well off citizens. By today’s republican standards he was a radical socialist.