I wonder what Dwight Eisenhower would think if he were alive today.

For that matter, I wonder if I got a hundred people in a room who were all under the age of 40 and I asked them if they even knew who Dwight David Eisenhower was, how many would know.

You’re probably wondering why I would wonder such a thing. After all, while historians appreciate all he accomplished, when the average American thinks of the great presidents, his name doesn’t normally rise to the top of the list.

But maybe we should give his legacy a second look.

Eisenhower was far from perfect. He got us involved in Vietnam and used the fear of the LGBTQ community for political gain.

But Dwight Eisenhower was also a visionary. Among other accomplishments, he created NASA, facilitated integration, and started the interstate highway system.

But what really got me wondering about what he would think of America today is what he said during his farewell address to the nation.

Before stepping down as the 34th president, he went before the TV cameras to warn America of what the future might hold if we weren’t vigilant.

Here are some lines from that address that resonate more than 65 years after that speech.

"We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military–industrial complex.” (emphasis mine)

He went on to say… “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."

President Trump has asked for the largest military budget in world history. His $ 1.5 trillion proposal is a 40% increase over what the Pentagon spent in the last fiscal year. Much of that money would come at the expense of cuts to social programs that benefit minorities and the working poor.

In his budget plan, the president has cut 73 billion dollars from key federal agencies.

Eisenhower was a proponent of public health, education, and federal housing programs. Trump’s budget would hurt many of those programs and more.

While the quote about the military industrial complex is the part most people who reminisce about Eisenhower remember, there were other warnings in his farewell address that warrant attention.

Eisenhower warned about Federal deficits. He believed in a balanced budget and fought hard with the Democrats to get that done. Although it seems impossible today, he was able to have a balanced budget for three of his eight years in office.

He hated that when he became president in 1959, the deficit was close to $13 billion. That’s about $145 billion in today’s money.

Compare that to where we are today.

Although the 2025 national deficit was down 2% from the 2024 budget, it’s still a whopping $1.8 trillion. That’s Trillion with a capital T.

Today, our national debt has ballooned to $39,000,000,000,000. That’s a lot of zeros.

I don’t have to wonder what Eisenhower would say to that. He’d say it was unsustainable and that it would lead to the collapse of our government.

I’ve already mentioned his concern for an educated electorate. I’m sure he’d be sounding the alarm about how the Pentagon is trying to deny access to journalists who are not friendly to this administration. They want their approved journalists to report only positive things about the job the military is doing. He would be outraged that a president was threatening to put journalists in jail.

When I compare the Republican Party of today to what it was like during the Eisenhower era, it’s unrecognizable. Eisenhower was a war hero and a military genius. We could sure use someone like that leading the country today.

Eisenhower didn’t have to deal with talk radio or 24-hour news channels. There was no TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, social media or blogs to contend with. Artificial Intelligence was only in Science Fiction books. I don’t know how he would have governed if he had to put up with all of that.

But I do know that Eisenhower would be sad that the warnings he had of America in 1961 went unheeded. He’d say, “I warned you of the military-industrial complex.”

Now that I think about it, I guess I don’t have to wonder what Eisenhower would think if he were alive today.

But I do wonder if the state he sees America in now has him turning over in his grave.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

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