Writes William Harris:

Many people take President Eisenhower as dimwitted. After reading his 1960 speech,
I realized he was not only sharp witted but prescient in many things.

He cautioned about:

1- The military-industrial complex: "We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex."

2- Undue influence on public policy by a scientific elite: "The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded."

3- Runaway budgets: "Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."People talk almost exclusively about the military industrial complex. But items 2 and 3 are even more important than item 1. The current carbon dioxide hysteria relates to item 2. The current trillion-dollars deficits relate to item 3.

It seems, although Republican, Eisenhower was a closet libertarian.