Eisenhower Speaks His Mind

"We are paying too much for this welfare in terms of self-reliance, courage, and devotion to freedom. When you talk about economic security, and neglect to talk about opportunity, you are destroying the pioneer spirit. I expect to see a swing away from all this one of these days, back to traditional values."

5. MILITARY SERVICE

Instead of the draft, the General said, "what we need is universal military training. We ought to have one year of compulsory military training for everyone—not the regular pay, just a few dollars—but one year of basic education. At age 18, this would encourage a lot of enlistments.

"Anyone who would rather enlist should be given the option. I wrote in a recent article about a two-year enlistment, but now I believe it should be three years if we are to have a real, regular, military force."

"There should be exemptions for no one. Anyone who is illiterate—we should give him additional duty and good teachers, and a year of basic education in the 'three R's'—reading writing and arithmetic. We should give physical fitness for people who are now being rejected with minor defects."

"I don't believe in finding make-work jobs for rejects—a choice of the Peace Corps, or some other Government service. What we need is good, tough, military training—and I am just as much concerned for the benefit of the youths as a whole as for the military service."

"It is just as much of a duty to learn 'how' to serve the country in case of need, as it is to serve. If you don't have men with sufficient education to know how to use or to prevent the use of nuclear weapons, then you are worse off than if you didn't have the weapons. We want a nation that is patriotic and improving itself. The nation is made up of spiritual, intellectual, economic, and military strength. We want to keep these values at a high level."

6. DEMONSTRATIONS

Asked about student protests, campus morals and current behavior of young people, General Eisenhower said:

"The spirit of rebellion is rather healthy in young people. But rebellion must accept the guidelines of civilization—honesty, decency, monogamy, virtue in sexual relations. We found it necessary of protect the family, because the family is the basic unit of society. If we had a storm of illegitimacy, what we would wind up with would be anarchy."

"I talk to college students from time to time. These young people are just as concerned about these matters as you or I. I think some young people feel they have to demonstrate, wear their hair long and call attention to themselves because they are suffering from and inferiority complex. They have to make themselves seen and heard in some way. They are gaining headlines—but they are creating an image of American youth that is false."

"People come in and want my views. I'm particularly encouraged by the attractiveness and personality of the young people who come to see me. Some are young men running for Congress. They have a mission and a dedication. I encourage them to carry the truth as they see it to the country. The fate of our country, really, depends on education."

"Black Power"

General Eisenhower was asked about racial demonstration and the slogan "black power." "No one has defined what it means," he observed. "If it means using legitimate voting power—that's one thing. If it means reckless, destructive, power by force—that's something else.

"Free government is nothing but an opportunity for the exercise of self-discipline. If we don't do those ourselves, then someone is going to do it for us, a strong central agency. If we do not exercise self-discipline, we will be inviting a Hitler, or someone like him.