# Eisenhower Farewell Address **Eisenhower's Farewell Address** is the televised speech of January 17, 1961 in which the departing president warned the nation against the "acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex" — coining the term that anchors the vault's [[Military-Industrial Complex]] analytical strand. It functions as the bookend to the [[Chance for Peace Speech]] of April 1953: the earlier speech warned what an arms economy would cost; the farewell named the institution that had grown anyway, during his own two terms. ## Why it matters for the KB The single most consequential piece of vocabulary any president has contributed to the critique of American militarism, delivered by the century's most credentialed Republican soldier-president. The direct ancestor of the vault's defense-tech coverage, including [[Military-Industrial Complex 2.0]]. ## See Also - [[Chance for Peace Speech]] — the 1953 bookend - [[Speeches Hub]] — index of speech pages