I was interested to read that in his farewell address Joe Biden appeared to echo the 1961 farewell address of Dwight Eisenhower, when Biden warned of an oligarchy “taking shape” (Biden’s farewell speech sparks predictable split along party lines, 16 January); in 1961 Eisenhower went on to warn of a “military-industrial complex” and the overreach of American corporate power as a threat to democracy. Well, we all know how much impact that warning had.
But Ike also said this: “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.” Not bad for 1961, and from a Republican at that. But sadly, while this piece of advice might have struck a chord with a young Jimmy Carter, it didn’t really catch on, did it?
Frank Keightley
Old, Northamptonshire
