I have spent my life in the study of military strength as a deterrent to war, and in the character of military armaments necessary to win a war. The … - Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Engraved portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower

I have spent my life in the study of military strength as a deterrent to war, and in the character of military armaments necessary to win a war. The study of the first of these questions is still profitable, but we are rapidly getting to the point that no war can be won. War implies a contest; when you get to the point that contest is no longer involved and the outlook comes close to destruction of the enemy and suicide for ourselves—an outlook that neither side can ignore—then arguments as to the exact amount of available strength as compared to somebody else's are no longer the vital issues. When we get to the point, as we one day will, that both sides know that in any outbreak of general hostilities, regardless of the element of surprise, destruction will be both reciprocal and complete, possibly we will have sense enough to meet at the conference table with the understanding that the era of armaments has ended and the human race must conform its actions to this truth or die.

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About Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David Eisenhower (14 October 1890 – 28 March 1969), also widely known by his nickname "Ike", was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe, and achieved the rare five-star rank of General of the Army. He was responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–1943 and the successful invasion of Normandy in 1944–1945 from the Western Front.

Biography information from Wikiquote · Portrait adapted from Wikimedia Commons, White House (Public domain / CC0)

Also Known As

Birth Name: David Dwight Eisenhower
Also Known As: Ike
Alternative Names: Dwight David Eisenhower President Eisenhower D. Eisenhower Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower Dwight Eisenhower Ike Eisenhower

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Additional quotes by Dwight D. Eisenhower

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.

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Censorship, in my opinion, is a stupid and shallow way of approaching the solution to any problem. Though sometimes necessary, as witness a professional and technical secret that may have a bearing upon the welfare and very safety of this country, we should be very careful in the way we apply it, because in censorship always lurks the very great danger of working to the disadvantage of the American nation.

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