Inspirational, Subtly Ominous

Listen, it's obvious Ike loved America and everything it stood for during his lifetime. He was a real flag-waving, amber-waves-of-grain-loving, red-blooded all-American boy. And there was nothing he liked better than to give his people guidance, encouragement, and assurance that they were on the right side, that there was so much to be proud of, and that love would find a way (unless there was nuclear Armageddon, but let's not get distracted).

For serious: just read aloud the closing paragraph, which is technically one epic and heavily-semi-colon-ed sentence:

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing inspiration: We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love. (VII.5)

Go ahead, read it out loud.

Okay, okay, it's no JFK or MLK. Or RFK, for that matter. But as he read the last lines of the last speech of his presidency, Ike was taking out all the stops and going full-tilt inspiration-mode, Ike style. All peoples… opportunity… yearn[ing] for freedom… spiritual blessings… poverty, disease and ignorance… made to disappear from the earth…Those are the words and phrases of a man trying to uplift.

But that's not what this speech is remembered for. Ike was giving the country a subtly ominous warning. Take a close look at the most famous passage and the bit right after it:

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. (IV.14-18)

This is highly diplomatic, hedging-type language. The acquisition of unwarranted influence… the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power…definitely not the most direct ways of saying what he's saying. Hence, subtlety. But when you think about it, he's actually warning about an existential peril to the nation. He's implying that the democracy might be in mortal danger. And he explicitly says that the only thing keeping it all in check is an alert and knowledgeable citizenry…

We'll leave it to you to decide if the American people look up from their phones long enough to be alert and knowledgeable about such matters.