Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free.

The line frames political liberty as something sustained not only by constitutions, armies, or leaders, but by citizens’ internal convictions and daily choices. “Individual faith” suggests a personal commitment—belief in the value of freedom and willingness to practice civic responsibility—that collectively becomes the true safeguard of a free society. In Eisenhower’s Cold War milieu, the sentiment also reads as a warning that external threats (totalitarianism abroad) and internal complacency or fear can erode liberty unless individuals actively prize and defend it. The quote thus emphasizes freedom as a lived ethic rather than a guaranteed inheritance.