Collection of 38 TLSs by Dwight D. Eisenhower, mostly one page, dated from 1947 to 1969, with letterheads including his personal monogram, five star general, Columbia University, War Department, and White House. The archive includes 19 letters signed "D. E.," 11 letters signed "Ike," three letters signed "Ike E.," and five letters signed "Dwight D. Eisenhower." Many are to either Major General Howard McCrum Snyder, who served as his physician; Snyder's wife, Alice; or Gerald D. Morgan, who served as his special counsel. Eisenhower exchanges pleasantries, sends thanks for gifts, offers birthday wishes, and acknowledges good work. In overall fine condition. Many are accompanied by their original mailing envelopes.
A small sampling of the content:
July 18, 1949, to Edward Lane: "It was typically generous of you to send the box of candy. The entire family is already into it up to their elbows. Thanks a lot—and don't be short on your putts."
December 27, 1949, to Alice Snyder: "Not only will the green socks go well with my green 'Augusta Club coat,' but I treasure them also because of the many hours of work I know you put into them."
December 27, 1951, to Edward Lane: "About two months ago, an ailment affected my left wrist and it is only recently that I have been able to again swing a golf club. Cliff and Bill are with us now for a few days and, weather permitting, we are hoping to get in a few holes during the Holidays."
August 18, 1952, to Edward Lane: "This is just a note to thank you for the letter you left for Mamie and me in Chicago during the Convention. We were sorry to have missed seeing you. The pace has been pretty hectic since then, but I think we have been making some real progress."
October 20, 1952, to Alice Snyder: "Your birthday card made me homesick—homesick for the many congenial hours the Snyders and Ikes have spent together."
October 18, 1954, to Gerald D. Morgan: "My expensive horticultural tastes have apparently been widely advertised…I assure you that nothing could have pleased me more on my birthday than to hear of the English boxwood tree you and the members of the White House Staff have planted on the Gettysburg farm. I am told it is a beautiful specimen."
December 29, 1954, to Howard McC. Snyder: "For the past two days I have been trying to express to the members of the official Administration family my appreciation for their daily help on problems of grave domestic and international support. To thank you not only for your interest in such matters, but also for your friendship and your professional solicitude is, I find, more than ordinarily difficult."
October 11, 1956, to Edward Lane: "I expect the American people to realize that I have done the best I can for each segment of society, in its total relationship to the whole, and that, if I am re-elected, I shall continue to do so."
December 29, 1958, to Howard McC. Snyder: "The past twelve months has had its tensions and crises, presenting to all of us in the White House difficult problems. Those problems have been the easier of solution for me by the knowledge that I have such capable and dedicated friends and assistants such as yourself. My gratitude is immeasurable."
December 29, 1959, to Gerald D. Morgan: "As the last few days of the 1950 decade draw to a close and we approach the final full year of the present Administration, once again I am impelled to try to express to you my gratitude for your services to the nation during the year and my appreciation of your personal assistance to me…The home stretch is upon us. A thoroughbred tried to make his best effort in the last furlong. I know none of you will slow the pace, and, indeed, I have no fear that you will not exert your energies to make all America proud, as I am proud, of the record."
December 20, 1960, to Gerald D. Morgan: "At the end of each of the past seven years, I have tried, by individual letters, to express my gratitude to my close associates in the Administration for their unfailing dedication and selflessness in the service of the nation…As a team, the group has performed magnificently. I, for one, refuse to countenance its breaking up. I would rather think of us working—in diverse localities to be sure—as vigorously as ever to forward the principles and policies which we all supported because of their importance to the prosperity and progress of our country and to the securing of a just and durable peace. I know you will all do your best."
December 25, 1961, to Howard and Alice Snyder: "Today is Christmas Day, although a hot sun and a beautifully clear sky belie our usual concept of the traditional weather that should accompany the Christmas celebration. And a few minutes ago, the entire Eisenhower family finished the 'tree' ceremony, and within another few minutes, I hope to be on the golf course."
November 30, 1962, to Gerald D. Morgan: "The first volume of my memoirs is nearing completion. It includes my days at NATO in Paris and the first three years of my Presidency, ending on February 29, 1956, the day I announced I would stand for re-election. Since memory is a fallible thing, I am writing to ask if you would review certain of the chapters…By no means would I ask for extensive corrections, editing, or re-write; the professionals at Doubleday can help me on most of that. What I would ask that you do is simply to review the chapters for (1) any important item omitted or handled so incompletely as to fail to tell the story, and (2) any errors in fact or opinion."
May 31, 1966, to Alice Snyder: "It was indeed kind of you to bring a few books to my room. I was getting exceedingly tired of 'Westerns' and it was a great joy to have the kind that you brought."
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