Superlative early TLS signed “Richard M. Nixon,” one page, 8 x 10.5, November 29, 1945. Nixon writes to Roy O. Day, Chairman of the 12th Congressional District in Pomona, California. In part: “I wish to thank the Fact Finding Committee for its expression of confidence in selecting me as a candidate for Congress. In accepting the Committee’s nomination I should like to state my position on some of the major problems facing the country today. As a veteran of this war, I recognize the urgent necessity of adopting a practical, realistic foreign policy which will have as its primary purpose the avoidance of all future wars. Old-world diplomacy with its secret personal commitments has proved tragically inadequate during the past 12 years. Our foreign policy must stem from and be responsive to the will of the people. In the field of national affairs grave problems face the country during the reconversion period. On the other hand opportunities for progress unequalled in the Nation’s history are within our grasp if the true principles of American constitutional government are allowed to operate. The inventive genius and industrial know-how which have made America great must not be stifled by unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions.... I am confident that by presenting a progressive and constructive program designed to promote industrial peace as opposed to class hatred and economic warfare, the Republican Party will win a decisive victory in 1946....” At the time of writing, Nixon had returned to the United States from his wartime service in the South Pacific and was working as a legal officer with the rank of lieutenant commander. Following his discharge in the following year, and boosted by a party anxious to regain control of Congress under New Deal holdover Harry S. Truman, Nixon ran for the congressional seat in California’s 12th District. Foreshadowing the political tactics he would soon employ as a member of Congress, Nixon smeared the five-term Democratic incumbent, Jerry Voorhis, as a labor sympathizer with Communist ties. Nixon’s “Red scare” tactics proved successful, and he handily defeated Voorhis in the election with a margin of more than 13 points. (Two elections later, in 1950, Nixon similarly pegged his opponent, Helen Gahagan Douglas, as “pink right down to her underwear.” Though she was defeated, Douglas extracted revenge by coining the moniker that would plague Nixon for the remainder of his storied political career: “Tricky” Dick.) In January 1947, Nixon entered the House of Representatives in a freshman class whose members included the man who would become his most bitter rival of all: JFK. Light intersecting folds (vertical fold to last name), and a touch of mild wrinkling and handling wear, otherwise fine condition. Nixon letters of this early date and historical significance are of great scarcity. Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
