TLS, one page, 7 x 10.25, personal letterhead, March 17, 1951. Letter to Chief Yeoman Helen Weaver, Eisenhower’s new NATO Secretary. In full: “This letter is to welcome you personally to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, and to express the hope that your duty here will prove enjoyable and rewarding. Your assignment implies the complete confidence of your superiors in your character, ability and loyalty. I know you will live up to that trust. This command has been charged by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with certain missions which are designed to provide for our common security and thereby ensure peace. The responsibilities which thus fall upon this establishment are of a gravity without precedent in the history of free peoples. They call not only for a high order of professional ability but for a complete and selfless dedication to the noble purpose we serve. There can be no compromise with these fundamentals. In your day to day work, you have an ever-present opportunity to contribute to the preservation of a peaceful world and to those values cherished by free peoples. I urge you to take full advantage of that opportunity, applying yourself diligently and allowing nothing to stand in the way of allied teamwork. Together we cannot fail. With best wishes for your personal and official success.” In fine condition, with a vertical crease along right edge.
Eisenhower was named Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers in Europe in December 1950. The following April, he would formerly assume command and activate the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Powers in Europe (SHAPE). The U.S. Navy assigned seven WAVES to duty on Eisenhower’s staff, including Helen Elizabeth Weaver of Hanover, PA. Weaver served as Eisenhower’s personal secretary at NATO Headquarters in Paris beginning in 1951 and later as his secretary at the White House from 1953 to 1957. An exceptional letter to the woman who would become one of Eisenhower’s closest associates at NATO and in the White House. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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