Draft TLS as president, one page, 5.5 x 6.5, White House letterhead, October 4, 1963. The draft of a form letter sent to 11 governors who Kennedy met while on a trip west. In full: “The conservation trip which just ended gave me the distinct pleasure of meeting with you and seeing first hand the tremendous strides that have been made in the field of conservation in your State. I greatly appreciated the warm welcome given to us by your citizens. I enjoyed seeing you and I want to thank you for your many courtesies to me and my staff during our stay there.” Also included is a sheet of White House stationery with a typed list of the governors to whom the letter is to be sent, headed at the top, “Message to be sent to the following Governors who met the President on his Western trip, and listing all 11 governors and their states. Double-matted and framed with two color photos of Kennedy to an overall size of 32 x 14. In fine condition, with some minor skipping to the rapid signature.
When former Wisconsin governor Gaylord Nelson arrived in Washington in 1963 to begin his Senate career, he was determined to spur national action on environmental problems. Boldly proposing a presidential tour of the nation to highlight pollution control, conservation efforts, and recreational development, he gained the support of President Kennedy, and the five-day, eleven-state tour began on September 24, 1963. Though Kennedy gave numerous, impassioned speeches on the environmental issues at hand, the press was more interested in foreign policy and the recent Partial Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty; Nelson, who would go on to found Earth Day in 1970, was disappointed that the tour didn’t succeed in making the environment a national political issue. Thanking the governors who hosted him on the whirlwind conservation tour, President Kennedy drafted this heartfelt letter just six weeks before his fateful trip to Dallas, praising each for “the tremendous strides that have been made in the field of conservation” in their states.
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