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Dwight D. Eisenhower
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”Senator Nixon and I certainly echo your words that our sole purpose in this crusade is the welfare of our country and the American people . . . .”
Dwight David Eisenhower, 1890-1969. General of the Army; Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, World War II; 34th President of the United States, 1953-1961. Excellent political content Typed Letter Signed, Eisenhower, as Republican presidential nominee, one page, 7" x 10½", Brown Palace Hotel, Denver, Colorado, on stationery of the Office of Dwight D. Eisenhower, August 20, 1952.
The month after the 1952 Republican convention that nominated him for President, Eisenhower courts Oregon Senator Wayne Morse. In part: “I want you to know how much I appreciate your letter of August 19 with your warm assurance of whole-hearted support. / Your vigorous and articulate assistance will be of great help in the tough fight we are facing. / Senator Nixon and I certainly echo your words that our sole purpose in this crusade is the welfare of our country and the American people; and we look forward to working with you closely to this end in the days to come."
Despite Eisenhower's entreaty, Morse (1900-1974) would soon resign from the Republican party over concerns that it was moving too far to the right.
A populist, progressive Republican, Morse had liberal roots. He was a native of Wisconsin, the home of Progressive Senator Robert M. LaFollette. He also served in the New Deal administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt before entering the United States Senate as a Republican in 1944. As a liberal Republican and an internationalist, Morse opposed the isolationist conservative wing of the Republican Party led by Ohio Senator Robert Taft.
Eisenhower himself entered the presidential race at the call of internationalist Republicans who sought to oppose the isolationist Taft for the Republican nomination. As the NATO supreme commander following World War II, Eisenhower fully understood the role that the United States had to play in world affairs. When Taft refused to support an internationalist program, Eisenhower announced that he was a Kansas Republican and agreed to seek the nomination.
Initially supportive, Morse came to conclude that Eisenhower sold out to the conservatives, and his differences with Eisenhower and the Republican hierarchy became too great. He did not agree with much of the Republican platform, and he did not particularly like Eisenhower's selection of conservative California Senator Richard M. Nixon as his running mate. He disliked Eisenhower's endorsement of Indiana Senator William E. Jenner, a protégé of demagogic Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy who frequently outdid McCarthy in his assault on political dissenters, and Nixon's endorsement of McCarthy himself. In October 1952, Eisenhower's unity meeting with Taft resulted in the advancement of every item on the conservative agenda that Taft had long advocated. Morse, feeling betrayed, rejected the Eisenhower-Nixon ticket and cast an absentee ballot for the Democratic presidential nominee, Adlai Stevenson. When Eisenhower won the election, Morse resigned from the Republican Party. He served in the Senate as an independent until he formally joined the Democratic Party in 1955.
Eisenhower has signed this letter with only his last name, an unusual form of his signature, particularly for this period. He has signed in bright turquoise ink. The word "Important" is written in red across the top. The letter has filing markings and staple holes at the upper left. Overall it is in very good to fine condition.
It is hard to find good content Eisenhower letters from the period just before and during his presidency. This one has excellent political content.
Unframed.
This letter has been sold.
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