Description:

Eisenhower Dwight

President Eisenhower: "Sir Winston Churchill is coming…"

 

1p TLS signed by 34th U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) as "D.E." at center. Written in Augusta, Georgia on April 15, 1959. Cream watermarked paper with "D D E / The White House" gilt-embossed letterhead. In near fine condition, with expected paper folds. Measures 7.125" x 10.375".

 

Eisenhower wrote friend Barry T. Leithead:

 

"Dear Barry,

 

As perhaps you know, Sir Winston Churchill is coming to this country in early May. I am planning to have a stag dinner for him at the White House on Wednesday evening, May sixth, at 7:30 P.M., (black tie).

 

If it is possible for you to join us, I would be delighted, but I shall fully understand any circumstances that might prevent your coming. I would appreciate an answer at your earliest convenience.

 

With warm regard,

 

As ever,

 

D.E."

 

84-year-old British statesman Winston Churchill had accepted President Eisenhower's personal invitation to the White House in early May 1959. The former British Prime Minister arrived stateside via jet on May 4th. The following day, Churchill and Eisenhower visited two mutual friends at Walter Reed Hospital: former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (1888-1959), who died of cancer about 2 weeks later; and General George C. Marshall (1880-1859), who was hospitalized after a stroke. On May 6th, Eisenhower hosted the stag dinner mentioned above.

 

Eisenhower's opening remarks at the May 6th reception described how the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force had met Churchill during World War II. The President stated in part: "Now, for me, there is a certain coincidence between this meeting and the circumstance that initiated my friendship with Sir Winston. I met him in this house--and this was something for a newly commissioned Brigadier--in the same room that he is now occupying is where I met him. I had seen him from some distance at a December 1941 conference in the War Department; but as I said, I was a Brigadier, and in that first meeting I didn't get close to the head of the table…So throughout this friendship, beginning in early 1942, I have had a great privilege which has come to only a few men: to be exposed to a great mind, to a great leader, to hear an eloquent tongue, to know him as a leader, a statesman, a political leader, a politician. And also to know him as an American…"

 

Later on during Churchill's U.S. visit, Eisenhower escorted him to his Gettysburg, Pennsylvania farm, where the two surveyed nearby Gettysburg battlefield by helicopter.

 

Eisenhower may have adopted his tradition of presidential stag parties from his predecessor, 33rd U.S. President Harry S. Truman. These all-male events resembled eighteenth-century salons, where everyone from businessmen to academics could meet and discuss ideas. In his May 6th remarks, Churchill said: "I am very much complimented that our host, the President, should have invited here tonight so remarkable a gathering of many of the most distinguished figures of the United States of America."

 

President Eisenhower's correspondent, Barry T. Leithead (1907-1974), was the chairman and C.E.O. of Cluett, Peabody and Co., an apparel manufacturer. Leithead had worked his way up the ranks from Chicago floor salesman in 1929 to New York corporate chairman in 1966. A zealous Republican, Leithead fundraised for Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, in the latter year generating $1,000,000 as chairman of the New York State rally. Leithead was also a personal friend and an occasional golfing partner.

 


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