Description:

Eisenhower Dwight 1890 - 1969
President Eisenhower thanks Narcotics threat warrior, Irving Geist






Typed letter signed, 6.75" x 9", on White House stationary. Boldly signed by PresidentEisenhower as "Dwight Eisenhower", and dated "December 11, 1954". Expected center fold with one very faded smudge along bottom edge, not affecting text. Near fine.


A warm letter from President Eisenhower, written to Irving Geist, who during World War II was called "a one_„man philanthropic agency." At the time, he headed 23 philanthropic institutions and was a donor to Protestant, Catholic and Jewish charities. Geist became a kind of one- man anti-drug crusader, and championed rehabilitation with emphasis on youth problems. He sponsored Four Chaplains Memorial Placement Center, Inc., which seeked establishment of a narcotics hospital and farm, while developing new buildings for young addicts to permit their segregation from more sophisticated adult narcotics users. To the same end, The former chairman of the Senate Crime Committee described the wave of youthful addiction as a "terrible and awful menace," endorsed proposals for strengthening the Narcotics Bureau and urged parents to bring home to their children "the truth about what happens when they become narcotics addicts."

President Eisenhower's poignant comment found within his letter acknowledges Geist's fierce commitment to fighting narcotics and makes note that "I am hopeful that the Narcotics Commission will be able to work out a program that will be effective, and I am grateful for your suggestions ... "

Geist's humble beginnings began being born on the Lower East Side. Geist knew both poverty and discrimination. However, he led a most dramatic rags-to-riches life. He left school after the eighth grade to help his family hold together. He sold blouses from door to door, moonlighted as a dancer at Mrs. Vernon CasUe's dance soirees, became the most imaginative blouse salesman in the land, eventually he worked his way up to the position of treasurer of the Joan Kenley blouse company with a national network of factories, and would soon be running the company. Geist was one of those executives that spent more time giving away money than making it. His parents came from Russia to New York in 1898, where his father worked as a shoemaker and garment finisher, stitching hems and making buttonholes. The family had seven children and not a great deal of money, but Geist always remembered the extreme generosity of his mother.

As an adult, Geist's philanthropic pursuits left him little time for his own business. By the end of WWII, he said in an interview: "In the past four years I have averaged only one hour a day at my business. My other activities take up nearly all my time."

A lovely letter by Eisenhower, acknowledging Geist's passions and involvements.

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