Description:

Ronald Reagan
n.p. [Washington, D.C.], n.d. [ca. 1981]
Ronald Reagan ALS as Pres. to Texas Rangers Owner Eddie Chiles, Plus Bonus Initialed Letter re: A. Lincoln!
ALS

Two autographed letters on a single sheet, signed as "Ron" and "RR" respectively, drafted by President Ronald Reagan to entrepreneur Eddie Chiles and one Carol Hill Lamb. 1p on yellow lined paper, measuring 8.5" x 11", n.p. [Washington, D.C.], n.d. [ca. 1981]. Exhibits light creasing throughout with uneven tearing along top edge. Otherwise, very good with interesting contents regarding Texas voters and Abraham Lincoln!

Provenance: This item comes from the files of Helene von Damm (b. 1938), Reagan's longtime personal secretary and later Ambassador to Austria, gifted to our consignor, her White House assistant.

The President writes in part:

[To Chiles:] "It was good to get your letter and the advertisements & bumper sticker. Where do I find the words to thank you for all that you've done. Now I understand why those 14 Texans stood so firm. I had them over to the White House in the days before the vote and didn't have to do any selling at all. They were all on board and ready to vote."

[To Lamb:] "I'm sure you can understand how meaningful it is to have this great series of studies of the face of Lincoln at a time when we are able to go into the room where he slept and his adjoining study-both maintained as they were when he was here."

Harrell Edmonds "Eddie" Chiles (1910-1993) was the founder of the Western Company of North America and an owner of the Texas Rangers. Chiles bought the baseball team in 1980, and served as chairman of the club until 1989 when he sold the team to a group of investors that included future President George W. Bush. As an advocate for a smaller and less intrusive federal government, Chiles was also known for his 1970s radio commentaries. His trade-mark sign-on, "I'm Eddie Chiles, and I'm mad as hell," created an incredible demand for bumper stickers referenced by the President in his letter that read "I'm mad too, Eddie!"

Carol Hill Lamb (d.1994) was a descendant of Rev. Noyes W. Miner (1818-1893) of Springfield, a Baptist who served as the first reader at Abraham Lincoln's funeral in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Miner was later gifted the President's personal Bible by Mary Todd in 1872, a treasured heirloom which would be handed down to the Hill family. Upon Lamb's death in the mid-1990s, the Bible stayed in the private hands of the family until it was donated to the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in 1994.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 8.5" x 11"
  • Medium: ALS

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August 27, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
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University Archives

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