<--PREV Doc #3  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #5 Document #4; January 21, 1953 To Charles Edward Wilson Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIV - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part I: Charting a New Course; January 1953 to April 1953 Chapter 1: Developing a spirit of teamwork   Dear Charlie:1 Today was the first time I have had a chance to read the memorandum you sent to me through Lucius Clay.2 An idea of the kind you advocate has been circulating through my mind for a long time--but you have, in certain areas, developed a far more specific plan than I. I am sure that you will not object to the circulation of your memorandum among the several Departments of the Government. Since my associates and I have already talked over the proposition in general fashion, they will appreciate the opportunity to get your more concrete proposals. Your suggestion is that these committees be appointed for a period of one year--I had thought of them as of indefinite duration. This, of course, is a detail. In any event, I am most grateful to you for your thoughtfulness and courtesy in submitting your suggestions to me. I have no doubt that some of them, at least, will be adopted. With warm personal regard, Cordially 1 A former president of General Electric and between 1950 and 1952 Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization, Wilson had maintained close ties with Eisenhower during his tour as SHAPE commander (Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1952, nos. 45, 145, and 164). 2 In a three-page letter (AWF/A) dated December 23 and sent to Eisenhower's old friend and political aide Lucius D. Clay, Wilson had complained that pressure groups exercised too large an influence on federal legislation and that lawmakers lacked "access to a cross section of information." To remedy this problem, Wilson suggested establishing twelve-member boards of outside experts--one each for the Treasury, Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Labor, and Commerce departments--who would serve without compensation for one year. These boards, Wilson believed, would prove to be "a tower of strength and help to the secretaries." The Defense panel might include industrial engineers, physicists, production experts, and others. "Here billions can be saved the taxpayers without reducing the aggregate of weapons secured, but simply from the elimination of waste of a variety of kinds," Wilson wrote; Eisenhower apparently underlined this passage. In mid-January Clay had forwarded Wilson's letter to White House Assistant-designate Thomas Edwin Stephens. "While I agree that `When the devil has work to do, he creates another committee,'" Clay commented, "this thought may have public relations value" (Clay to Stephens, Jan. 16, 1953, AWF/A, Wilson Corr.). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Charles Edward Wilson, 21 January 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 4. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/4.cfm <--PREV Doc #3  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #5

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