Presidential Papers, Doc#78 Personal and confidential To Herbert Brownell, Jr., 13 March 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Doc #79

Document #78; March 13, 1953
To Herbert Brownell, Jr.
Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series, Porter Corr. ; Category: Personal and confidential
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 2: "A number of misunderstandings": Party and International Struggles

 

Memorandum for the Attorney General: Mr. Jack Porter of Texas visited my office this morning. He is very unhappy; says he has been completely ignored by the national organization and that his wishes in Texas have been completely flouted. This, he feels, is shabby treatment in view of the time and money and effort he has expended over the past number of years to begin the building up of the Republican Party in Texas.1

He brought up two points where he thought he had been ignored and on which, I think, he holds you and me jointly responsible.

A. He states that you and he had agreed on some reorganization of the Republican Party in Mississippi and that you wanted him to do certain things. These he claims he has done, and now the whole project rests on dead center because apparently we have lost interest in it.

B. He states that on November 19th in New York City I promised that he could be chairman of the committee which he proposed we should organize for the development of the Republican Party in the entire south.2 Later, at a meeting here in Washington, I approved John Wisdom's chairmanship of this committee.3 I was pretty rough with him in telling him that he had no right to be petty and to withdraw from participating in the committee merely because he was not chairman. To this he seemed to agree.

However, I did tell him that we would always consult him about the appointment of any man from Texas.

Incidentally, he thinks he can get a very fine man named John Martin for the SEC.4 He is a Texas Republican, and Porter insists it is high time we appointed a Texas Republican to something.

I enclose also a memorandum I have just written to the Secretary of State.5 The information contained in it was given to me by Porter.

1 For background on oilman Porter's political involvement on Eisenhower's behalf see no. 10. Porter had met with the President-elect in New York the preceding December and made at least two recommendations for filling federal offices (see Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1952, nos. 1013, 1014).

2 On Eisenhower's campaign strategy for the southern states see ibid., nos. 964, 965, 969.

3 John Minor Wisdom, of Louisiana, had played a prominent part in Eisenhower's pre-convention campaign in that state (ibid., nos. 783 and 858); he had met the President in Washington in early February (New York Times, Feb. 10, 1953).

4 The Securities and Exchange Commission chairmanship had fallen vacant in February. In April Eisenhower would name Ralph H. Demmler, of Pittsburgh, to the post (New York Times, Feb. 25, June 18, 1953).

5 See the preceding document.

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Personal and confidential To Herbert Brownell, Jr., 13 March 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 78. 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/78.cfm

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