<--PREV Doc #115  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #117 Document #116; March 30, 1953 To Charles Wesley Roberts 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 2: "A number of misunderstandings": Party and International Struggles   Dear Wes: I have your letter of March twenty-seventh informing me of your decision to tender to the members of the Republican National Committee your resignation as National Chairman.1 As I said in my public statement, a copy of which I am enclosing, I believe your decision a wise and necessary one.2 But I want you to know that in my association with you over the past few months I have been impressed by your constantly reiterated concern for our country, and your devotion to the Republican Party as an instrument to serve that country. Your tireless support both during the campaign and as Chairman of the National Committee will always be appreciated by our party's leaders and workers as well as by myself. Sincerely 1 For background see no. 74. On March 18 the Kansas attorney general had filed suit to recover funds the state had paid to Roberts's client in the 1951 case under dispute, and nine days later a joint committee of the Kansas legislature reported unanimously that Roberts had "deliberately and intentionally" violated the spirit of a state law requiring the registration of lobbyists and legislative agents (New York Times, Mar. 28, 1953). That day Roberts submitted his resignation from his post as Chairman of the Republican National Committee with "deep regret," thanking the President for his support of the party and of Roberts personally (AWF/A). "I cannot say all that is in my heart, for your cause has been my cause, and my many months of devotion to duty I hope will testify to my sincere sentiment," Roberts wrote. 2 Eisenhower's statement had described Roberts's resignation statement as "forthright" and the decision "a wise one," but the President also voiced appreciation for the chairman's "tireless efforts" during and since the 1952 campaign (Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1953, p. 139; New York Times, Mar. 28, 1953). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Charles Wesley Roberts, 30 March 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 116. 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/116.cfm <--PREV Doc #115  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #117

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