<--PREV Doc #1226  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1228 Document #1227; December 30, 1954 To Lewis Lichtenstein Strauss Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series: AEC The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XV - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part VI: Crises Abroad, Party Problems at Home; September 1954 to December 1954 Chapter 13: "A new phase of political experience"   Dear Lewis: Because I feel that the New York Times article on Monday reflected fairly accurately your personal feelings, I am a little disturbed. I well realize that this has been a rough year for you, and I want you to know that the calm fortitude with which you have faced your difficult problems has excited my admiration.1 In my letter to you of yesterday I tried to express my appreciation of the superb job you are doing.2 I can only repeat that despite the arrows of outrageous fortune that sometimes seem to come our way, I hope most devoutly that the satisfaction--which you must have--of a good job done in the best interests of our country will keep your spirits high.3 With warmest personal regard, As ever 1 AEC Chairman Strauss had been targeted in the press for his involvement in the Dixon-Yates controversy and also for his part in the decision to deny security clearance to AEC consultant Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer. The article in the New York Times to which Eisenhower referred quoted Strauss as saying, "For the first time in my life, I have enemies," and he was, he said, eager to leave government service in what was his "last public job on earth" (New York Times, Dec. 27, 1954). The New York Times had taken its topic from a piece in Fortune magazine which addressed Strauss's problems as AEC head (Duncan Norton-Taylor, "The Controversial Mr. Strauss," Fortune, January 1955, pp. 110ff.). On the Dixon-Yates controversy see nos. 979 and 1196; on the Oppenheimer case see nos. 836, 929, and 1206. 2 Eisenhower had written on December 29 to thank Strauss for his "invaluable services" (Strauss Papers). 3 This was not the first time that Strauss had received unfavorable press. In June 1954 columnist Drew Pearson had accused him of using a recording device at AEC meetings and of tapping telephone lines of colleagues (see Strauss to Eisenhower, Strauss to Whitman, and Whitman to Strauss, all dated June 9, 1954, AWF/A: AEC; Washington Post, June 9, 1954). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Lewis Lichtenstein Strauss, 30 December 1954. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1227. 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/1227.cfm <--PREV Doc #1226  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1228

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