Presidential Papers, Doc#1882 Personal To Philip Stanley Hitchcock, 22 May 1956. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Doc #1883

Document #1882; May 22, 1956
To Philip Stanley Hitchcock
Series: EM, AWF, DDE Diaries Series ; Category: Personal
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVII - The Presidency: The Middle Way
Part X: Cracks in the Alliance; May 1956 to September 1956
Chapter 20: Confronting "great risks"

 

Dear Mr. Hitchcock:1 When Secretary McKay left the Cabinet, I wrote him a letter expressing the hope that he could win the Oregon Senatorial seat now held by our opponent.2 At the moment of writing the letter, I mistakenly assumed that he was to be without opposition in the primary. Otherwise, I would not have written the letter at that time, for the simple reason that, in spite of my liking and admiration for Douglas McKay, I never take sides in any contest between good Republicans.

I am delighted that the campaign in your State was, according to all reports made to me, conducted in the cleanest possible fashion, with no personalities and no crimination or recrimination.3 As a consequence, I think we have every right to hope that the Republicans in Oregon will be a truly united group this fall and should succeed in winning to our side a great portion of the independent voters. The Independents cannot fail to be impressed by the character of the campaign through which you and Secretary McKay have just passed, and by the exemplary conduct which distinguished both candidates.4

May I request that if you should at any time in the future make a visit to this city, you give my secretary a ring with a view to setting up a personal visit in my office. I should like much to see you.5

With best wishes, Sincerely

1 Hitchcock (A.B. Washington State University 1926) was director of public relations at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He was a Republican candidate in the Oregon senatorial primary on May 18, 1956.

2 See Eisenhower's letter to Douglas McKay, March 28, 1956, WHCF/OF 4, accepting his resignation as Secretary of the Interior (see also [Ann Whitman], memorandum of conversation, Mar. 13, 1956, AWF/D). At the time of his resignation, McKay had been assured that he would not face a primary (see no. 1987). McKay had served as governor of Oregon from 1948 to 1952.

3 Howard Pyle had written the President that the campaign between McKay and Hitchcock continued to be directed at Senator Wayne Morse, "meaning that our two primary candidates are letting each other alone" (memorandum for the President, May 3, 1956, AWF/A). See also no. 1886.

4 McKay had defeated Hitchcock by a vote of 123,281 to 99,296, with 26,695 votes for two minor candidates. Eisenhower wrote McKay a note of congratulations and sent him a $25 campaign contribution. Eisenhower had saved the money for the contribution in a piggy bank (Eisenhower to McKay, May 22, 1956, AWF/A).

5 Hitchcock would meet with the President and Howard Pyle on May 28, 1956 (President's daily appointments). Hitchcock would express his support for McKay, and Eisenhower would encourage Hitchcock to run for office in the future, noting the need to encourage younger candidates (memorandum, May 29, 1956, AWF/A).

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Personal To Philip Stanley Hitchcock, 22 May 1956. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1882. 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/1882.cfm

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