Presidential Papers, Doc#294 To Herbert Brownell, Jr., 2 July 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Document #294; July 2, 1953
To Herbert Brownell, Jr.
Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIV - The Presidency: The Middle Way
Part II: Settling into "the long pull"; May 1953 to August 1953
Chapter 5: "So much to do in the world"

 

Dear Herb: I suggest that you provide this copy of Arthur Sulzberger's talk to J. Edgar Hoover. My idea would be that he could have his people run a check through his records on a number of people suspected of Communist leanings. The purpose would be to find whether or not there is any particular date on which a number of these people actually seemed to discover what the Communists were really up to and deserted their Communist affiliations and habits. If this should prove to be too much of a chore you should tell Mr. Hoover to ignore the whole thing. If, on the other hand, it should prove to be feasible, I should like to have the results of the check.1 As ever

1 Both Brownell and Sulzberger had been guests at the President's stag dinner on June 22, at which time Sulzberger's plan for "political amnesty" for those who had disassociated themselves from Communist front organizations before the Berlin airlift in 1948 was discussed. Sulzberger had first proposed the plan in his commencement address to graduates of John Carroll University, in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 15. On June 25 Sulzberger sent Brownell a copy of his speech, along with a letter to the President, explaining that he had planned to write directly to the President but then had become "troubled at the idea of putting anything before him in the middle of this Korean situation" (AWF/N, Sulzberger Corr.). Sulzberger asked Brownell to give the documents to Eisenhower at "some more appropriate moment."

According to Sulzberger's plan, those under consideration for sensitive positions would not qualify for amnesty, but others who had clearly broken away from Communist front organizations "should not be regarded as necessarily and automatically having a black mark." In a strike at McCarthyism, Sulzberger said he deplored the rise of a "growing tendency to equate non-conformity with treason, unorthodoxy with disloyalty."

Sulzberger proposed that Eisenhower appoint a panel to act on the philosophy behind his plan. There is no copy of Sulzberger's speech in EM; its text, however, is in New York Times, June 16, 1953. On this same day, Eisenhower thanked Sulzberger for the note and copy of his speech. He said he would ask the FBI to look into the matter to determine whether the records showed a distinct break or change of attitude in people suspected of Communist leanings at the time of the Berlin airlift (AWF/N). For developments regarding Sulzberger's proposal see no. 452.

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Herbert Brownell, Jr., 2 July 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 294. 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/294.cfm

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