Presidential Papers, Doc#61 Personal and confidential To Paul Gray Hoffman, 26 February 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Document #61; February 26, 1953
To Paul Gray Hoffman
Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series ; 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 1: Developing a spirit of teamwork

 

Dear Paul:1 Since the news of your resignation has been published, I have neither heard directly from you nor have I any knowledge of how soon you are to come East to pick up your new duties.2 Because I have one or two items to chat over with you (totalling not more than five minutes and, if necessary, could be done on the telephone), would you let me know what your plans of the immediate future may be. If you are not to come East for some time, I shall try to call you about Monday or Tuesday. On the other hand, if by chance you expect to come through Washington very soon, I would wait to see you then.3

This afternoon, I am going off to Georgia for two days--but I wonder whether, as soon as you get this, you would send a short wire to my office to tell me whether I shall soon have a chance of seeing you personally.

Love to Dorothy, and especially my best wishes to her for a complete and rapid return to health.4

With warm regard to yourself. As ever

1 A Studebaker Corporation executive since 1925 and Economic Cooperation Administrator between 1948 and 1950, Hoffman had been Eisenhower's friend and political adviser for many years (Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1952, nos. 139, 411, 652, 740, 789). He had resigned as president and trustee of the Ford Foundation early in the month, effective March 1. For the circumstances surrounding Hoffman's departure see Alan R. Raucher, Paul G. Hoffman: Architect of Foreign Aid (Lexington, Ky., 1985), pp. 96-99. Eisenhower addressed copies of this letter to Ford Foundation headquarters in New York City and Studebaker offices in South Bend, Indiana.

2 As head of the Ford Foundation Hoffman had maintained an office near his home in Pasadena, California. He now planned, while remaining in southern California, to resume leadership of Studebaker and also to serve as chairman of the Fund for the Republic (Raucher, Hoffman, pp. 98, 100-101).

3 Hoffman replied via telegram February 27 that he would spend the morning of March 15 with Eisenhower's brother Milton and would be in Washington later that day and the next. Hoffman said he had written Eisenhower's aide for an appointment the afternoon of the sixteenth and offered "to hop a plane and come back immediately" if the President wished. Helen Weaver, of the White House staff, telephoned the substance of the message to Eisenhower in Augusta (wire with notation in AWF/A). The two men apparently did not meet in mid-March. For Hoffman's later role as a presidential envoy to South Asia see no. 104.

4 Hoffman's wife, the former Dorothy Brown.

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Personal and confidential To Paul Gray Hoffman, 26 February 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 61. 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/61.cfm

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