<--PREV Doc #716  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #718 Document #717; February 7, 1954 [Diary] Series: EM, AWF, DDE Diaries Series The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XV - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part IV: "Pushing ahead along the broad center"; December 1953 to March 1954 Chapter 9: Fending off "the reactionary fringe"   "Man's right to knowledge and the free use thereof."2 An intriguing phrase--it rings in the ears almost as if we could hear Patrick Henry's immortal call to liberty or death. Merely to claim this resounding slogan as our own gives us a feeling of superiority over the demagogues, the jingoes, the tyrants who thrive in the ignorance of others and employ curtains of iron or of oratory to deepen and prolong that ignorance. We thrill ourselves by our own insistence on academic freedom--the teacher's right to knowledge and his privilege of imparting his own interpretations thereof. We point with pride to American schools from primary to graduate level and, comparing them to institutions of learning in Prague, Budapest, and Moscow, we emphasize the extent and scope of our freedoms and the enrichment of human life deriving therefrom.3 We are proud of our guarantees of freedom in thought and speech and worship. Of such great value are all these things to us that, unconsciously, we are guilty of one of the greatest errors that ignorance can make--we assume that our standard of values is shared by all other humans in the world. We are not sufficiently informed. Probably have more need for education than any other. Twenty-one POW's chose communism.4 Farm problems.5 Foreign problems.6 1 Eisenhower had written "Dear Milton" at the beginning of this handwritten memorandum, apparently intending to send it to his brother. Those words had been crossed out, as were a number of others throughout the two-page document. 2 This was the theme of Columbia University's bicentennial celebration (for background see Galambos, Columbia University, no. 800; New York Times, Jan. 3, 5, 1954; and Columbia University, Bicentennial Commission, Columbia's Bicentennial: An Account of the Planning and Execution of a World-Wide Program of Observances Centering on the Theme: "Man's Right to Knowledge and the Free Use Thereof " [New York, 1956]). On the ramifications of Columbia's theme see New York Times, February 7, 9, 1954. 3 The subject of academic life was on Eisenhower's mind. Only the day before--February 6--he had attended a luncheon at which Penn State College alumni had awarded his brother Milton their annual citation for leadership in education (see New York Times, Feb. 7, 1954; and President's daily appointments). 4 Recently twenty-one American prisoners of the Korean war had renounced their U.S. citizenships (New York Times, Jan. 26, 1954). 5 On the Administration's agricultural policy see no. 648. 6 For Eisenhower's concerns about Indochina see the following document. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. [Diary], 7 February 1954. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 717. 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/717.cfm <--PREV Doc #716  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #718

Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission 1629 K Street, NW Suite 801 Washington DC 20006 Phone: 202.296.0004    Fax: 202.296.6464