<--PREV Doc #757  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #759 Document #758; March 5, 1954 To 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"   1. Discussion was to effect that Senator Dirksen would try to influence Republican members on McCarthy committee to observe proper procedures.2 2. Have written memorandum to Attorney General to get in touch with Senator Dirksen on the matter of closing out our alien property operations.3 3. I told Streeter Flynn I would like to see him in the Senate.4 4. I advised Senator Dirksen to make date with Tom Stephens to bring Senator Langer in to breakfast some morning soon.5 5. I told Senator Dirksen that the White House was neutral in Republican primaries, including that one in New Jersey.6 6. I told the Senator that I knew that a number of Republicans were advocating Carbaugh, but that no decision had been reached.7 7. Already accomplished.8 8. President will call Bedell Smith.9 9. I will talk to Jack McCloy about this matter.10 10. Have called Secretary Kyes on this matter and he is contacting Senator Williams.11 1 Ann Whitman typed at the top of this page: "President dictated following notes on matters discussed with Senator Dirksen at breakfast yesterday. To be considered in connection with Senator Dirksen's memo, attached." A copy of Dirksen's memorandum of March 4 is in AWF/AWD. 2 This was, as political scientist Fred I. Greenstein put it, the application of Eisenhower's "familiar hidden-hand approach" in the ongoing battle with Senator McCarthy (Hidden-Hand Presidency, p. 192). Dirksen agreed to work through Republican members of McCarthy's committee, and soon Senator Karl E. Mundt, senior Republican on the committee, would request that a majority vote be required before the committee could call unscheduled, one-man, out-of-town hearings--an action designed to prevent abuse of witnesses such as McCarthy's humiliation of General Zwicker in February (for background see no. 741; see also Ewald, Who Killed Joe McCarthy?, p. 244). 3 In his memorandum to Attorney General Brownell the President pointed out that Dirksen was "particularly anxious that we get rid of certain properties before they deteriorate further in value" (Mar. 5, 1954, AWF/D). For background on the issue of alien properties seized by the government during World War II see Galambos, Chief of Staff, no. 631; and no. 205 in these volumes. A Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, headed by Senator Dirksen, had long investigated the Justice Department's Alien Properties Office, and in January had recommended that $200 million worth of properties be returned to their owners. On July 19 the Senate Judiciary subcommittee would approve a bill sponsored by Dirksen to return an estimated $500 million worth of alien property seized during World War II (Congressional Quarterly Almanac, vol. X, 1954, pp. 287-88; see also New York Times, Jan. 28, Mar. 8, July 20, 1954; and Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1954, p. 307). For developments see no. 1190. 4 Streeter Blanton Flynn (LL.B. Columbia 1917) had practiced law in Oklahoma City since 1919 (see Galambos, Columbia University, nos. 1022 and 1044). A partner in the firm of Rainey, Flynn, Green and Anderson since 1925, Flynn was considered a potential GOP candidate for the Senate in Oklahoma. Eisenhower had encouraged Flynn's candidacy on the evening of March 4 at a White House stag dinner, but Flynn would decide not to enter the Oklahoma Senate race in the 1954 midterm campaign. 5 There is no record in the President's daily appointments that indicates this breakfast meeting with Republican Senator William Langer of North Dakota took place. 6 Dirksen was interested in the White House position on the candidacy of liberal Republican Congressman Clifford Philip Case (LL.B. Columbia 1928), a nine-year veteran of the House, who was running for Senator from New Jersey in the upcoming midterm elections. An early Eisenhower supporter (see Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1954, no. 706), Case would win the Senate seat despite opposition from Old Guard Republicans (see Congressional Quarterly Almanac, vol. X, 1954, p. 727; see also no. 1055). 7 Harry C. Carbaugh, Tennessee businessman, was favored by many Republicans for appointment as board chairman of TVA. Dirksen had proposed that Carbaugh be named to the post "without delay"--despite the fact that the incumbent's term would not expire until May 1. Later on this same day (Mar. 5) Eisenhower telephoned Dirksen to review their discussion of the appointment. His plan, the President said, was to appoint a "nationally known engineer of good repute, perhaps a former army engineer corps man." According to Ann Whitman's notes, Dirksen told the President, "confidentially," that although "there was a lot of merit" in that idea, "such an appointment might be unpopular"--in which case, Dirksen thought, the President could take the blame, rather than the Republican Party (Telephone conversation, AWF/D). For background see no. 755; for developments see nos. 815 and 909. 8 The President had endorsed Dirksen's proposal that National Committee Chairman Leonard Hall and Pennsylvania Republican Representative Richard M. Simpson join Dirksen at an upcoming Cabinet meeting to "explain patronage problems from the legislative end." At the March 5 Cabinet meeting, Dirksen, Hall, and Simpson, joined by James Bassett, newly appointed National Committee Director of Public Relations, discussed with members of the Cabinet the "chief problems connected with the coming elections," emphasizing "patronage as the motive power for effective organizational support." Dirksen pointed out that local political leaders were anxious to make recommendations for minor jobs, stressing the "embarrassment caused by continuation of postmasters from the opposition party in small towns and villages." Simpson reported that there were numerous complaints regarding the continuation in office of people in lower levels "whose major purpose is to undermine the Administration's policy." He cited, as an example, public speeches critical of the Administration made by civil servants, to which Eisenhower replied that it may be desirable to insure that civil servants do not make public speeches "no matter what their party." Dirksen and Simpson agreed to arrange meetings with the public relations and personnel officers of each government department to discuss the importance of patronage as the midterm election approached (Cabinet meeting minutes, Mar. 5, 1954, AWF/Cabinet). 9 Dirksen had wanted to discuss "foreign aid in the Orient--especially Indo-China." He hoped the President would consider sending a "two-man committee to explore the situation there." Although Eisenhower would see Under Secretary of State Walter Bedell Smith several times in the next days (see the Chronology), Dirksen's proposal apparently did not move forward. For background on Indochina see nos. 718 and 722; for developments see nos. 776 and 1140. 10 John Jay McCloy was chairman of the board of the Chase National Bank of New York, financier for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, which--in turn--controlled the Montana Power and Light Company. Dirksen asked Eisenhower if he thought that Chase National Bank could be "of any help in electing a Senator?" Dirksen's interest in that potential chain of influence centered on the hope of assisting Republican Representative Wesley Abner D'Ewart of Montana in his bid for a Senate seat in the November midterm election. In the event that Chase National showed any "willingness to help," Dirksen asked that he be contacted. Eisenhower would meet with McCloy on March 19, and again on March 25 (see Chronology). He would also telephone McCloy on April 29 to discuss Republican politics (Telephone conversation, AWF/D). Whatever the outcome of these contacts, D'Ewart's campaign would be unsuccessful. For further developments see no. 1118. 11 The President had called Deputy Secretary of Defense Roger M. Kyes and asked him to investigate Dirksen's report that Republican Senator John J. Williams of Delaware had complained that the Army no longer purchased poultry from Delaware (Telephone conversation, Eisenhower to Kyes, Mar. 4, 1954, AWF/D). According to Dirksen, Williams had protested the move, alleging that it had had a "disastrous effect" on the poultry industry in South Delaware. Kyes would telephone Eisenhower later this day to report that he had contacted Williams, who had promised some weeks ago to send Kyes information on the matter--and now regretted that he had "neglected to do so." Ann Whitman typed out a full-page summary, beginning "This is entitled the things a President must do in the course of the day," and ending, "Poultry subject closed for the day" (Mar. 4, 1954, AWF/AWD). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Diary, 5 March 1954. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 758. 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/758.cfm <--PREV Doc #757  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #759

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