<--PREV Doc #814  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #816 Document #815; April 2, 1954 To John Sherman Cooper Series: EM, WHCF, Official File 51 The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XV - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part V: Maintaining "a united defense"; April 1954 to August 1954 Chapter 10: Losing the war "they could not win"   Dear John: Thank you very much for your March twenty-second letter. I place a high value on your views; I know they are disinterested. As you know, I have given long and earnest thought to the TVA appointment.1 While I cannot say exactly what the outcome will be, my approach to the matter has been, as I have already told you, somewhat similar to yours. There has been, however, a great deal of argument as to precisely what kind of individual could now do the best job for the country in that particular post.2 With warm regard, Sincerely 1 Senator Cooper, Republican of Kentucky, sent his letter to Eisenhower by way of Sherman Adams, asking Adams to first read the letter and then submit it to the President (Cooper to Adams, and Cooper to Eisenhower, both dated Mar. 22, 1954, both in same file as document). Cooper stated his position regarding the appointment of a chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (for background see no. 755). 2 Cooper said that he did not favor the reappointment of current TVA Chairman Gordon R. Clapp, whom he thought competent, but unsympathetic to the Administration. In Cooper's view the TVA chairman should be "advancing alternative methods respecting funds to supplement federal appropriations, rather than relying almost wholly on the federal government." In February a move had begun in support of Clapp's reappointment (New York Times, Feb. 11, Mar. 5, 15, 1954). But Cooper was also opposed to the Republicans' current choice for the appointment, Chatanooga businessman Harry C. Carbaugh, arguing that Carbaugh's appointment would bring charges of "political influence"--charges that he believed would add an unnecessary burden to the Administration. In his cover letter to Adams Cooper said that Carbaugh's appointment would be a "grievous mistake," giving the "Democrats in the Congress the chance to dramatize the issue of public power versus private power" (WHCF/OF 51; see also Adams's terse reply, Apr. 5, ibid.). Cooper would write Adams again on April 3 to explain his "personal situation" regarding the effect Carbaugh's appointment would have on his race in the upcoming senatorial elections (WHCF/OF 51): "In the event that Mr. Carbaugh is appointed, and I support him, it will be said that I have receded from my statement of principle. . . . My only recourse . . . is to oppose his confirmation, for I cannot allow myself to be charged with deceit." For developments see no. 909. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To John Sherman Cooper, 2 April 1954. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 815. 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/815.cfm <--PREV Doc #814  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #816

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