Presidential Papers, Doc#87 To Henry Ford II, 16 March 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
<--PREV
Doc #86		  |  Memorial Commission
Home Page		  |  First Term
Table of Contents		  |  Presidential Papers
Home Page 		 | 
Doc#
 |  NEXT-->
Doc #88

Document #87; March 16, 1953
To Henry Ford II
Series: EM, AWF, Name Series
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 2: "A number of misunderstandings": Party and International Struggles

 

Dear Henry: Won't you please send me a copy of the talk you made in Jacksonville, Florida?1 I saw some excerpts in the paper, and because you were hammering on a subject that I have preached very earnestly for a long time, I should like very much to get the full text of your talk.

With warm regard, Sincerely

1 The Ford Motor Company president, an outspoken advocate of free trade (see New York Times, Feb. 18, 1953), had met with Eisenhower for a half-hour at the White House on March 10 and addressed the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce the following day. Ford complimented Jacksonville, where his company had a parts depot, for its "outstandingly live-wire and imaginative business outlook" and Florida, which Eisenhower had won in 1952, for its "political acumen." "If the first few weeks of the new Administration are any indication then I think the American people of all parties can look to the future with confidence in a government that you helped to elect and which seems to know where it's going." Noting the bipartisan support Eisenhower had received in 1952, Ford cheered the improvements business people had made in their public image. He argued that Eisenhower's election demonstrated that Americans were "strongly united on basic objectives, although perhaps divided as to how these objectives should be met." He mentioned enthusiastic response to his recent speech on free trade (see no. 26) and called on business and industry to cooperate closely with the government in areas of mutual concern: technological research; an abundant flow of low-cost raw materials; world trade; investment abroad; programs to foster principles of private enterprise overseas; and aid to underdeveloped countries.

In a letter Eisenhower received on April 1, Ford would thank the President for seeing him in March and enclose a copy of the Jacksonville speech (AWF/N).

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Henry Ford II, 16 March 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 87. 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/87.cfm

<--PREV
Doc #86		  |  Memorial Commission
Home Page		  |  First Term
Table of Contents		  |  Presidential Papers
Home Page 		 | 
Doc#
 |  NEXT-->
Doc #88
 


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