<--PREV Doc #897  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #899 Document #898; May 26, 1954 To William Samuel Paley Series: EM, AWF, Name Series 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 Bill: While it didn't occur to me that Jock1 would convey to you my feeling of bewilderment concerning the incident of which I read in the paper, I am naturally highly pleased that you should take the trouble to give me the explanation. I understand the situation thoroughly and must say that I approve of the very impartial, not to say highminded, attitude that your company has adopted in this kind of problem.2 Please remember me kindly to Mrs. Paley3 and, of course, warm regard to yourself. As ever 1 Eisenhower had played golf with financier John Hay Whitney on April 7, and had an off-the-record meeting at the White House on April 11. 2 Whitney had apparently reported to CBS Chairman Paley that Eisenhower was upset on learning that CBS would pay Senator Joseph R. McCarthy's expenses for his April 6 televised reply to Edward R. Murrow's See It Now exposé of the controversial senator's investigative techniques (for background see nos. 762, 823; and New York Times, Apr. 7, May 4, 5, 9, 16, 1954). Writing on May 22 Paley explained that McCarthy had accepted the offer to respond to charges Murrow had made on See It Now March 9 (AWF/N). "Because of the potential power of radio or television to do evil as well as good," Paley wrote, "we have always maintained a policy of fairness and balance in the treatment of controversial issues." He went on to say that effective programming was ofttimes expensive, and that when CBS used a high production budget to present one side of a controversial issue, it would be unfair to expect the other side to answer without the facilities necessary to produce a strong reply. Paley pointed out, however, that McCarthy's use of film for his program was less costly than Murrow's. He added also that McCarthy had delayed his request for reimbursement, perhaps because "he had tried to involve the advertiser . . . who had no responsibilities in this matter." "I didn't think I would ever find myself in the position of defending an action which would work to the benefit of the Junior Senator from Wisconsin," Paley said, yet he thought CBS's policies were "sound and essential to the maintenance of a free broadcasting system in America. . . ." Paley would write later that CBS had been prepared to pay McCarthy $25,000 for expenses, but the actual cost had been only $6,336.99. "The ironic thing about the whole episode," he mused, was that "McCarthy did more damage to himself in his reply than Murrow had in the original broadcast" (William S. Paley, As It Happened: A Memoir [Garden City, New York, 1979], pp. 302-6; see also Ewald, Who Killed Joe McCarthy?, p. 303; and in these volumes, no. 836). 3 Paley's wife was the former Barbara Cushing Mortimer. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To William Samuel Paley, 26 May 1954. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 898. 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/898.cfm <--PREV Doc #897  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #899

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