Presidential Papers, Doc#1124 Personal To Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, 30 March 1959. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Document #1124; March 30, 1959
To Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller
Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series ; Category: Personal
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XX - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace
Part VII: Berlin and the Chance for a Summit; March 1959 to August 1959
Chapter 16: A "staunch bulwark" resigns

 

Dear Nelson: Thank you for your two letters. I was interested both in your summary of the budget situation and in the resume of the more important legislative measures passed.1

No one who knows you could ever accuse you of "soaking the poor", but statements like that are the delight of the press and the opposition, as well you know.2

Now that your difficult first three months are over, I hope you can relax a bit.3 Incidentally, that business of having a legislative session of only three months strikes me as a very wise procedure, something I would not mind at all seeing adopted here on the national scene!

Congratulations--and warm regard, As ever

1 Rockefeller’s letters of March 25 and 27 (AWF/A) dealt with the final results of the New York legislative session. For background see nos. 1047 and 1061. Rockefeller had reported that his objective for the New York State budget was to apply a "pay-as-you-go" philosophy in order to close a $424 million gap between expenditures and revenue. He had therefore cut requested budget increases by fifty percent and increased taxes by $277 million. The state increased gasoline taxes by two cents a gallon and cigarette taxes by two cents a pack. Rockefeller had also increased the number of days of horse racing at New York’s racetracks, raised estate taxes, and instituted a state tax withholding system.

2 On January 31, 1958, the New York State Democratic party chairman had labeled Rockefeller’s tax program a "soak the poor fiscal package" that would weigh the heaviest upon the two-thirds of the taxpayers who earned less than $6,000 a year. Much criticism had been directed at Rockefeller’s plan to raise gasoline and cigarette taxes (New York Times, Feb. 1, 1959). The legislature had passed the budget on March 11 (New York Times, Mar. 12, 1959).

3 The New York State legislature had ended its session on March 27, 1959 (for a summary of its legislative actions see New York Times, Mar. 27, 28, 1959).

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Personal To Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, 30 March 1959. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1124. 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/second-term/documents/1124.cfm

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