Presidential Papers, Doc#1223 To Edward H. Teller, 1 July 1959. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower

Document #1223; July 1, 1959
To Edward H. Teller
Series: EM, AWF, DDE Diaries Series

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 18: "These extremist approaches"

 

Dear Dr. Teller: Thank you for your letter. I personally and deeply appreciated your testimony before the Senate Committee on behalf of Admiral Strauss and, as you know, I share your feeling of shock and resentment concerning his ultimate rejection by the Senate itself.1 He has been an invaluable public servant whom I shall greatly miss, both personally and in the conduct of the business of government.

Personally, I agree with you and Admiral Strauss as to the desirability of replacing the English system of measurements by the metric.2 A program for doing so will have many critics and the way will be rough.

With best wishes, Sincerely

1 Atomic physicist Teller had enclosed his letter to the President in a note he had sent after the Senate had voted to deny Lewis Strauss the position of Secretary of Commerce (Teller to Eisenhower, June 22, 1959; Strauss to Goodpaster, June 24, 1959, both in WHCF/OF 2). Teller, who in May had testified at the Strauss confirmation hearings, had written that he was "deeply shocked" by the Senate’s rejection (see New York Times, May 7, 1959).

2 Teller had urged Eisenhower to continue with Strauss’s plans to adopt the metric system in order to eliminate the disadvantage in world trade the United States suffered in competition with the Soviet Union (June 22, 1959, WHCF/OF).

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Edward H. Teller, 1 July 1959. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1223. 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/1223.cfm

 


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