<--PREV Doc #1288  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1290 Document #1289; August 13, 1959 To Philip Dunham Reed Series: EM, WHCF, Official File 101-Y 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 Phil: Many thanks for your letter. I am glad that you feel there has been an amazing upsurge of support for certain of the Administration policies. I’d like to talk to you about it sometime; I really think I attribute it to the essential soundness in thinking of the American people. (And what frightens me sometimes is that I feel the people are more often than not ahead of the government in determining what is best for the country.)1 But we will discuss all this later, interspersed with those golf and bridge games of 1961. Of course I shall see you long before then, but an analysis of the phenomenon must await a little leisure.2 Incidentally, I see very little leisure in my personal crystal ball--for the next few months at least!3 With warm regard, As ever 1 On August 11 Reed had written in praise of the President’s nationwide appeal for a new labor-management relations law (same file as document). (On the August 6 address see Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1959, pp. 567 - 71, and New York Times, Aug. 7, 1959). Reed had noted that despite the election results in November 1958, Eisenhower’s positions on economical government, balanced budgets, and solid resistance to inflationary action by labor or management had become political assets. If the current national demand for a stable dollar continued to grow, Reed wrote, "a political posture aligned with that objective will become essential." He attributed "this amazing turnabout in public attitude" to Eisenhower’s "courageous leadership." 2 Reed had cautioned Eisenhower to take care as he was planning to play both golf and bridge with the President in 1961 and did not "want to be disappointed." As it turned out, Eisenhower and Reed would not get together during the rest of Eisenhower’s Administration. 3 Later in the summer the President would travel to England, France, and Germany (see nos. 1276 and 1282); in the fall he would host Soviet Chairman Khrushchev (see no. 1265); and in December he would make a goodwill tour of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia (see no. 1384). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Philip Dunham Reed, 13 August 1959. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1289. 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/1289.cfm <--PREV Doc #1288  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1290

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