<--PREV Doc #1359  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1361 Document #1360; November 3, 1959 To Charles Harting Percy Series: EM, WHCF, Official File 138-C-1-F The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XX - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part VIII: "Friends and Foes"; September 1959 to February 1960 Chapter 19: Khrushchev in America   Dear Chuck: Only within the past couple of days have I seen any actual copies of the four reports made by the Task Force of your "Committee on Program and Progress."1 I think it is my own fault that I have not sought out these documents, but I think also that I have possibly been living in the comforting thought that one of these days you would be coming to see me to talk to me about the report, its content and the most practical use to make of it. Even yet I have not had the chance to give the four pamphlets the study and careful attention that they deserve, but it is easy to see that your group must be credited with a real accomplishment; I think I shall write a short note of thanks to each member of the Task Force. In the meantime I shall follow up to see that the attention of each of the Department Heads has been directed to the report or reports that has most to do with that particular agency. Indeed, I hope that the distribution can be such that each head of agency can make certain that his higher subordinates have considered carefully the contents of the pamphlets. For example, I think that Reports #1 and #2 would be of special interest to State and to Defense, while #4 should certainly incite the interest of everybody in government.2 I still should like to see you and talk over with you the whole affair.3 With warm regard, As ever P.S.: And I add--congratulations and thanks! 1 For background see nos. 963 and 982. The four task force reports on "Decisions for a Better America," prepared by the Republican Committee on Program and Progress (No. 1, "The Impact of Science & Technology"; No. 2, "National Security & Peace"; No. 3., "Human Rights & Needs"; and No. 4, "Economic Opportunity & Progress"), are in the same file as the document. 2 The science and technology pamphlet argued that "freedom, personal economic opportunities, and material survival" depended on excellence in science and technology. The report urged support for programs at all levels of government and in private organizations. The national security paper called for a defense adequate to "insure our security as a nation," without being "wasteful." The report advised support for efforts at "effective disarmament and control of weapons of mass destruction." The panel recommended that the United States take a leadership role in "protecting freedom where it now exists" and "nurturing it where it can readily develop," and it called for the demilitarization of outer space. "Human Rights & Needs" called for government support to "stimulate the pursuit of excellence" in the schools. The study on economic opportunity and progress reaffirmed the Republican belief that the economic role of government was to "help solve those problems which generally obstruct and interfere with the individual citizen’s opportunity to achieve his fullest potential." 3 Percy would meet with Eisenhower on February 8, 1960, and would follow the meeting with a summary of the report (Percy to Eisenhower, Feb. 8, 1960, same file as document). Noting that the report was a "political document," Percy would emphasize that the purpose of the committee was to "make known to every citizen the Republican approach to broad problem areas and to further make it a matter of record that the Republican party looks forward--indeed forward to 1976--rather than backwards." Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Charles Harting Percy, 3 November 1959. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1360. 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/1360.cfm <--PREV Doc #1359  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1361

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