Dear Michael: Possibly you have already made up your mind with respect to the new job offer you have, and if so, this letter can be consigned to the waste basket without further reading.
I have been thinking over the things you told me the other night and I have come to this conclusion.1 You should take a job for the next several years that keeps you either in Washington or in some other American city where you can attend night school. You explained to me the great handicap under which you suffer is lack of an education. That you should, and you can easily, procure.
Almost every worth while university now has good night schools, and my idea would be that you would take the job that would give you the most time to devote to your studies. You could earn your B.S. or B.A. in three or four years, and then go on to take a Masters' in Business Administration or some other subject of your own choosing. Or--what would be almost as satisfactory--you could major in Economics during a B.S. or a B.A. course.
In any event, I have gone far enough in my thinking that I believe that in a four-year college course you should take the following without fail:
1 year General History
1 year American History
2 years Mathematics
1 year of any Science that you might choose--
chemistry or physics preferred
I think it would be most important to take at least one year of a course that would acquaint you completely with the development of American government. Just what it might now be called I am not sure, but you could easily identify the proper course. It might possibly be called Civics. Along with all the above I think you should take other courses based upon what you believe you will want to do when you finish. If you want to stick in business, then I would take a good bit of Economics and possibly a year of Business Law.
If the job you are contemplating is such that you could discharge its duties and responsibilities effectively and still go to school steadily without interruption, then I think you might well take it. On the other hand, you know that as long as you are working for Gordon, he would always give you a day off to study, if necessary, for a special examination.2
I can summarize my entire thinking on the matter by saying that you should simply take the job that will facilitate your correcting the deficiency you feel in your education.
I am writing this letter personally and confidentially in the hope that you will show it to no one, except possibly Corky.3 It represents my very earnest conviction.
In any event, love to Corky and the best to yourself. Sincerely
