Presidential Papers, Doc#221 To Edgar Newton Eisenhower, 27 June 1957. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Document #221; June 27, 1957
To Edgar Newton Eisenhower
Series: EM, AWF, Name Series
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVIII - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace
Part II: Civil Rights; June 1957 to September 1957
Chapter 3: "I am astonished and chagrined"

 

Dear Ed: With respect to your letter of the twenty-fifth, there is a vast difference between Federal domination and Federal performance of a job that needs to be done.1

The point I tried to make in my speech was that inadequate education of our youth could, and would unless greater facilities were provided, become a national calamity. Consequently, the Federal government, without trying to take any control of education or to assume any dominant position with respect to it, still has to view with the deepest concern the failure of the states to move promptly and adequately in this regard.2

If we could only see our way out of this without Federal help I would be tremendously pleased. The same goes for urban renewal and rehabilitation, as well as for concerting highway rules and regulations. A good proportion of our forty thousand deaths a year on the roads can be attributed to lack of action among the states in coordinating standards and rules of the road.3

Give my love to Lucy. As ever

1 Edgar Eisenhower had written on June 25 (AWF/N) to compliment the President on his speech to the Governors' Conference at Williamsburg (see no. 215). Noting that he agreed "wholeheartedly" with Eisenhower's theme, Edgar said that the federal government had "taken on certain functions which concededly belong to the states." "It is my concept of our form of government," he argued, "that the Federal Government does not have any functions except those particularly delegated to it by the Constitution. If my conception were followed, there are many things the Federal Government is doing today which would be prohibited."

2 Eisenhower had stated that while he was opposed to "needless Federal expansion," he had found it necessary at times to urge Federal action in some areas traditionally reserved to the States. "In each instance State inaction, or inadequate action, coupled with undeniable national need," he stated, had "forced emergency Federal intervention." Eisenhower cited the education of youth as a prime example (see no. 196). Because classroom shortages were "potentially so dangerous to the entire nation" and local remedial action had been delayed, a temporary federal assistance plan had become a necessity. "Now, some have feared the sincerity of that word 'temporary,' Eisenhower had stated. "I at once concede that, in government as with individuals, there is an instinctive inclination to persist in any activity once begun. But if it be the people's will, and I believe it is, I have no doubt at all that we can defeat that inclination in respect to Federal help in school construction, once the emergency need has been satisfied" (Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1957, pp. 486 - 97).

3 Eisenhower had stated in his speech to the governors that "day by day the American people are paying an increasingly fearful price for the failure of the States to agree on such safety essentials as standards for licensing of drivers and vehicles and basic rules of the road."

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Edgar Newton Eisenhower, 27 June 1957. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 221. 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/221.cfm

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