<--PREV Doc #269  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #271 Document #270; August 5, 1957 To Norman Loyall McLaren Series: EM, WHCF, President’s Personal File 771 ; Category: Personal and confidential The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVIII - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part II: Civil Rights; June 1957 to September 1957 Chapter 4: "Logic and reason must operate gradually"   Dear Blackie: For some reason no one had told me that the Prime Minister of Pakistan was going to be a guest of Stowaway. I can well understand the feeling of exasperation--not to say frustration--that must have attacked you when you found your guest so indifferent to the requests and desires of the whole Bohemian Grove assemblage.1 When in Washington he apparently made a magnificent address before the Houses of Congress.2 On all sides I heard him receiving compliments both on the content of his talk and its delivery. Perhaps for this reason he thought he was doing all of you a very great favor by giving you an hour and ten minutes!!! In any event, you were good sports to go through with the whole thing as you did. Let us hope it will have some good effect in promoting international good will. For the weekend of High Jinks, three of my immediate associates decided that they could go out to the Grove.3 This pleased me immensely and I asked all of them to remember me warmly to any old friends they met. They were Secretaries Humphrey and Wilson, along with Admiral Radford. I explained to each of them that they were missing the best part of the Encampment by reason of the fact that they were not guests of Stowaway, but suggested that they visit that Camp just to see how one should properly be run at the Grove. Incidentally, I did my best to get one of the Administration's most valuable men, Sherman Adams, to go along. He wanted to very badly, but it happened that the date coincided with his wedding anniversary and quite a family celebration had been planned. Next year I hope he can come out because it would do him good to live for a few days in that atmosphere of completely unselfish comradeship, and I think he would add something to the Encampment by his great knowledge of the government and his complete integrity and efficiency in serving the nation.4 With warm regard, and again my thanks for being so patient with a difficult guest, As ever 1 McLaren (A.B. University of California 1914) was a certified public accountant and partner in the San Francisco firm of Haskins & Sells since 1952. A former president of the Bohemian Club, he had written Eisenhower (Aug. 2, same file as document) that Pakistani Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, after arriving late at the Bohemian Grove encampment, had refused to shorten his planned speech, resulting in the elimination of some of the scheduled entertainment. Later, however, the Prime Minister and other guests at Stowaway, one of several Spartan camps at the Grove, had lunch and played bridge. "In summary," McLaren wrote, "we were happy to entertain him but he was not the most attractive nor appreciative guest we have ever had at Stowaway!" For background on Suhrawardy's visit to the United States see no. 235. Bohemian Grove, near San Francisco, California, is the site of the annual sixteen-day retreat for members of the Bohemian Club (see Galambos, Columbia University, nos. 388, 804, 873, 887, 991; see also Eisenhower Papers, vols. XII - XVII). In July 1950 Eisenhower had accepted honorary membership in the club, and had been a guest at Stowaway. 2 See New York Times, July 13, 14, 1957. 3 On the final weekend of the Bohemian Grove encampment, known as High Jinks, the members wrote, produced, and acted in musical presentations (see Fortune, v. 112 [August 5, 1985], and New York Times, July 22, 1995). 4 McLaren would reply on August 7 that if Adams could get away and "would prefer to be at Stowaway, we will be delighted to have him there." See also Eisenhower's August 9 memorandum to Adams (both are in the same file as the document). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. Personal and confidential To Norman Loyall McLaren, 5 August 1957. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 270. 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/270.cfm <--PREV Doc #269  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #271

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