<--PREV Doc #34  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #36 Document #35; February 11, 1957 To Philip Young Series: EM, AWF, Name Series The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVIII - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part I: A New Beginning, Old Problems; January 1957 to May 1957 Chapter 1: The Mideast and the Eisenhower Doctrine   Dear Phil: It is with a deep feeling of loss that I view your resignation later this month as Chairman of the Civil Service Commission and as my Adviser on Personnel Management.1 All during the past four years I have been reassured by the knowledge that you were devoting your many abilities to the strengthening of the civil service and the entire personnel structure of the Federal Government. I am certain that all who have participated in our frequent discussions of these matters will share my regret at your departure.2 As you so well know, it has been the constant purpose of this Administration to improve the conditions of government service and attract to it those well-trained, dedicated, intelligent people who are so essential to the proper conduct of public affairs. Through the many programs you have helped to develop, and particularly through your own full devotion to the highest principles of public service, you have contributed immeasurably to the achievement of our purpose.3 Government personnel at all levels, indeed the nation as a whole, will long recognize your outstanding service. You have my heartfelt thanks for your strong support during these four years. I am grateful, too, that you are willing to be of further service in the future.4 With warm personal regard, Sincerely 1 Young, a member of the Eisenhower Administration since March 23, 1953, had submitted his resignation on February 8 (see Eisenhower Papers, vols. X - XVII; see also Eisenhower, Mandate for Change, p. 120). Eisenhower would write a number of similar letters in response to personnel changes at the start of the new Administration (see, for example, Eisenhower to Herbert Hoover, Jr., Jan. 28, 1957, AWF/A; Eisenhower to Arthur S. Flemming, Jan. 28, 1957, AWF/A; and Eisenhower to Robert Tripp Ross, Feb. 14, 1957, AWF/D). 2 Young had cited the accomplishments of the commission from 1953 to 1957. Under Eisenhower's leadership, he wrote, "For the first time effective coordination of personnel policies has been achieved at the top levels of Government" (see Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1957, pp. 142 - 44). 3 On civil service reform see, for example, Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, no. 90; on health insurance for federal employees see ibid., no. 1266. 4 Young would be confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands on March 28, 1957 (see Young to Eisenhower, Mar. 30, 1957, AWF/N; see also New York Times, Mar. 29, 1957). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Philip Young, 11 February 1957. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 35. 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/35.cfm <--PREV Doc #34  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #36

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