<--PREV Doc #563  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #565 Document #564; February 4, 1958 To Anna Cleave Tower Series: EM, WHCF, Official File 3-K The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIX - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part IV: Recession and Reform; February 1958 to May 1958 Chapter 8: "To engender confidence"   Dear Mrs. Tower: I appreciate your letter and especially your reference to me as a "retired General of the Army."1 That I consider a high compliment. Never can I possibly lose my feeling of close identification with all Army people and with the Service that for most of my life was the object of my every waking moment. I have been deeply interested in the question raised in your letter and gave it close attention when the Cordiner proposals were before me.2 You are correct that the proposal as sent to Congress does not include a pay increase for retired personnel. The reason is that the Cordiner proposals were not devised as a pay raise but rather were intended to modernize and revamp the entire pay structure. The purpose was to attract and retain qualified personnel in the military services. At no time was the central object a pay raise. This being so, it was concluded that the use of these proposals to justify an across-the-board retired pay increase would fly in the face of the entire Cordiner approach. Beyond question the problems you describe are worthy of the most sympathetic concern. Word has already reached me that the Congressional committees studying this subject are certain to weigh very carefully the considerations outlined above, together with all those which you raise. I suppose I don't have to tell you that such decisions as these are far from easy, but I do expect a just solution of this particular problem before the Cordiner proposals finally become law.3 Poor Cornelia--she seemed so unhappy during the last years of her life. I am glad that she gave you the Washington reproduction. If I am not too bold, I shall ask my secretary to send you a Lincoln reproduction as a companion piece.4 With thanks for your letter, and best wishes to you and your husband,5 Sincerely 1 Tower had written on January 20, 1958 (same file as document). She identified herself as "an Army Daughter and also the god-daughter of the recently deceased Mrs. Frank R. Keefer, who has so often spoken of you and your days at the Point." Mary Cornelia Terrell Keefer was the wife of Brigadier General Frank Keefer, a professor of military hygiene at West Point when Eisenhower was a cadet (see Chandler, War Years, no. 388). "I am writing to you," she had said, "in no political sense or even in your capacity as President, but rather, because you are a retired General of the Army, and certainly understand the military and all its facets, if anyone does." 2 For background on the Cordiner Committee recommendations see nos. 73 and 226. Tower was upset by the Military Pay Raise bill pending in Congress (see Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1958, p. 9). Although pay raises for retired personnel had been included in the original Cordiner recommendations, the Defense Department, believing that such raises were not consistent with plans designed to "attract, retain and motivate highly qualified personnel within the active forces," had dropped the proposal (Hawkins to Goodpaster, Jan. 27, 1958, same file as document). 3 For developments see nos. 721, 969, and 1230. 4 Tower had written that Mrs. Keefer had given her a reproduction of Eisenhower's painting of George Washington. Tower said that she was "deeply honored" by the gift and would "treasure it" (for background see Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, no. 1617). 5 Tower would respond on February 10 (same file as document). She would thank Eisenhower for the reproduction of his portrait of Lincoln, and for explaining the main purpose behind the Cordiner proposals. "It gives me a better understanding of the bill," she said, "and I trust Congress will act on it to the best advantage of all Service personnel." Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Anna Cleave Tower, 4 February 1958. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 564. 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/564.cfm <--PREV Doc #563  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #565

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