<--PREV Doc #5  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #7 Document #6; January 24, 1957 To Maxwell Davenport Taylor Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series: Army ; Category: Personal 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 Max: Recently Andy Goodpaster brought to me a summary of my son John's efficiency record. He gave me to understand that this had been prepared at your direction.1 I am grateful to you for your thoughtfulness and on two counts I am delighted that you had it done. First, I have been curious for some time as to whether the traits that I think I see in John are shared by people with whom he works. Secondly, I was highly pleased to see his record shows a steady climb over the last five or six years, to a point where he is classed among the first ten percent of his group.2 I hope that your physical difficulties have largely disappeared as a result of your trip to Puerto Rico.3 Please take it easy and remember that you can always come for a swim in the pool without bothering to send any advance notice whatsoever. With warm regard, Cordially 1 The summary, dated December 28, 1956, is in AWF/M: OF, John Eisenhower Corr. Taylor would reply on January 28 that the performance record was compiled without "knowledge of its intended use" (AWF/A: Army). For background on Taylor see Eisenhower Papers, vols. I - XVII; on his appointment as Army Chief of Staff see Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, no. 1620. Brigadier General Andrew Jackson Goodpaster, Jr., was Eisenhower's Staff Secretary (see Eisenhower Papers, vols. XII - XVII). 2 According to the report Major John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower was "highly efficient," with "excellent command and leadership qualities" and was an "excellent writer." John had an "excellent chance of selection" for the Armed Forces Staff College in 1958 and would be eligible for War College level training the following year. For background on the President's interest in his son's career see Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, nos. 888, 1073, and 2143; for developments see no. 121. 3 On December 31 Taylor had gone to Puerto Rico to recuperate from a back ailment. He would report on January 28 that he was close to full recovery (AWF/A: Army; see also New York Times, Jan. 1, Mar. 15, 27, 1957). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. Personal To Maxwell Davenport Taylor, 24 January 1957. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 6. 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/6.cfm <--PREV Doc #5  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #7

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