<--PREV Doc #781  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #783 Document #782; July 21, 1958 To Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn Series: EM, WHCF, Official File 99-V The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIX - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part V: Forcing the President's Hand; June 1958 to October 1958 Chapter 12: America Invades the Mideast   Dear Mr. Speaker: The moment I hung up the phone after our conversation I realized, to my embarrassment, that I must have kept you waiting while I came to the phone. I was out of my office for the moment, and had asked only that I be informed when you returned to your office so that I might call. I hope you were not long holding the wire yourself--but in any event, I am sorry.1 Needless to say, I am more than grateful for your help in securing the maximum funds for the mutual security effort--an effort that is more vitally important now than ever.2 With warm regard, Sincerely 1 Eisenhower had unsuccessfully attempted to arrange a meeting with Rayburn (see Ann Whitman memorandum, July 21, 1958, AWF/AWD). 2 For background see no. 762. On July 2 the House of Representatives had approved the appropriation of $3,078,092,500 for the fiscal 1959 Mutual Security Program, $872 million less than the President's original request. The Senate Appropriations Committee had begun hearings on funding for the bill on July 8, with Administration officials testifying that it was imperative to restore the $325 million cut by the House in order for the United States to compete with Soviet efforts in the underdeveloped countries and to maintain the free world defense system. On August 23 the Senate would pass funding for the bill, restoring some of the House cuts. On August 28 the President would sign the bill, which appropriated $3,298,092,500 (see Congressional Quarterly Almanac, vol. XIV, 1958, pp. 188 - 90). Eisenhower would term the cuts in mutual security appropriations as his "greatest disappointment" with the 85th Congress, saying that he could "only hope" that the funds would be sufficient (Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1958, pp. 640 - 41). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn, 21 July 1958. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 782. 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/782.cfm <--PREV Doc #781  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #783

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