<--PREV Doc #79  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #81 Document #80; March 21, 1957 To Barak Thomas Mattingly Series: EM, WHCF, Official File 99-Z 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 Barak:1 The idea in your letter of the fourteenth interests me far too much for relegation to that "circular filing cabinet."2 As a matter of fact, Tom Stephens and I have discussed something similar--specifically with the dual purpose of keeping "Citizens" alive by giving them now assignments with reference to current legislation.3 When I get back to Washington, I shall talk to him further about the whole idea. Certainly I do not want to neglect a single suggestion that might help secure favorable action by the Congress on certain of the proposals now before them. With thanks and warm regard, Sincerely 1 Mattingly, a St. Louis attorney and chairman of the board of Ozark Airlines, had been active in the effort to draft Eisenhower as the Republican presidential nominee in 1952 (see Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1952, no. 726). 2 Presidents since George Washington, Mattingly had written, had problems with Congress which they attempted to solve "by various and sundry means." He suggested that Eisenhower ask his "many many loyal supporters in all the States of the Union" to write their congressional representatives "criticizing their actions or asking them to be for or against a particular bill." The response to such a campaign, he predicted, "would be nothing short of miraculous," and would, with some newspaper support, be sufficient to "kill or pass such legislation as you desire." Mattingly recommended that if Eisenhower did not think his idea had merit, he should throw the letter in the waste basket, that is "the circular filing cabinet" and then "forget it" (same file as document). 3 Stephens, who had resigned as the President's appointments secretary on February 19, 1955, had remained an active participant in Republican party politics and would return to his post in the White House in March 1958 (New York Times, Jan. 27, Feb. 19, 1955, Mar. 24, 1958). Eisenhower had met with Stephens and others on February 27, 1957, to discuss efforts to promote "grass-roots" activity in the Republican party (see AWF/AWD, Feb. 27, 1957). For background on the Citizens for Eisenhower committees see Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, nos. 324 and 1133. For developments see no. 278. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Barak Thomas Mattingly, 21 March 1957. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 80. 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/80.cfm <--PREV Doc #79  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #81

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