<--PREV Doc #964  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #966 Document #965; December 8, 1958 To Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIX - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part VI: Setbacks; November 1958 to February 1959 Chapter 14: A "dreary election result"   Dear Nelson: I was delighted to have the opportunity for a personal chat with you Saturday evening, before we got into the business of your Committee. For almost six years you have been Chairman of my informal Committee on Government Organization and, as a result, it is almost a shock for me to consider your resignation from the post.1 Naturally I recognize the necessity--but I still regret it. I will shortly reply to your letter and I shall, of course,--but sorrowfully--accept your resignation, according to our understanding, as of December thirty-first.2 As I told you, I am highly gratified by your success in the recent election. It encourages me to believe that people have decided that "moderate government" when properly explained by a personable, intelligent candidate is still a goal of the majority of Americans. To say that I wish you every possible success in your conduct of your critically important post and that I will be watching the result with the keenest interest is understatement.3 Please convey my warm greetings to your charming bride and remember me kindly to the other members of your family. All the best, As ever 1 Rockefeller, who had been elected governor of New York on November 4, had visited the President at the White House on December 6 before meeting with the other members of the committee (see the preceding document as well as no. 922, and Ann Whitman memorandum, Dec. 6, 1958, AWF/AWD). He had brought with him an informal letter of resignation, dated December 4 (WHCF/OF 103-A-2). 2 On December 22 Rockefeller would submit a formal resignation and a report on the activities of his committee. The letter, the report, and Eisenhower's December 29 reply are in ibid. On December 30 the press would print the text of Rockefeller's letter and the President's formal reply (New York Times, Dec. 30; see also Kimball to Rockefeller, Dec. 22, 1958). 3 Eisenhower had said that Rockefeller's election had cushioned the "overall disappointment" of the election (see no. 937). On January 1 Eisenhower would send Rockefeller best wishes in undertaking his duties as governor. Rockefeller would thank the President on January 6 (both in AWF/A). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, 8 December 1958. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 965. 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/965.cfm <--PREV Doc #964  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #966

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