Details
EISENHOWER, Dwight D. Typed letter signed ("Dwight D. Eisenhower"), as former President, to Robert J. Levy, Indio, California, 10 April 1968. 1 page, 4to, personal stationery, age-toned. Marked "Personal" by Eisenhower in holograph, below signature.
EISENHOWER LASHES OUT AT "DRAFT-CARD BURNERS" AND "UNRULY AUDIENCES" in the spring of 1968--just six days after the murder of Martin Luther King Jr.--as the nation enters one of its most chaotic and violent periods since the end of the Civil War. "Your letter is rather puzzling to me," he tells Levy, who had written to criticize Ike's article in the April 1968 issue of Reader's Digest, "Let's Close Ranks on the Home Front." That article, Eisenhower says, "contains an expression of my conviction that we should encourage honest dissent, as the very essence of Democracy. My disgust is with the draft-card burners, with unruly audiences that will not permit a governmental official to present his side of the case, with student groups that parade for 'peace at any price', and with those who unlawfully try to block the entrances to recruiting stations and the like. All this is clear in my article."
Eisenhower further makes clear that he does not concur "in every detail of the conduct of the current war, but I do believe that the people who do not see the consequences of our turning tail and leaving South Viet Nam to its fate, are as blind as those who praised Mr. Chamberlain's actions at Munich, and the events that proceeded [sic] and succeeded that abortive attempt to keep the peace. I do appreciate the kind things you have to say about me and my record. I hope that a careful reading of the Reader's Digest article will show that I do not criticize honest and decent dissent."
Eisenhower's changing opinions on Vietnam are one of the most intriguing aspects of his career. While in office he wanted no part of an American land war in Asia, and severely rapped the knuckles of his advisors when they urged him to send U. S. troops to bail out the French in their losing battle against the Viet Minh in 1954. Yet he urged both Presidents Kennedy and--especially--Johnson to (as he put it) "go all out." A crucial meeting with Eisenhower shortly after JFK's assassination made a profound impression on Johnson, convincing LBJ that it would be politically disastrous to abandon the (relatively) small military commitment that Kennedy had already made to the small Asian nation. Eisenhower remained a staunch supporter of the U. S. war there--and a stern foe of the antiwar protestors--until the end of his life.
EISENHOWER LASHES OUT AT "DRAFT-CARD BURNERS" AND "UNRULY AUDIENCES" in the spring of 1968--just six days after the murder of Martin Luther King Jr.--as the nation enters one of its most chaotic and violent periods since the end of the Civil War. "Your letter is rather puzzling to me," he tells Levy, who had written to criticize Ike's article in the April 1968 issue of Reader's Digest, "Let's Close Ranks on the Home Front." That article, Eisenhower says, "contains an expression of my conviction that we should encourage honest dissent, as the very essence of Democracy. My disgust is with the draft-card burners, with unruly audiences that will not permit a governmental official to present his side of the case, with student groups that parade for 'peace at any price', and with those who unlawfully try to block the entrances to recruiting stations and the like. All this is clear in my article."
Eisenhower further makes clear that he does not concur "in every detail of the conduct of the current war, but I do believe that the people who do not see the consequences of our turning tail and leaving South Viet Nam to its fate, are as blind as those who praised Mr. Chamberlain's actions at Munich, and the events that proceeded [sic] and succeeded that abortive attempt to keep the peace. I do appreciate the kind things you have to say about me and my record. I hope that a careful reading of the Reader's Digest article will show that I do not criticize honest and decent dissent."
Eisenhower's changing opinions on Vietnam are one of the most intriguing aspects of his career. While in office he wanted no part of an American land war in Asia, and severely rapped the knuckles of his advisors when they urged him to send U. S. troops to bail out the French in their losing battle against the Viet Minh in 1954. Yet he urged both Presidents Kennedy and--especially--Johnson to (as he put it) "go all out." A crucial meeting with Eisenhower shortly after JFK's assassination made a profound impression on Johnson, convincing LBJ that it would be politically disastrous to abandon the (relatively) small military commitment that Kennedy had already made to the small Asian nation. Eisenhower remained a staunch supporter of the U. S. war there--and a stern foe of the antiwar protestors--until the end of his life.