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HOOVER, Herbert. An archive of 70 typed letters signed from Hoover to Raymond S. Richmond, 26 June 1931 - 16 June 1964. Together 70 pages, 4to, a few with holograph postscripts, on personal stationery.
"I AM GLAD YOU STOPPED THAT HOOVER FOR PRESIDENT STUFF. I WANT NONE OF IT"
FROM ROOSEVELT TO NIXON: HOOVER'S OFTEN BITING COMMENTS ON THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SCENE. A long and rich political correspondence between Hoover and a New York Republican Party activist, spanning the years from Hoover's Presidency until the last year of his life. As President in 1931, Hoover thanks Richmond and his Jackson Heights Republican Club for their support of his controversial decision to postpone international debt payments for one year. In May 1941 he discusses a radio address delivered over NBC, following President Roosevelt's own speech to the nation declaring a state of national emergency: "It seems," Hoover says of his remarks, "to have contributed to clear the issue and make it what it really is - peace or war."
During the 1940s Hoover and Richmond swap hopes about finding a GOP candidate to unseat FDR, but Hoover was adamant that it not be him. 3 February 1943: "I am glad you stopped that Hoover for President stuff. I want none of it. Hugh Gibson is going down with me to Washington on Monday. I intend to stay there just two hours as I don't want other involvements. Surely it is all a mess." 26 September 1944: "I send you a little pamphlet [not included] that has some good ammunition in it. It gives the proof of the Roosevelt-created depression which Dewey has merely asserted." Then, after FDR's victory: 13 November 1944: "You made a good fight. All the weights were entirely against you so that you have nothing to blame yourself for."
The postwar years saw no slackening in Hoover's engagement with politics, although he did confess to having given up on one of the leading commentators. 3 June 1947: "I haven't read Lippman [sic] for years; that is sheer waste." 8 February 1948: on the Marshall Plan: "The magnitude of the proposals and the potential effect upon the American economy make genuine expressions of opinion highly desirable at the present time." 12 April 1960: "The virus of Karl Marx has penetrated into many places," and then in holograph, "which don't like me!"
John F. Kennedy's razor-thin (and Mayor Daley assisted) victory prompts some more grumbling between Hoover and Richmond, and then some comments on emerging GOP stars like Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon. 11 May 1960: "I regard Goldwater as the spiritual leader of the conservatives today." 15 December 1960: "I will not attempt to express my feelings as to the last campaign. But we have to go on, whatever vile names we accumulate." 27 March 1961: "That campaign is over. Just forget it. Also no Republican can be elected in California in a midterm election with a million superior Democratic registrations. I doubt if Mr. Nixon has any such idea. However, with good management, the Republican membership could be improved." A rich political chronicle spanning Hoover's long life on the national scene. Together 70 items.
"I AM GLAD YOU STOPPED THAT HOOVER FOR PRESIDENT STUFF. I WANT NONE OF IT"
FROM ROOSEVELT TO NIXON: HOOVER'S OFTEN BITING COMMENTS ON THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SCENE. A long and rich political correspondence between Hoover and a New York Republican Party activist, spanning the years from Hoover's Presidency until the last year of his life. As President in 1931, Hoover thanks Richmond and his Jackson Heights Republican Club for their support of his controversial decision to postpone international debt payments for one year. In May 1941 he discusses a radio address delivered over NBC, following President Roosevelt's own speech to the nation declaring a state of national emergency: "It seems," Hoover says of his remarks, "to have contributed to clear the issue and make it what it really is - peace or war."
During the 1940s Hoover and Richmond swap hopes about finding a GOP candidate to unseat FDR, but Hoover was adamant that it not be him. 3 February 1943: "I am glad you stopped that Hoover for President stuff. I want none of it. Hugh Gibson is going down with me to Washington on Monday. I intend to stay there just two hours as I don't want other involvements. Surely it is all a mess." 26 September 1944: "I send you a little pamphlet [not included] that has some good ammunition in it. It gives the proof of the Roosevelt-created depression which Dewey has merely asserted." Then, after FDR's victory: 13 November 1944: "You made a good fight. All the weights were entirely against you so that you have nothing to blame yourself for."
The postwar years saw no slackening in Hoover's engagement with politics, although he did confess to having given up on one of the leading commentators. 3 June 1947: "I haven't read Lippman [sic] for years; that is sheer waste." 8 February 1948: on the Marshall Plan: "The magnitude of the proposals and the potential effect upon the American economy make genuine expressions of opinion highly desirable at the present time." 12 April 1960: "The virus of Karl Marx has penetrated into many places," and then in holograph, "which don't like me!"
John F. Kennedy's razor-thin (and Mayor Daley assisted) victory prompts some more grumbling between Hoover and Richmond, and then some comments on emerging GOP stars like Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon. 11 May 1960: "I regard Goldwater as the spiritual leader of the conservatives today." 15 December 1960: "I will not attempt to express my feelings as to the last campaign. But we have to go on, whatever vile names we accumulate." 27 March 1961: "That campaign is over. Just forget it. Also no Republican can be elected in California in a midterm election with a million superior Democratic registrations. I doubt if Mr. Nixon has any such idea. However, with good management, the Republican membership could be improved." A rich political chronicle spanning Hoover's long life on the national scene. Together 70 items.