Affection and Trust: The Personal Correspondence of Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson, 1953-1971

by David McCullough

  Harry Vaughan took the Saturday Evening Post (Curtis Pub. Co) for $10,000.00 for libel and slander the other day. They owe you twice as much and me too.

  Hope they are meeting the situation on this good piece of yours.

  The Madam joins me in the best to you and Alice.

  Sincerely,

  Harry

  Truman mentions Acheson’s letter to Dr. Philip C. Brooks, director of the Truman Library, concerning Acheson’s donation of his papers to the library.

  April 10, 1959

  Dear Dean:

  Dr. Brooks has just handed me a copy of the letter you addressed to him on April 1st. I more than appreciate it.

  I expect to be in the Capital City from April 30th until May 7th and hope that you will be available then for a conversation or two.

  All this ballyhoo about my 75th birthday is beginning to embarrass me a little. As you may realize, it embarrasses the Madam even more, but I suppose we will have to go through with it.

  I had a grand trip to Crackpot City, California, but returned with one of their brand of flu bugs. It is responding to the usual medication.

  Sincerely yours,

  Harry S. Truman

  It surely was good to talk to you on “another birthday.” You expressed my opinion about birthdays.

  “Supreme Headquarters on P Street” was Acheson’s home at 2805 P Street in Georgetown.

  April 16, 1959

  Dear Mr. President:

  I was just about to write you to find out your dates in Washington when in came your letter of April 10 with the answer—from April 30 until May 7. Alice and I have to start off for St. Paul’s School [in New Hampshire] on April 30, but will be back the morning of May 4.

  I have been instructed from Supreme Headquarters on P Street to ask you and the Boss to dine with us there on Wednesday evening, May 6, at 7:45, Black Tie. If you are engaged for that night, could you come on Monday the fourth? Same hour, same clothes. Either day is convenient for us, but Alice thinks you will not get as good a dinner if she only has one day to work on it. With this view I don’t agree. So either day is fine for us.

  You were very thoughtful to call me on my birthday. It was a great joy to have a gossip with you.

  With most affectionate greetings to you both.

  As ever,

  Dean

  The “rat-race at the Waldorf on the 8th” that Truman refers to was his grand seventy-fifth birthday dinner on May 8 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.

  April 22, 1959

  Dear Dean:

  You do not know how very much the Boss and I appreciated your letter of the 16th.

  Margaret, as you know, is in an expectant condition, and the Boss has made up her mind to stay in New York while I come down to Washington. But if you and Alice would consent to my coming to your house for the evening of May 4th, I certainly would like to do it.

  I have to return to New York on the afternoon of the 6th, because it will take me all the following day and most of the next to get myself ready for the rat-race at the Waldorf on the 8th.

  It is always a disappointment to miss an opportunity to be with you and Alice, and if Monday evening, the 4th, will not cause you too much trouble, I will be there. Please tell her not to worry about things to eat. I am not a hearty feeder anyway.

  Sincerely,

  Harry Truman

  But I always eat everything she’s responsible for on the table.

  April 24, 1959

  Dear Mr. President:

  Hooray! You are ours for the evening of May 4. We agree that Margaret’s claim on the Boss is greater than ours, but this concession we make only under the present circumstances. On the next visit we will put in our claim again.

  We shall try to get some congenial friends together for the 4th.

  Sincerely,

  Dean

  Truman’s East Coast trip extended from April 27 to May 9. He first spent three days speaking to and with students at Columbia University. Then in Washington, he spoke before committees of both houses of Congress, advocating repeal of the Twenty-second Amendment (which sets a term limit for the presidency) and supporting the Mutual Security Agency, made the dedication speech at the National Guard Memorial, and attended reunion luncheons with his White House staff and the members and staff of the Senate Truman Committee. In between engagements, he joined Bess Truman at the side of their daughter, Margaret Truman Daniel, who would give birth to Truman’s second grandson, William Wallace Daniel, later in the month.

  May 14, 1959

  Dear Dean and Alice:

  Thanks for the lovely evening. What a grand time I had!

  If only Bess could have been there. I’m taking her to the hospital today for a check up. So you know I’m somewhat upset—and can’t show it and won’t. You’ll hear from me as things develop.

  Sincerely,

  Harry

  Bess Truman underwent an operation to have a growth removed from her breast on May 18. The growth was benign.

  May 20, 1959

  Dear Mr. President,

  This morning’s paper brings us two bits of very good news—one, that our hopes about the boss have been confirmed; the other that Margaret has another boy. I know how happy both of these have made you; what a weight of worry has been lifted from you.

  We rejoice with you. Please give Bess our deepest affection and Margaret our warm congratulations.

  For your amusement I am sending on to you my latest venture in the field of literature, a short story in the June Harpers. This ends me as a serious character & puts me down, to the surprise of a good many people, as the frivolous fellow I really am.

  The day seems bright for the good news of both your girls.

  Affectionately,

  Dean

  Acheson formulates the outline for a speech Truman was invited to give at the Air War College at Maxwell Field in Montgomery, Alabama (today’s Maxwell Air Force Base). Truman did not accept the invitation.

  May 26, 1959

  Dear Mr. President:

  A week or so ago the Executive Officer from the Air War College at Montgomery, Alabama (Maxwell Field), called me up to ask whether I would intercede with you to get you to come to the War College to speak. He wanted you to speak about the appeal of democracy. I said that this was a stupid subject and that I would not urge you or anyone else to speak about it. This, of course, led him to ask and me to tell him the sort of thing which would be helpful if discussed by you. He went off to discuss all of this with the commandant and returned to accept the suggestion.

  The suggestion was to discuss the problems of a democracy and how to solve them in its struggle with a great totalitarian power, all as seen from the vantage point of the chief of a democratic state. In order to make it as concrete as possible, he worked it out in this way:

  The title of the speech would be “The Office of the Chief Executive of the United States in the Current World Conflict.” The content of the speech would discuss:

  (1) What are the problems that the great democracies face in meeting the challenge of the totalitarian governments? (These problems, I think, are first identifying the nature and extent of the challenge and then summoning and maintaining the continuous will and effort required to meet it.)

  (2) What are the methods available to a democratic nation in thwarting communist designs? (I think that these are the methods in the political, economic, and military fields which you used during your administration.)

  (3) How can the leader of a democratic government obtain the support of the people of his country in dealing with the aims of communism? (No one knows this better than you.)

  (4) Does the office of the Chief Executive have adequate power for the exercise of timely and forceful leadership in today’s world?

  (a) If not, what changes would you recommend in the relationships between the three branches of the government?

  (b) What structural and administrative adjustments would facilitate the functions of th
e Executive? (In my judgment, this is chiefly a matter of personality and not machinery.)

  (5) Can Democratic nations take the initiative in the current world conflict or must they react? (Initiative about what? The Marshall Plan and Point IV were cases in which you took the initiative. Democracies cannot take the initiative in attacking someone else or increasing world tensions.)

  With this kind of a speech, which I hope you would deliver largely from notes and not from a written text, I would urge you to consider going. They will invite you formally if I give them any encouragement at all. They would hope that you could do it in the last week of October or the first week of November.

  They have a class of about 300 who are all Colonels in the Air Force or Army and Captains in the Navy or people of equivalent rank in the State Department and CIA. They would like to have you speak for an hour; then take an hour off with a few people in the library, chatting and resting; and then another hour receiving questions from the whole group and dealing with them.

  I go once a year to the Air War College. They fly me down the afternoon before I speak, put me up comfortably in the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters, with meals at the Officers’ Club, and fly me back again.

  I think you might enjoy it. If, however, you have a lot to do at that time and feel that it would be a strain, please turn it down without further thought, and I will get you out of it. A word to me at your earliest convenience will dispose of the matter.

  Sincerely,

  [Dean]

  Acheson worries over Winston Churchill’s disappointment in not seeing Truman during his recent trip to the United States. Churchill was in Washington and New York City from May 4 to 10, when Truman was also in those cities but could not escape his heavy schedule to meet with Churchill. Truman had already sent Churchill a letter, on May 27, explaining, “I had no intention of appearing discourteous to you.” Kay Halle was a well-connected Washington resident who had many friends on both sides of the Atlantic.

  May 29, 1959

  Dear Mr. President,

  I have a letter from Kay Halle from London who hears much of Sir Winston’s disappointment that he did not see you on his farewell visit. When we lunched with him at the Embassy on May 7th he spoke of it. I told him of your being swamped by the jubilee festivities and held out hope that you might see or talk to him in New York. Apparently this was not possible. Now the old man seems to brood about it as he is very fond of you.

  Would it be a good idea to drop him an affectionate line? I think he would treasure it. It would be too bad for him to get the wholly wrong idea that you didn’t care about seeing him.

  Probably you have written him already and I should have minded my own business. But you have had enough on your mind to have driven out such ideas altogether.

  We hope the boss continues to make great progress. When does she come home? Our most affectionate greetings to you both.

  As ever,

  Dean

  June 2, 1959

  Dear Dean:

  You’ll never know how very much I appreciated your letter of May 29th.

  I had worried about the situation to no end. So I wrote Winston about my difficulties and you should see the answer. It was heart warming.

  Don’t ever “mind your own business” where I’m involved. I’m hopelessly dependent on you for good advice. Sometimes I don’t take it, but it’s always good and appreciated.

  My best to Alice. The Boss will be home tomorrow, thank God.

  Sincerely,

  Harry

  Harry and Bess Truman with Dean Acheson at the Truman Library site in Independence, Missouri, on February 12, 1955. Also pictured is David Lloyd, executive director of the Library Committee.

  7

  June 1959 to November 1960

  A Candidate for 1960 – George Marshall’s Death – The U-2 Incident – Sit-Down Strikes – A “Treaty on ‘Don’ts’ ” – John F. Kennedy and the Democratic Convention – The Campaign

  Beginning in the summer of 1959, the approaching presidential campaign became the dominant topic in Truman’s and Acheson’s letters. Acheson worried that Adlai Stevenson might again be the Democratic nominee. He had never much liked Stevenson and didn’t believe he could win in 1960. Truman worried that Nixon, a man he despised and thought dangerous to the country, might become President. He was also troubled by doubts about John F. Kennedy, whom he thought too young and inexperienced, and too linked with his rich father, Joseph P. Kennedy. He wanted the Democratic convention to be open and free to choose the best candidate—which would presumably be someone other than Kennedy; Truman favored Missouri Senator Stuart Symington—but as the convention neared, it was evident to Truman that Kennedy’s people were controlling it and that the outcome was almost predetermined. Acheson worried about what his beloved but sometimes problematic old boss would say and do during the political season, and he sent him the most remarkable letter in all their correspondence (June 28, 1960) in an attempt to head off any embarrassing or harmful behavior on Truman’s part. Truman, despite a somewhat rocky performance during the period leading up to and during the Democratic convention, was a loyal party man afterward, enthusiastically committed to John F. Kennedy, at least publicly. Acheson advised him to go on the attack against Nixon during the campaign. Truman did this especially effectively in one of his most unusual and whimsical speeches—which Acheson partially wrote for him—given in California near the end of the campaign.

  Two other important events that appear in Truman’s and Acheson’s letters from this period are the death of General George C. Marshall and the shooting down by the Soviet Union of an American U-2 spy plane.

  When the hectic campaign season was over, Acheson traveled to Independence to give a speech, and he and Truman enjoyed a quiet visit together.

  · · ·

  Truman did not accept the invitation from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy to deliver a series of lectures. Acheson is worried about finding a winning Democratic presidential candidate for the upcoming campaign. “Writing for the Russian vote” probably refers to Averell Harriman, a candidate for President, taking a soft line in U.S.-Russian relations. The “military pamphlet” that columnist Walter Lippmann likes is one of the pamphlets Acheson, and his friend and colleague Paul Nitze in this case, prepared for the Democratic Advisory Council. Titled The Military Forces We Need and How to Get Them, it argues that the country’s defense forces were in desperate need of modernization and increased funding.

  June 25, 1959

  Dear Mr. President,

  I am turning into a nuisance for you. It all comes from people wanting me to intercede for them with you in cases where I should not do so but do not have the courage to tell them so. Now my good friend and old colleague at the State Department, Bob Stewart, Dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, wants you to give the Clayton Lectures next fall or winter. These are three connected lectures on three successive nights for a fee of $1,500 and expenses and a book published by the Harvard Press. I started these off in 1957. Mike [Lester B.] Pearson followed in 1958. Now they want you—very wisely from their point of view. They speak of getting some one to help you if you wish. Bob sent his letter to you via me.

  This is a lot of work. I did it only because I had some ideas which I wanted to be driven into writing by a deadline and finishing. As of today I would not do it. Probably when you write another book you will want more time and quiet than 1959–1960 are likely to provide. But if you have some ideas that would, without excessive labor, make a little volume of 200 pages, this is a dignified and worthy way to get them before the intelligent public.

  That is about the story. I will not harass you more about it.

  I am depressed by the shadow of things to come. It looks to me that, as I feared, drift is the master of our fates. That master seems headed for a ticket of Stevenson and Kennedy. No one else seems to be catching on; and none of our boys have the aura of victory about them. Have you any word of cheer for your despai
ring friend? Averell seems to be writing for the Russian vote, not that it is not all probably true. I just don’t see where it takes him, though I think I see where he would like it to take him. But not with Adlai as President!

  Please give your patient the most affectionate and solicitous messages from Alice and me. We hear good reports of her.

  Did you see Lippmann this morning on the military pamphlet? He was positively lyrical about it. We must be slipping.

  Affectionately

  Dean

  Truman is also thinking about the 1960 presidential campaign. Democratic National Committee Chair Paul Butler had recently attacked the congressional leadership, suggesting, some thought, he would try to lessen the grip of congressional Democrats such as Sam Rayburn and John McCormack on the running of the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. This might give some of the more liberal candidates, including the twice-failed candidate Adlai Stevenson, a better chance. “Soapy” is G. Mennen Williams, governor of Michigan.

  July 12, 1959

  Dear Dean:

  My so called promptness is gradually going into the slow-up stage. I am as sorry as I can be to admit it! My darned mail ran up to some 12,000 items when I had a birthday, Margie had another baby and the Boss had to have a ten or twelve pound tumor removed. Then to top it off I had to send my only sister in for a check up and the smartest of the smart M.D.’s could not decide what the trouble is! She is improving and now maybe I can begin to think—if I ever could!

  I am very much interested in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, at Tufts University. Will try to appear. You put me out front at Yale and then Colorado came along and I’m going to have one hell of a time to maintain my standing. I’ve been to Un[iversity] of Cal[ifornia] and Harvard and Missouri and Kansas and Oklahoma and haven’t been shot at yet. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be.