TLS as president, two pages, 7 x 10.25, White House letterhead, September 21, 1959. Letter to James E. Webb at Kerr-McGee Oil Industries. In full: “In the rush of preparations for my recent European trip I did not have the opportunity to thank you personally for your outstanding service on the President’s Committee to Study the United States Military Assistance Program. Your study was indeed a significant one, and each of the four reports as well as the annexes provides a wealth of valuable information and suggestions. I am sure that the impact of your work will be felt for many years to come. I have directed the various interested agencies to expedite their work in implementing appropriate recommendations, and can assure you that I personally will see that full use is made of your studies by the executive agencies.
I returned from my European trip more convinced than ever of the necessity for a continuing program of mutual assistance among the nations of the free world. Certainly the crisis in Laos re-emphasizes this concern. Your study will, I am sure, not only help develop public understanding of and support for the programs in which we are engaged, but will also greatly assist us in the continuing task of improving organizational arrangements so as to best carry out these programs. Knowing of the tremendous demands on your time, I am doubly appreciative of your willingness to unselfishly devote your energies and talents to this vital study. I am hopeful that sometime this fall I might meet with the full committee to thank each of you personally.” Horizontal mailing fold through portions of a few letters of signature, and a rusty paperclip mark to first page, otherwise fine condition.
Webb had served as President Harry S. Truman's Director of the Bureau of the Budget and Under Secretary of State before moving on to director of Kerr-McGee Oil Industries. No longer part of the White House ‘inner circle,’ Webb still offered his counsel as a member of the President’s Committee to Study the United States Military Assistance Program. The committee’s 1959 report emphasized a need to promote internal security and defend against both ‘external’ and ‘internal’ aggression. “I am sure that the impact of your work will be felt for many years to come...and can assure you that I personally will see that full use is made of your studies by the executive agencies,” Ike writes. While much of the study was directed toward the Cold War, the president also hints at the troubles in Southeast Asia and his conviction of the “necessity for a continuing program of mutual assistance among the nations of the free world. Certainly the crisis in Laos re-emphasizes this concern.” On September 4, 1959, the Associated Press had reported, ‘As Laos sought United Nations assistance against what it called aggression from neighboring North Vietnam, her troops clashed with Communist-led rebels...Guerrilla fighting is flaring over a wide area in northern Laos where pro-Communist forces threaten the mountain-rimmed stronghold of Samneus.’ A great reference to a conflict in which US forces would become entangled for the next two decades. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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