Remarkable ALS signed “Ike,” one page, 8 x 10.5, November 12, [1944]. Letter to his wife Mamie, in part: "My darling, Yesterday I arrived at my advanced camp, after quite a tour along the front, and found your letter, written just after Johnny had asked you to come down to see him. I fully understand your distress when contemplating his departure—I feel just as badly—But it always depresses me when you talk about 'dirty tricks' I've played and what a beating you've taken, apparently because of me. You've always put your own interpretation on every act…of mine, and when you've made yourself unhappy, that has, in turn, made me the same. It's true we've never been apart for 2 1/2 years, and at a time and under conditions that make separations painful and hard to bear. Because you don't have a specific war job that absorbs your time and thoughts I understand also that this distress is harder for you to bear. But you should not forget that I do miss you and do love you, and that the load of responsibility I carry would be intolerable unless I could have the belief that there is someone who wants me to come home—for good. Don't forget that I take a beating, every day. Entirely aside from my own problems I constantly receive letters from bereaved mothers, sisters, and wives…begging me to send their men home or, at least outside the battle zone…So far as John is concerned, we can do nothing but pray. If I interfered even slightly or indirectly he would be so resentful for the remainder of his life that neither I, (nor you, if he thought you had anything to do with it) could be comfortable with him. It's all so terrible, so awful, that I constantly wonder how 'civilization' can stand war at all. But, God, how do I hope and pray that all will be well with him. Now sweet, don't get me wrong in this letter. I'm not 'fussing' at you. But please try to see me in something besides a despicable light—and at least let me be certain of my welcome home when this mess is finished. I truly love you and I do know that when you blow off steam you don't really think of me as such a black hearted creature as your language implies. I'd rather you didn't mention any of this again." In fine condition.
John Eisenhower graduated from West Point on the same day of the Normandy invasion, and soon thereafter was posted to Europe to help his father cope with the stresses of the ongoing campaign. He was allotted special treatment upon his arrival, assigned to intelligence and administrative duties in England and Germany by higher ups fretful of his father’s eye. When he volunteered for a front-line role in the Korean War during his father’s 1952 presidential campaign, John’s short stint in combat with an infantry battalion was replaced by a role in the safety of division headquarters. The anxiety felt by the Eisenhowers over the safety of their son cannot be understated; the couple’s loss of their first son, Doud, at the age of four, was a tragedy that nearly ended their marriage. Written only four short months after D-Day, this powerfully touching letter represents Eisenhower’s near impossible balancing act of general, husband, and father.
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