Dear Mr. President Letters to the Oval Office from the Files of the National Archives

by Young, Dwight; Williams, Brian

• ISBN13: 9780792241850
• ISBN10: 0792241851
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-11-01
• Publisher: National Geographic

Summary

This carefully selected collection of letters, spanning from the earliest days of the Republic to the present, were pulled from the extensive holdings of the National Archives. Archivists searched through hundreds of letters held throughout their network, which includes all of the Presidential libraries.Dear Mr. Presidentreproduces 75 letters from everyday citizens and some quite famous people: John Glenn, Elvis Presley, Walt Disney, Ho Chi Minh, Nikita Kruschev, Upton Sinclair, John Steinbeck, Robert Kennedy, and many more. An introduction byNBC Nightly Newsanchor Brian Williams and essays by Dwight Young illuminate and expand the tenor of the times in which the letters were written. Full-size facsimiles of the letters are reproduced with transcripts of the text for easy reading, and letters are grouped thematically: Civil rights, the cold war, physical fitness, joblessness, World War II, the space race, western expansion, among many other topics. Dear Mr. Presidentis a charming walk through American history through the eyes of ordinary and extraordinary people writing to their President.

Author Biography

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent Federal agency that preserves our nation's history and defines us as a people by overseeing the management of all Federal records. Enshrined for posterity in the original building in Washington, DC, are the cornerstone documents of our government, the Charters of Freedom: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights. But the National Archives and Records Administration is more than famous documents. NARA's 34 facilities hold about 2.9 million cubic feet of original textual materials-that's more than 8 billion pieces of paper from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government. Presidents and politicians, diplomats and soldiers, the famous, the infamous, and the ordinary citizen all have a place here. THOMAS MALLON: Thomas Mallon is a novelist and critic and the author of acclaimed works of historical fiction including Henry and Clara, Two Moons, Dewey Defeats Truman. His nonfiction work includes In Fact: Essays on Writers and Writing, Stolen Words, A Book of One's Own, and Mrs. Paine's Garage. He is the former literary editor of GQ and has contributed frequently to The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The American Scholar, and Harper's. His honors include Guggenheim and Rockefeller fellowships, and served in 1998 as chairman of the fiction judges for the National Book Awards. His 2004 novel, Bandbox, centers around New York magazine wars during the 'Roaring Twenties.' He lives in Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 12
Introduction	p. 14
Brian Williams to President Lyndon B. Johnson, November 25, 1966
First President	p. 18
John Langdon to George Washington, April 6, 1789
The King And I	p. 20
King Mongkut of Siam to Abraham Lincoln, February 14, 1861
Equal Pay	p. 24
James H. Gooding to Abraham Lincoln, September 28, 1863
Freedom	p. 26
Annie Davis to Abraham Lincoln, August 28, 1864
Lincoln Assassination	p. 28
Lincoln's Cabinet to Andrew Johnson, April 15, 1865
The "Indian" Question	p. 30
Wolf Chief to James Garfield, December, 1881
Gov. Edmund Ross and others to Grover Cleveland, August 14, 1886
The Spanish-American War	p. 34
Annie Oakley to William McKinley, April 5, 1898
Muckraking	p. 36
Upton Sinclair to Theodore Roosevelt, March 10, 1906
Anti-Semitism	p. 38
Charles D. Levy to Calvin Coolidge, June 24, 1924
Anti-Immigration	p. 40
Women of the Ku Klux Klan to Calvin Coolidge, May 15, 1924
Prohibition	p. 42
Alva P. Jones, National Cigarette Law Enforcement League, to Herbert Hoover, May 25, 1929
Womans Home Missionary Society to Herbert Hoover, June 15, 1932
Mr. and Mrs. William E. Wilson to Herbert Hoover, June 15, 1932
Lindbergh Kidnapping	p. 46
Citizens of South Dakota to Herbert Hoover, April 26, 1932
Lynching	p. 48
Henry Johnson to William McKinley, June 5, 1899
Ara Lee Settle to Warren G. Harding, June 8, 1922
Horace Robinson to Herbert Hoover, November 20, 1929
Aviatrix	p. 54
Amelia Earhart to Franklin D. Roosevelt, November 10, 1936
The Federal Arts Project	p. 56
Gisella (Lacher) Loeffler to Eleanor Roosevelt, July 27, 1939
Social Security	p. 62
Petra E. Harthun to Eleanor Roosevelt, August 7, 1941
Cuba	p. 64
Fidel Castro to Franklin D. Roosevelt, November 6, 1940
Separate But Equal	p. 66
C. Dearman to William H. Taft, July 18, 1912
George A. Murray to Woodrow Wilson, February 14, 1920
The Holocaust	p. 70
Stephen S. Wise to Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 2, 1942
Pearl Harbor	p. 72
J.B. Manual to Franklin D. Roosevelt, February 23, 1942
The Draft, Wwii	p. 74
French R. Massey to Franklin D. Roosevelt, November 12, 1943
Anna Rush to Franklin D. Roosevelt, November 18, 1943
Carolyn Weatherhogg to Franklin D. Roosevelt, October 14, 1943
Friendship	p. 78
Winston Churchill to Franklin D. Roosevelt, May 1, 1944
Japanese War Atrocities, Wwii	p. 80
Wilma Lindsay to Franklin D. Roosevelt, February 9, 1944
Japanese Internment, Wwii	p. 82
Harold Ickes to Franklin D. Roosevelt, June 1, 1944
The Bomb	p. 84
Albert Einstein to Franklin D. Roosevelt, August 2, 1939
Concerned Scientists to Harry S. Truman, July 17, 1945
Raoul Wallenberg	p. 88
Guy von Dardel to Harry S. Truman, March 27, 1947
The Postwar Recovery	p. 90
Ella Leber to Harry S. Truman, 1948
Presidential Pets	p. 92
Phyllis Bamberger to Harry S. Truman, January 7, 1948
Edwin Burtis to Lyndon B. Johnson, April 30, 1964
John Starnes to Lyndon B. Johnson, June 20, 1966
John Nabors to Dwight D. Eisenhower, April 3, 1955
Racism	p. 98
Ray Fadden to Harry S. Truman, September 3, 1951
Polio	p. 100
Ralph Ziegler to Harry S. Truman, January 31, 1949
Margaret M. Powers to Dwight D. Eisenhower, April 18, 1955
Douw Fonda to Dwight D. Eisenhower, August 8, 1955
The King Is Drafted	p. 104
Linda Kelly, Sherry Bane, Mickie Mattson to Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1958
The Queen's Scones	p. 106
Queen Elizabeth II to Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 24, 1960
Discrimination	p. 108
Jackie Robinson to Dwight D. Eisenhower, May 13, 1958
Civil Rights Unrest	p. 110
Woodrow W. Mann to Dwight D. Eisenhower, September 23, 1957
Martin Luther King, Jr. to John F. Kennedy, September 15, 1963
Leah Russell to Dwight D. Eisenhower, September 25, 1957
Civil Rights Act	p. 114
Roy Wilkins to Lyndon B. Johnson, November 5, 1964
Vietnam Begins	p. 116
Ho Chi Minh to Harry S. Truman, February 28, 1946
Ngo Dinh Diem to John F. Kennedy, February 23, 1963
Vietnam	p. 120
Bobbie Lou Pendergrass to John F. Kennedy, February 18, 1963
John F. Kennedy to Bobbie Lou Pendergrass, March 6, 1963
John Steinbeck to Lyndon B. Johnson, May 28, 1966
The Smothers Brothers to Lyndon B. Johnson, October 31, 1968
Lyndon B. Johnson to the Smothers Brothers, November 9, 1968
Physical Fitness	p. 128
Gladys D. McPherson to John F. Kennedy, March 14, 1963
Richard Millington to John F. Kennedy, February 11, 1963
Presidential Signatures	p. 132
Leonard Lyons to John F. Kennedy, October 2, 1961
John F. Kennedy to Leonard Lyons, October 11, 1961
Leonard Lyons to John F. Kennedy, October 16, 1961
Pierre Salinger to Leonard Lyons, November 15, 1961
Presidential Advice	p. 136
Harry S. Truman to John F. Kennedy, June 28, 1962
Herbert Hoover to Harry S. Truman, December 19, 1962
Barry Goldwater to Gerald Ford, May 7, 1976
Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan, August 13, 1987
Lady Bird	p. 142
Lady Bird Johnson to Lyndon B. Johnson, August, 1964
Undercover Elvis	p. 144
Elvis Presley to Richard Nixon, December 21, 1970
Nixon in China	p. 148
Mary Ann Grelinger to Richard Nixon, July 16, 1971
Mrs. John Shields to Richard Nixon, July 16, 1971
Nixon's Pardon	p. 150
Jackie Ann Lucas to Gerald Ford, November, 1974
Robert Lind to Gerald Ford, September, 1974
Anthony Ferreira to Gerald Ford, September 11, 1974
Betty Ford	p. 154
Tyson Garrison to Betty Ford, August 13, 1975
Dorothy Tabata to Betty Ford, August 18, 1975
Mother Teresa	p. 158
Mother Teresa to Jimmy Carter, November 17, 1979
The Economy	p. 160
Roy Klober to Jimmy Carter, 1980
L.W. McKenzie, Jr. to Jimmy Carter, 1980
Iran Hostage Situation	p. 162
Cyrus Vance to Jimmy Carter, April 21, 1980
Natural Disasters	p. 164
Andy Smith to Ronald Reagan, April 18, 1984
Ronald Reagan to Andy Smith, May 11, 1984
First Gulf War	p. 168
Patricia J. Elvin to George H.W. Bush, November 27, 1990
Eric Colton to George H.W. Bush, February 12, 1991
Space	p. 172
Thaddeus Zagorewicz to Richard Nixon, July 20, 1969
John Glenn to Bill Clinton, November 6, 1998
About the Presidential Records Act and the Freedom of Information Act	p. 176
About the Authors
About the Foundation for the National Archives	p. 177
About the Presidential Library System	p. 178
Acknowledgments	p. 180
Letter Citations and Permissions	p. 181
Selected Transcriptions	p. 184
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