sold Dwight D. Eisenhower Writes on the Challenges and Burdens of the Presidency

Earl Mazo was a journalist for the New York Herald Tribune, New York Times and Newday, and author of numerous political biographies and histories. He specialized in writing about Republicans such as Eisenhower and Nixon. In 1965 he was working on an article for Newsday, and interviewed the former president on the presidency and such key foreign policy issues as the Bay of Pigs.

On August 25, he wrote to Ike “to clear a few quotes for use in the Newsday article.” His questions each related to a tentative quote by the former president: “1. Re the Cuban invasion Ôplan’ allegedly inherited by the Kennedy administration: ÔThere was no tactical or operational plan even discussed’…As of January 20, 1961, there was no leader of the exile Cubans. The force in training was so small that the new President Ôcould even halt the training’; American prestige could not be a main consideration at the time because Ôour prestige had not yet been committed’…2. I am referring to the Guatamala operation… with regard to the crisis that prompted some to urge its abandonment, I should like to quote you as follows: ÔIf our hand had been discovered, then it was more important than ever that we win’…3. In regard to Dulles and the Joint Chiefs, who Sorenson and Schlesinger condemn as the Ôexperts’ and Ôplanners’ inherited from the Eisenhower administration: ÔThese men over decades of devoted service have shown their capabilities, their sense of logic, their understanding of the problems involved in this kind of venture…I had the greatest confidence in them’…4. Note General Eisenhower’s agreement…that there is much more to the presidency than many may think. As General Eisenhower had stated…ÔAnyone that consciously seeks the office of the presidency – by that very token, has shown that he isn’t quite yet prepared for it…he knows nothing about its real strains and difficulties and burdens…and thus does not have a real appreciation of what he seeks.’”

Eisenhower responded in this Typed Letter Signed, one page 4to, Gettysburg, Pa., August 27,1965, to Mazo. “The first quotation that you want to use, "There was no tactical or operational plan even discussed…’ is quite all right. The rest of the paragraph should be written on your own authority and in the third person. The quotation in your paragraph 2 is all right also, as is the first one in paragraph 3. The second one where you say, "Any who would try to disparage them…’ should not be a quotation. That can be merely stated as my personal conviction. The quotation in the last paragraph should be shortened merely to say: "Anyone that consciously seeks the office of the Presidency, by that very token shows he is not fully aware of its demands.’ I think these will suit your purpose and show that we had seriously conferred."

Thus, Ike states that his administration never even progressed to the planning stage in operations against Castro’s Cuba, thus transferring the burden for the Bay of Pigs fiasco to his successor, John F. Kennedy. However, he does not want to be quoted regarding some of the details. He also reaffirms his confidence in his controversial Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles. He then proceeds to give a historically important and rather sobering assessment of the presidency, expressing his opinion that the challenges and burdens of the office of president are so great that anyone who seeks the job reveals that he has no idea what it entails.

Eisenhower was a forceful leader who faced truly vexing domestic and cold war problems and handled them with great skill and a fundamental sense of decency. In so doing, he played a crucial role in creating the modern presidency. It is therefore nothing short of extraordinary to see his retrospective assessment providing an admission (about how little he knew going in), an insight (no one can ever be prepared for the enormity of the job), and a revelation (that even he had to struggle mightily to master the challenges). We can only recall seeing one or two other letters of any president containing such an important view of the presidency and the men who seek it. The letter is signed "D.E.", as are such a large percentage of those he wrote to close friends and colleagues.