The First Major Cuban Refugee Program: With Just Four Days Left in Office, President Dwight D. Eisenhower Thanks Henry Ford II for Lending Senior Ford Motor Company Personnel to Establish and Run the Cuban Refugee Emergency Center, and “making its work a success.”

Ike wrote that asked “for help in dealing with this crisis, your company at once furnished…the same team – Mr. Leo C. Beebe and Mr. Charles A. Pink – who did so much to make a success of our work…for the Hungarian refugees four years ago.”

In the wake of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, a Cuban exodus began as the new government allied itself with the Soviet Union and began to introduce communism. Tens of thousands of Cubans left Cuba starting in late 1959 and picking up in 1960, and the United States became the country of first asylum as the Cuban refugees sought and found political refuge here. For the first time, the United States Government found it necessary to develop a program to help refugees from another nation in this hemisphere.

In the forefront of this effort was President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was in the waning days of his administration. In November 1960, Eisenhower directed Tracy S. Voorhees, a former Undersecretary of the Army, to act as the President’s Personal Representative for Cuban Refugees, to look into the Cuban refugee situation. To do this, and deal with the broader challenges the refugees presented, Voorhees reached out for assistance to Henry Ford II of the Ford Motor Company, who had been of great help on a similar occasion in the past. In 1956, Ford lent one of his senior executives, Leo Beebe, to the U.S. government to supervise the resettlement in the U.S. of refugees fleeing Hungary after the failure of the revolution there. Beebe became executive vice chairman of Eisenhower’s Committee for Hungarian Refugees. In addition to his committee work, during 1956-1957, while working out of Camp Kilmer in northern New Jersey, Beebe and his aide Charles A. Pink, a Ford staff member, oversaw the relocation and resettlement of 35,000 Hungarian refugees in the United States, eventually finding them permanent residences in this country.

In 1960 Ford came through again, and provided the services of the experienced Beebe and Pink for the Cuban refugee effort. The Cuban Refugee Emergency Center was established in Miami, and became the focal point of refugee registration, assistance, relief and resettlement, as well as coordination of government and independent agencies’ programs. Federal funding provided for the center’s operations, record keeping, publications, coordination of agencies and research on different aspects of the refugee situation, as well as for programs. The latter included financial assistance, educational loans, health care, adult education and re-training, resettlement and care of unaccompanied children.

To understand the scope of the effort, in the first two years after the Cuban Revolution, over 50,000 Cubans fled and established new homes in the United States.

Typed letter signed, on White House letterhead, Washington, January 16, 1961, to Henry Ford II, thanking him for again lending a much-needed hand in this critical venture. This letter was written a mere four days before Ike left office and was succeeded by John F. Kennedy. “Tracy Voorhees, my representative for the Cuban refugee problem, has told me that in response to his request to the Ford Motor Company for help in dealing with this crisis, your company at once furnished to him the same team – Mr. Leo C. Beebe and Mr. Charles A. Pink – who did so much to make a success of our work at Camp Kilmer for the Hungarian refugees four years ago.

“With their unique experience gained at Kilmer, these men have been largely responsible for setting up our Cuban Refugee Emergency Center in Miami, and making its work a success. May I express to you and to the Ford Motor Company my
sincere appreciation of your again answering our call for help?”

This letter remained in the Ford family until recently, and it has never before been offered for sale.