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This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/26/2023
Fascinating autograph letter signed by Harry Truman, addressed to his former Secretary of State Dean Acheson. Dated 24 September 1961 on his personal stationery, Truman responds to Acheson's long typed letter (included here) on the Kennedy Administration's foreign policy and the Berlin Crisis of 1961. Truman writes in full:
''Dear Dean: - Your letter of Aug. 4th has been read and reread. I think it is a classic. It set[s] out the issues. What the hell are we to do? I don't know. Your letter sets it out.
For my part I'm happy you are trying to set the Administration on the right track. Keep it up.
I am supposed to be in Washington on the last day in October for a talk to the Washington Press Club. Then to stay all night at the White House.
I'll let you know what time the arrival will be made. My headquarters will be at the Mayflower. Don't know whether I should go to the White House or not. Bess will be with me. Sincerely / Harry.'' Single page measures 5.5'' x 8.5''. Folds and staple puncture, overall near fine with exceptionally bold handwriting.
A typed copy of Acheson's 4 August 1961 letter is included. In it, Acheson expresses frustration at Kennedy's inaction, and even despairs of nuclear war. Lengthy letter reads in small part, ''I have just finished a job which I volunteered to do for Dean Rusk and am now going -- in the current jargon -- 'to phase out' for a while. To work for this crowd is strangely depressing. Nothing seems to get decided...But over all of this hangs Berlin. I do not agree with an alleged remark of yours that Mr. K [Khrushchev] is bluffing. He has, I believe sensed weakness and division in the West and intends to exploit it to the hilt. It wouldn't take more than an error or two on each side to carry us over the edge into nuclear war. Or we could panic into an abject acceptance of K's terms..'' Two page letter on two sheets measures 8.5'' x 11''. File holes at top and light creasing, overall near fine.
Acheson in this letter refers to recommendations he gave President Kennedy on the Berlin Crisis, which JFK ultimately followed. Acheson's worst fears were never realized, of course, though the Crisis did result in the construction of the Berlin Wall.
A typed copy of Acheson's 21 September 1961 letter to Truman is also included. All three letters have been published in ''Affection and Trust: The Personal Correspondence of Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson, 1953-1971''.
Harry Truman Autograph Letter Signed to Dean Acheson -- Candid Letter Critiques the Kennedy Administration's Response to the Berlin Crisis of 1961 at the Height of the Cold War
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