Seth Kaller, Inc.

“I have heard that the Congress, in one of its few bursts of wisdom, has included in the so-called “Civil Rights Bill” a declaration that where individual States have enacted satisfactory legislation to assure equal opportunity to all and equal standing before the law, and enforce those laws properly, the Federal Government will not claim exclusive jurisdiction.

“While I agree, largely, with your criticism of the Supreme Court, I scarcely see how the Federal Government can fail to take cognizance of the 14th and 15th Amendments and violations thereof. The Constitution and treaties, along with laws made in accordance therewith are the supreme laws of the land.”

Edgar Eisenhower, who was more conservative than his younger brother, was unhappy with a Supreme Court intent on protecting minority rights.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER. Typed Letter Signed “Ike,” to Edgar N. Eisenhower, May 28, 1964, Gettysburg, PA. On “DDE” letterhead. 1 p., 7 x 10¼ in.

Inventory #26455       Price: $2,500

Historical Background
President Eisenhower signed the 1957 Civil Rights Act to protect the voting rights of African Americans, and sent troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce the integration of public schools. The 1964 Act was passed by the House of Representatives on February 10, the Senate on June 19, and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it into law on July 2. The Act outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

Ten years before this letter, President Eisenhower had written in a “Personal and Confidential” letter to his brother, “You keep harping on the Constitution; I should like to point out that the meaning of the Constitution is what the Supreme Court says it is. Consequently no powers are exercised by the Federal government except where such exercise is approved by the Supreme Court (lawyers) of the land…. Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history.” He admitted that a “tiny splinter group” believed they could do these things, but “their number is negligible and they are stupid…. So how can you say I am getting ‘bad’ advice; why don’t you just assume I am stupid, trying to wreck the nation, and leave our Constitution in tatters? I assure that you have more reason, based on sixty-four years of contact, to say this than you do to make the bland assumption that I am surrounded by a group of Machiavellian characters who are seeking the downfall of the United States and the ascendancy of socialism and communism in the world.”[1]

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the third of seven sons, all of whom were called “Ike” after their last name. His next older brother Edgar was known as “Big Ike,” while the future President was called “Little Ike.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) was born in Texas but grew up in Kansas. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1915. He served in the United States Army during World War I and was promoted to Major soon after the war. At the beginning of World War II, he joined the General Staff in Washington and quickly came to the attention of Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall. In November 1942, Eisenhower became Supreme Commander of Allied forces in North Africa, and in December 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Eisenhower as Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe, and Eisenhower had primary responsibility for planning the D-Day invasion of Normandy in June 1944. In November 1945, he returned from Europe to replace Marshall as Chief of Staff of the Army. Three years later, he became President of Columbia University, where he served until 1953. In 1952 and again in 1956, he won landslide elections as a Republican candidate for President of the United States. He served as President from 1953 to 1961. He was the only general to serve as President in the twentieth century.

Edgar N. Eisenhower (1889-1971) was born in Kansas, the second of seven sons born to his parents, and graduated from the University of Michigan with a law degree in 1914. He began practicing law in Tacoma, Washington, and was also involved in several businesses. He practiced law there for the next fifty years. Beginning in 1940, he lived in a modest brick home on the west side of American lake in Lakewood, Washington. When his brother was president, Edgar Eisenhower was often an outspoken critic. An ultraconservative, Big Ike criticized his brother’s budgets, policies, and judicial nominations. His brother Little Ike shrugged and told reporters that his brother had been “criticizing me since I was 5 years old.”

Condition: flattened mail folds and two holes punched at the top margin.