Letter from Margaret Lytle to President Harry S. Truman with Attached Newspaper Clipping

RRY "NATIONAL AND P.P.F. Chirago Registry for Nurses 2818 Cambridge AVENUE CHICAGO 14, ILLINOIS Humen on TELEPHONE GRACELAND 2-0202 4 December II-I950. President Truman: It is appalling to realize that the President of the United States, in these critical days, is SO lacking in self-control that he would dash off an insulting letter to a reputable music critic, who dared to criticize the President's daughter. While I make no pretense of being a literary critic; nevertheless I recognized the first time I heard Margaret sing in public, that her voice had no "quality" although she has obviously had excellent training. Surely we have not got to the point in this country where an artist's performance is judged on her father's political position rather than on merit. The Russians are doing just that in music and science. Margaret, herself, seems to have much more poise and dignity than you. It is undersàandable that a little country haberdasher, who went broke, should get the swelled head, when he is elevated to a high position, by accident- a position for which he has neither the intellectual capacity nor the emotional stabliity to handle. The American people would do well to recall that two Democratic Presidents- Roosevelt and Wilson- were physically and mentally incapable of functioning the last year they were in the White House. In each case, the President's staff protected him rather than the country, with results which are too well known to require comment. Taking into consideration your age, the frequency of emotional outbursts in the past year, your apparently care-free vacations in a time of crisis- the Army-Navy football, the trip to Independence, followed immediately by week's rest on your yacht- one wonders- can this nation long endure under such leadership. Mangret Lytle Margaret Lytle.