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    "localId": "16972232",
    "label": "Memorandum from Bryce Harlow to Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon Regarding Congressional Reaction to the Farewell Address",
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    "title": "Memorandum from Bryce Harlow to Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon Regarding Congressional Reaction to the Farewell Address",
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        "Eisenhower, Dwight D.: Papers, Post-Presidential",
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    "ocrText": "HArLow Bryce N\nCONFIDENTIAL\nMarch 17, 1961\nMEMORANDUM FOR:\nDWIGHT D. EISENHOWER\nThe\n1021ma\nRICHARD M. NIXON\nI attach several items of interest compiled by Steve Hess, some\nof which might be exploitable by certain of the boys on the Hill\nand have been passed along to them with that thought in mind.\nThere is an interesting development, Mr. President, involving your\n\"Farewell Address.\" At least two vigorous young Republicans in the\nHouse (Bob Michel of Illinois and Brad Morse of Massachusetts) have\ninterested themselves in your warning to America against excessive\npower being accumulated by the military-industrial complex and are\ngirding their loins to raise a rumpus through the Congressional\ninvestigation route. Nation magazine, of all things, has suddenly\ninterested itself in the same thing and has run a column on the\nsubject written by Jerry Greene, one of the most conservative cor-\nrespondents in Washington. Congressional Quarterly, widely read,\nwill run a whole spread on this in its next issue. The point is,\nthis part of the Address turns out to be curiously yeasty, and\none can expect some fall-out from it in the Congressional-political\narea over coming months. All of the interested parties (except\nNation, of course!) have been in touch with me about this: I have\nquietly, without attribution, sought to add fuel to this still small\nflame.\nThe Congressional Leaders have at last hired Bob Humphreys as their\nfull-time staff man, much to my relief and gratification. He should\ndo a splendid job, provided they will give him running room, and I\nwould anticipate that within the next month the public imprint of\nEv and Charlie will be noticeably more powerful and positive. There\nis a growing undercurrent of discontent, especially among the new\nHouse Republicans (a very large class approximating 40), but in-\ncluding Tom Curtis who is a veritable bulldog, over the leadership\n(and party) image now being projected by the Leaders, and this\ncould evolve into a serious problem for Charlie, Johnny Byrnes and\nLes, but my hope is that Bob Humphreys' imaginative help will ease\nthis strain before it reaches serious proportions.\n- 2 -\nTHE\nYou recognize in this, of course, the old problem in the House --\nthat of keeping new members feeling useful and as part of the\nteam. What is needed is assignment to the new freshman class,\nand to our very attractive young leaders, such as Byrnes, Ford,\nLaird, Rhodes and Frelinghuysen, speaking and other public chores\nso they will not only feel more a part of things but also will\nbrighten the party image. Charlie is acutely aware of this need,\nhaving seen it intimately in his struggle with Joe Martin, and\nI am hopeful that he will move in reasonable time to meet it.\nThe National Chairmanship problem remains substantially as it\nwas, as far as I can determine, with no clear decision as to\nThrus Morton's successor or as to when Thrus will step aside.\nHalleck is stoutly for Ray Bliss but would be willing to have\nan attractive front man with Bliss in second place, if this turns\nout to be preferred. Bill Miller of New York begins to be talked\nabout for the post but ought to be subject to the same disability\nas Thrus -- re-election problems in 1962. Barry Goldwater still\nstands for Bliss, I am informed, as does Ev Dirksen, but more\nimportant than any of this is the continuing confusion and lack\nof tight forward planning. The National Committee career staff\nis considerably discombobulated by all of this, Thrus being\nrarely at the Committee, Hal Short serving really as Acting\nChairman, and no one quite sure where authority truly lies and\nwhat the continuing policies and programs are to be. In sum,\nthe problem is no less difficult than it was last January, as\nall of us feared would be the case. A tough party fight over\nthis spot seems definitely in prospect.\nAs a side note, Arthur Summerfield is chairman of the June 1\ndinner here being put on at the Armory by the Senate and House\nRepublican Campaign Committees. I need hardly report that he is\nthrowing himself heart and soul into this effort; it is safe to\npredict, knowing him, that he will turn it into a real extrava-\nganza. The Democratic Party will put on a big party here only\nthree days before. Art swears that he is going to outdo the\ncompetition. I have no doubt at all that he will.\nThere was extraordinary tribute inherent in the passage of the\n5-star bill. One complaining voice only was raised among the\n537 members in both Houses -- that of Dale Alford, who opposed\nthe bill because he represents Little Rock, Arkansas, and con-\ntended that the South ought, by opposing this bill, to register\ndisapproval of the use of force in the Little Rock school fracas.\nNo one paid him the slightest heed.\nand possibly related to the preeding paragraph!\nLibrary\n- 3 -\nIncidentally, Alford is potentially an opponent of Wilbur Mills\nas a result of Arkansas redistricting, but Mills tells me (1) that\nAlford has promised not to oppose him, preferring to run for\ngovernor, and of perhaps equal interest Mills says (2) that\nFaubus now states categorically, that he will not run against\nFulbright. Rumors are extant that Mills will receive a judgeship\nfrom the new Administration in order to remove him from the Ways\nand Means Committee before the medical care fight next year.\nThe talk is that Mills would be inclined to accept because his\nwife's health is poor and because he got enough of the day-to-\nday political struggle during the Rules Committee fight early\nthis year, in which he had to pick between standing with Sam\nRayburn and standing with his constituency (he chose Rayburn).\nAll conservative-minded people would, of course, be aghast if\nMills should leave the Committee; his departure would be a blow\nto Congressional responsibility worse than the packing of the\nRules Committee. Mills' successor would be leftist Cecil King\nof California.\nKennedy's legislative program faces real trouble in the House.\nConservatives have an excellent chance to control the minimum\nwage bill when it hits the House Floor next week; the school bill\nis in deep trouble, as of course you know, over the Catholic and\nrace issues as well as teacher salaries; farm legislation is in\ntraditional travail; the measure to reduce tourist buying abroad\nfrom $500 to $100 has been called back, even after tentative Ways\nand Means Committee approval, for second thinking by the State\nDepartment; the backdoor financing part of the distressed areas\nbill will almost surely be defeated in the House; defense reor-\nganization is stymied for at least a year; medical care for the\naged is likewise deferred to next year and still faces a tough\ntime; highway financing has run up against the same huge lobby\nfrom truckers that defeated a like attempt some five years ago;\nmutual security faces its traditional Armageddon, with the\nminority far more intransigeant than heretofore; the peace corps\nincreasingly comes up against somber second thoughts and will\nlikely be entwined in a whole web of restrictive amendments before\nit escapes the Congress; improving economic prospects are de-\npressurizing most key domestic measures of whatever kind, and\nmore and more the minority in both Houses begins to veer about\nto slash at the Democratic jugular. There will surely be a loud\noutcry over the budget amendments due in a week or ten days, be-\ncause a substantial deficit will be forecast; civil rights\nlegislative pledges are still to be redeemed; a Pentagon roil\nLibrary S.\n- 4 -\nOne\nbegins to develop as the Army, Navy and Marines develop deep\nresentments over Air Force influence in the new defense scheme;\nthings abroad look progressively bleaker; Soapy Williams looks\nmore and more like a really profitable minority target; White\nHouse moves to control the regulatory commissions, to close the\nmouths of Administration people, to take care of cronies and\nrelatives and rejected candidates (see enclosures), and White\nHouse inability to persuade Congress to cooperate, lay the\nfoundation for severe criticism in the months ahead. At the\nmoment the popularity of the new President appears to be high\nbecause of the ease with which the public confuses motion with\nprogress -- but it is deeply meaningful that here, in mid-March,\nthe only substantive bill that has yet been passed by Congress\nturns out to be the unanimously accepted 5-star bill for Dwight D.\nEisenhower -- a bill for which the groundwork had been laid be-\nfore the new Administration took office. I foresee growing\ntroubles for this new crowd that will warm the cockles of the\nRepublican hearts all across the country, and I gladly report\nthat everywhere on the Hill politicians still report a Republican\nmorale and an eagerness to work wonderful to behold. If only the\nParty can cleanse itself of (1) negativism, (2) the big business\nstigma, (3) the hard-hearted image, and can come up with a\ngenuine national issue (such as toeing in the union monopoly\nmight conceivably be), I anticipate startling Democratic re-\nverses in 1962 and later. Tom Curtis even reports that there\nis a genuine possibility of electing a Republican mayor in\nSt. Louis; Sam Rayburn most uncomfortably confided that no person\nalive can foretell the Texas special election; Jim Mitchell's\nprospects seem good in New Jersey, provided the primary challenge\ncan be surmounted; Mumma's replacement (John Kunkel) in Pennsylvania\nseems certain of victory -- and so, given a little imagination\nand energy the Democratic bloom ought soon to fade.\nNate Twining, of course retired, is on the precipice of letting\nout a violent complaint about new trends in national defense.\nHe fully appreciates the possibility of severe reaction against\nhim by the new Administration leaders but feels duty bound to\nprotest. He could trigger off an unending series of attacks on\nKennedy and McNamara in the defense area; as indicated, the\nPentagon soil grows increasingly fertile for this kind of thing.\nBy next week, Hess having gotten fully under way, we hope to have\na few suggested notes that you might usefully send to various\n- 5 -\nMembers of the Senate and House and perhaps to some of the press.\nIt is time that the boys here know that the two of you are watch-\nful of their antics, it seems to me.\nSincerely,\nLibrary OF\nBit\nBryce N. Harlow\nEnclosures"
}