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2447
JOHN ALEX MC cone
612 SOUTH FLOWER STREET
LOS ANGELES 90017
June 23, 1969
Dear Mr. President:
Thank you for your warm letter of May 14th.
Like so many others, I have followed your activities
H
with the greatest of admiration and compliment you
warmly for SO much that you have done most particularly,
in creating an atmosphere of public confidence in you.
Confidence is the cornerstone of public support and is
essential to the successful implementation of both domestic
and foreign policy and, as you and I know, confidence has
been sadly lacking in recent years. Broad public enthusiasm
for your recent actions, speeches and press conferences
evidences the change that has taken place.
Having lived at close range with the decisions of
South Vietnam from 1961 onward and disagreed with
many of them I naturally feel a deeper personal concern
than most men in private life and hence, I feel compelled
to express my concern to you on two points.
First, I believe the public must always be made
aware of the facts concerning our involvement in South
Vietnam. On January 20, 1961, when President Eisenhower
and you left the South Vietnam problem to others, we had
800 military advisors and an equal number of foreign aid
personnel located in and about Saigon. Eight years later
when you picked the problem up again, we had 550, 000 men
and countless civilian personnel engaged in a major military
effort and doing all sorts of other things as well.
The first major decision came in the fall of 1961
when President Kennedy accepted the recommendations
of General Taylor and Walter Rostow and, as a result,
our military presence in South Vietnam was almost
immediately increased to 15, 000 "advisors". This was
a step President Eisenhower refused to take as it was a
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"ocrText": "2447\nJOHN ALEX MC cone\n612 SOUTH FLOWER STREET\nLOS ANGELES 90017\nJune 23, 1969\nDear Mr. President:\nThank you for your warm letter of May 14th.\nLike so many others, I have followed your activities\nH\nwith the greatest of admiration and compliment you\nwarmly for SO much that you have done most particularly,\nin creating an atmosphere of public confidence in you.\nConfidence is the cornerstone of public support and is\nessential to the successful implementation of both domestic\nand foreign policy and, as you and I know, confidence has\nbeen sadly lacking in recent years. Broad public enthusiasm\nfor your recent actions, speeches and press conferences\nevidences the change that has taken place.\nHaving lived at close range with the decisions of\nSouth Vietnam from 1961 onward and disagreed with\nmany of them I naturally feel a deeper personal concern\nthan most men in private life and hence, I feel compelled\nto express my concern to you on two points.\nFirst, I believe the public must always be made\naware of the facts concerning our involvement in South\nVietnam. On January 20, 1961, when President Eisenhower\nand you left the South Vietnam problem to others, we had\n800 military advisors and an equal number of foreign aid\npersonnel located in and about Saigon. Eight years later\nwhen you picked the problem up again, we had 550, 000 men\nand countless civilian personnel engaged in a major military\neffort and doing all sorts of other things as well.\nThe first major decision came in the fall of 1961\nwhen President Kennedy accepted the recommendations\nof General Taylor and Walter Rostow and, as a result,\nour military presence in South Vietnam was almost\nimmediately increased to 15, 000 \"advisors\". This was\na step President Eisenhower refused to take as it was a"
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