ARTHUR H. VANDENBERG - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 08/01/1945 - HFSID 293591

ARTHUR H. VANDENBERG
Brief letter on Finance Committee stationery, which also bears two news photos of the influential Michigan Senator
Typed Letter signed: "A H Vandenberg" as US Senator, 1 page, 8x10½, affixed to an 8½x11 page (4 surfaces). Affixed to the original letter are two newspaper photos of Vandenberg, and on verso is a transmittal envelope on verso with Vandenberg's stamped frank. Washington, D.C., 1945 August 1. On letterhead of the Senate Naval Affairs Committee to Captain Ralph E. Ward, Jr., Washington, D.C.. In full: "This will reply to your letter of July 31st. The signature on this letter will reply to your request for this autograph. Cordially and faithfully". ARTHUR VANDENBERG (1884-1951) rose from reporter to editorship of the Grand Rapids Herald, staying with the newspaper for 22 years until his election to the US Senate. Appointed to the Senate in March 1928 and elected to his first full term that fall, Vandenberg emerged as one of the Republican Party's harshest critics of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, and also as an ardent isolationist who opposed every measure which seemed to threaten US involvement in a second world war. Vandenberg's views changed dramatically after Pearl Harbor. Having once believed that arms manufacturers had conspired to trick the US into entering World War I, he was now convinced that the US must take a global view of its security. As Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee (1947-1948), Vandenberg contributed greatly to a period of bipartisanship in foreign policy, backing the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. The Vandenberg Resolution (1948) paved the way for US participation in NATO and other global security agreements. From the collection of Ralph Errington Ward (1926-2009) a fighter pilot and squadron commander in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II. Ward went on to become President and CEO of Cheseborough-Ponds, Inc., transforming the cosmetics firm into a major home product conglomerate. Multiple mailing folds. Lightly toned. Minor notches at left edge from binding holes. Otherwise, fine condition.