FIRST LADY MAMIE DOUD EISENHOWER - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED CIRCA 1952 - HFSID 295482

MAMIE DOUD EISENHOWER
Letter to a friend, written during the 1952 Presidential campaign but focused on family matters
Autograph Letter signed: "Mamie Eisenhower", 3 pages, 5½x7½. Morningside Heights (N.Y.), circa 1952. To "Dear Frances" [Strecker], in full: "You were sweet to write me and invite me to attend with you the opening program of the American Opera Society. I am not going to make this trip with 'Ike' through the Middle States as it is a 'quickie' and I find these one [top of page missing] ... home. Lake Forest is such a lovely place to live. We had a fine summer in Denver although it was a busy one. Barbara and the babies were there for a month and John flew out for a week. The folks were so happy with us all there altho Daddy overdid and finally went to bed with high blood pressure and a tired heart. He is better now - tho I hated to leave when he felt so badly. We are terribly busy as usual, don't know where the days go. Can you realize that Xmas is so near again? My love to you and best to George. Sorry I won't be seeing you. Hello to the children." On July 1, 1916, 25-year-old Second Lieutenant Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) and 19-year-old Mamie Geneva Doud (1896-1979) were married in Denver, Colorado. They had two sons: Dwight Doud Eisenhower (1917-1920) and John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower (born in 1923). As an Army wife for 37 years, Mamie grew accustomed to entertaining groups of influential people, a talent she drew upon during her eight years as the White House hostess (1953-1961). In their 53 years of married life, the Eisenhower's lived in 33 homes; their last in Gettysburg was the only home they owned together. During Ike's final illness, Mamie moved into Walter Reed Army Hospital to be with him during the final months of his life. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the fifth general to be elected President, served as the nations' 34th President from 1953 to 1961. The Eisenhower's lived at Morningside Heights while Ike was President of Columbia University. He received the Republican Presidential nomination in July 1952, and resigned from Columbia in January 1953, shortly before his inauguration. Despite her reference to her husband's "swing through the Middle States," Mamie seems remarkably untouched by the Presidential campaign, focusing here on family matters. "John" was the Eisenhower's son, "Barbie" their daughter in law. From the collection of George Strecker, an advertising executive at the Chicago Tribune who became close to the Eisenhower's through his wife, Frances, a long-time friend with Mamie Eisenhower. Toned. Heavy mounting residue effecting ink. Top edge of second page torn. Multiple mailing folds.