NEWTON D. BAKER - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 06/12/1931 - HFSID 26431

NEWTON DIEHL BAKER
Newton Diehl Baker signed this letter on the letterhead of Baker, Hostetler, Sidlo & Patterson in 1931, saying that a reassessment of Woodrow Wilson's administration by Mark Sullivan was "deeply gratifying" and that he would not seek the presidency.
Typed letter signed "Newton D. Baker" in blue ink. 1 page, 7¾x10¾, on letterhead of Baker, Hostetler, Sidlo & Patterson. June 12, 1931. Addressed to Mr. P. W. A. Fitzsimmons, Michigan Mutual Liability Company, Detroit, Michigan. In full: "My dear Mr. Fitzsimmons: One my return from Springfield, Illinois, where I have been on court business, I find your very gracious note of June 8 en-closing a copy of Mark Sullivan's syndicated article. The judgment Mr. Sullivan expresses of me and my doings is deeply gratifying, particularly since it will raise the spirits of many who during President Wilson's administration labored with great unselfishness and devotion, but in succeeding years found them and their activities deeply discredited. That there should now be a reassessment of the work of the Wilson Administra-tion and a favorable one at that, will give them pleasure. My experiences in Washington were not unhappy but they were full of grave responsibility and I do see how it could be possible for a man who had spent five such years as I spent there to be eager to have another such experience with even heavier burdens. As a consequence, I am not taking myself seriously as a presidential candidate, but I am getting genuine happiness out of the kindness and friendliness of letter which tell me that the writers think me worthy of such distinction. I suppose Katherine Lowe has seen one of Sullivan's articles and no doubt on Sunday when I see her she will tell me about Sullivan's characterization of my mind, which I confess seems to me extravagant enough to be the basis of a real tease. Cordially yours, Newton D. Baker NDB:C". Baker (1871-1937) was Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio (1912-1915) before serving as President Woodrow Wilson's Secretary of War from 1916 to1921. It was Baker who, on June 27, 1918, pulled numbers out of a fishbowl, drafting men ages 21 to 31 into the military for World War I. Lightly toned, soiled, creased and rippled. Paper clip impression and rust stains in top left corner. Folded once horizontally and twice vertically. Otherwise in fine condition.