PRESIDENT RICHARD M. NIXON - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 02/18/1957 - HFSID 268939

VICE PRESIDENT NIXON THANKS A DEFEATED REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS FOR NOT BLAMING HIM FOR HIS DEFEAT
 
RICHARD NIXON. Typed Letter Signed: "Dick" as Eisenhower's Vice President, 1p, 8x10½. Office of the Vice President, Washington, 1957 February 18. To Horace E. Henderson, Williamsburg, Virginia. Begins: "Dear Hunky". In full: "I have just had an opportunity to read your comments in the February 8 issue of U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, and I want you to know how much I appreciated your remarks with regard to my part in the 1956 campaign. You were certainly most generous in your attitude because the normal reaction after a political defeat is to find someone to blame for the result. My only regret is that I could not have done more personally in your behalf during the campaign. Unfortunately, however, my schedule was so heavy that I was simply not able to do as much as I would have liked in each Congressional District. I would also like to take this opportunity to add a personal note. I hope that the disappointing result of November will not in any way deter you from continuing to provide leadership and drive for the Republican Party in your District. I know you will agree with me when I say that we must devote our best efforts toward assuring the election of a Republican House and Senate in 1958." HORACE E. HENDERSON, unsuccessful Republican candidate for Congress from Virginia in 1956, later served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs during the Eisenhower Administration. He left the Republican Party in 1972 and ran unsuccessfully as an Independent for the U.S. Senate from Virginia. In the 1958 election, the Republicans lost 14 seats in the Senate and 48 seats in the House. In 1960, Nixon lost a close election for President to Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy who had been reelected in 1958. Fine condition.