PRESIDENT RICHARD M. NIXON - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 03/07/1951 - HFSID 257125

RICHARD NIXON
He declines an opinion on a campaign worker's "fitness for public office".
Typed Letter Signed: "Richard Nixon" as U.S. Senator, 1p, 8x10¼. (Washington), 1951 March 7. To Arthur H. Clarke, Glendale, California. In full: "I regret that I am just now getting around to answering your letter of February 2 but I was out of the office for some time with the flu and, consequently, got behind in my correspondence. In regard to your inquiry concerning Mr. Garrick, I checked with my campaign manager and found that he was active in my behalf during the campaign. I have not, however, had the opportunity to know him well personally and, therefore, would hesitate to express an opinion one way or the other on his fitness for public office. I wish that I could give you a more definite answer to your inquiry but, unfortunately, I do not have sufficient information to do so." The ARTHUR H. CLARK Company publishes historical books, many on the Old West. The October 14, 1950, issue of "The New York Times" described the 1950 campaign for the Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Sherman Downey as a race between "Richard Nixon, 37-year-old lawyer and World War II Navy veteran representing a Republican suburban Los Angeles district for his second term and Helen Gahagan Douglas, 50-year-old but young-looking former actress, serving her third term representing a Democratic urban Los Angeles district." Nixon defeated Douglas in the November 6, 1950 election. At the lower left on this letter are the initials indicating the secretary to whom Nixon dictated this letter for typing: "RN:rmw", ROSE MARY WOODS, who continued to serve Nixon through his White House years. It was Woods who "accidentally" erased 18½ minutes from a taped conversation made by President Nixon three days after the Watergate break-in. Slightly creased. Staple holes at upper left blank margin. Fine condition.