PRESIDENT RICHARD M. NIXON - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 12/31/1964 - HFSID 87615

RICHARD NIXON
Selected as Chairman of the Boys' Clubs of America (1964), he signs a typed letter responding to congratulations from Eisenhower confidante Lewis Strauss.
Typed Letter signed: "Dick", 1 page, 7¼x10½. New York, N.Y., 1964 December 31. On letterhead of the Boys' Clubs of America to Lewis L. Strauss, Washington, D.C. In full: "I want you to know how much I appreciated your writing as you did with regard to my selection as Chairman of the Boys' Clubs of America. President Hoover often told me that his work with the Boys' Clubs was the most rewarding activity he engaged in during his sixty years of distinguished public service in a multitude of assignments at home and abroad. No one could possibly fill his shoes in this position. But, I look forward to the challenge of carrying on the splendid position he established during his twenty-eight years as Chairman. I was sorry to hear of your need for surgery but delighted to see that the operation was a success. I hope that the New Year will bring you to excellent health. Sincerely". When Richard Nixon became Chairman of the Boys' Clubs of America in 1964, succeeding the recently deceased President Hoover, who had occupied that post since 1936, his own political fortunes were at a low ebb. Having served in the US House and Senate and as Vice President (1953-1961), he had then lost elections for the US Presidency (1960) and Governorof California (1962). After his election as President in 1968, Nixon invited the Board of the Boys' Clubs to a dinner at the White House, December 1, 1969. On that occasion, he quipped that upon learning that he was the first Chairman of the Boys' Clubs who had never been President of anything, he decided he must run again for President of the United States. Addressee Lewis L. Strauss was Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (1953-1958), but when President Eisenhower nominated him for Secretary of Commerce, the Senate rejected him by a 49-46 vote. Fold creases, not near signature. File note at upper left corner. Fine condition.