1955 Sherman Adams TLS - Eisenhower's Chief of Staff - Vicuna Coat Affair
January 26, 1955 SHERMAN ADAMS Typed Letter Signed w/ envelope - President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Chief of Staff forced to resign in Vicuna Coat affair! This letter was among items recently purchased from a local estate. The addressee was President of the Blue Star Mothers of America in the 1950's. A beautiful 50-year old relic from a controversial and historic figure in the Eisenhower administration! Adams' biography, from Wikipedia: Llewelyn Sherman Adams (January 8, 1899 - October 27, 1986) was an American politician, best known as White House Chief of Staff for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the culmination of a relatively short (18-year) political career that also included a stint as Governor of New Hampshire. He lost his White House position in a scandal over a vicuña fur coat. He served as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Governors (1951-52), and was then asked to be White House Chief of Staff for the new Republican president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Adams took his role as Chief of Staff very seriously; with the exception of Cabinet members and certain NSC advisors, all requests for access to Eisenhower had to go through his office. This alienated traditional Republican Party loyalists. Adams was one of the most powerful men in Washington D.C. during the six years he served as Chief of Staff to President Eisenhower. Because of Eisenhower's highly formalized staff structure, it appeared to many that he had virtual control over White House staff operations and domestic policy (a 1956 article in Time entitled "OK, S.A." advanced this perception). The extent of internal strife between strong willed personalities was chronicled in his 1961 memoir "First Hand Report". Among the heated conflicts within the Eisenhower administration were the best method to handle flamboyant personalities such as U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy and anti-Communist crusader Whittaker Chambers. Adams was a frequent broker of such controversies. When Adams resigned in 1958, and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles departed the next year, the administration went into a two year period that lacked direction. Author and movie critic Michael Medved wrote a book on Presidential aides called The Shadow Presidents. He mentioned Adams was probably the most powerful Presidential Chief of Staff in history. He told of a joke that circulated around Washington in the 1950s. Two Democrats were talking and one said "Wouldn't it be terrible if Eisenhower died and Nixon became President?". The other replied "Wouldn't it be terrible if Sherman Adams died and Eisenhower became President!". Adams was pressured to resign in 1958, when a House subcommittee revealed Adams had accepted an expensive vicuña overcoat and oriental rug[1] from Bernard Goldfine, a Boston textile manufacturer who was being investigated for Federal Trade Commission violations. Goldfine, who had business with the federal government, was cited for contempt of Congress when he refused to answer questions regarding his relationship with Adams. The story was first reported to the public by muckraking journalist Jack Anderson. Condition: The letter is in NEAR-MINT condition, and the envelope is excellent, with a piece missing from the flap. Displays beautifully - SEE PHOTOS!!! ITEM PICTURED IS THE EXACT ITEM YOU WILL RECEIVE. We have 100% positive feedback, so bid with confidence!
Specifications
| All Returns Accepted | ReturnsNotAccepted |
| Organization+Type | Political+-+US |
| Product+Type | Signed Letter |
| Category | Collectibles |
January 26, 1955 SHERMAN ADAMS Typed Letter Signed w/ envelope – President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Chief of Staff forced to resign in Vicuna Coat affair! This letter was among items recently purchased from a local estate. The addressee was President of the Blue Star Mothers of America in the 1950’s. A beautiful 50-year old relic from a controversial and historic figure in the Eisenhower administration! Adams’ biography, from Wikipedia: Llewelyn Sherman Adams (January 8, 1899 – October 27, 1986) was an American politician, best known as White House Chief of Staff for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the culmination of a relatively short (18-year) political career that also included a stint as Governor of New Hampshire. He lost his White House position in a scandal over a vicuña fur coat. He served as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Governors (1951-52), and was then asked to be White House Chief of Staff for the new Republican president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Adams took his role as Chief of Staff very seriously; with the exception of Cabinet members and certain NSC advisors, all requests for access to Eisenhower had to go through his office. This alienated traditional Republican Party loyalists. Adams was one of the most powerful men in Washington D.C. during the six years he served as Chief of Staff to President Eisenhower. Because of Eisenhower’s highly formalized staff structure, it appeared to many that he had virtual control over White House staff operations and domestic policy (a 1956 article in Time entitled “OK, S.A.” advanced this perception). The extent of internal strife between strong willed personalities was chronicled in his 1961 memoir “First Hand Report”. Among the heated conflicts within the Eisenhower administration were the best method to handle flamboyant personalities such as U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy and anti-Communist crusader Whittaker Chambers. Adams was a frequent broker of such controversies. When Adams resigned in 1958, and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles departed the next year, the administration went into a two year period that lacked direction. Author and movie critic Michael Medved wrote a book on Presidential aides called The Shadow Presidents. He mentioned Adams was probably the most powerful Presidential Chief of Staff in history. He told of a joke that circulated around Washington in the 1950s. Two Democrats were talking and one said “Wouldn’t it be terrible if Eisenhower died and Nixon became President?”. The other replied “Wouldn’t it be terrible if Sherman Adams died and Eisenhower became President!”. Adams was pressured to resign in 1958, when a House subcommittee revealed Adams had accepted an expensive vicuña overcoat and oriental rug[1] from Bernard Goldfine, a Boston textile manufacturer who was being investigated for Federal Trade Commission violations. Goldfine, who had business with the federal government, was cited for contempt of Congress when he refused to answer questions regarding his relationship with Adams. The story was first reported to the public by muckraking journalist Jack Anderson. Condition: The letter is in NEAR-MINT condition, and the envelope is excellent, with a piece missing from the flap. Displays beautifully – SEE PHOTOS!!! ITEM PICTURED IS THE EXACT ITEM YOU WILL RECEIVE. We have 100% positive feedback, so bid with confidence!
