88. Letter From King Hussein to President Eisenhower1
His Excellency, the President of the Republic of the United States of America: It is with great pleasure and esteem that I have received your Excellency’s sincere greetings and warmhearted congratulations on the occasion of the events that have transpired in our beloved land.
Destructive elements and propagandists of sedition and international Communism have attempted to put an end both to the citadel of the state that we have built and to the pillars of government in order that the country might become the prey of the Communists and the opportunists. When their evil designs became known to us for certain and their bad intentions became clear, we hastened to set matters aright. We decided to strike against the hands of the propagandists of evil a blow that would preserve our beloved land for us and permit us to march forward with it against those among [Page 131] us who are opposed to our inherited traditions and our noble Islamic faith.
It is my hope that the elements of friendship and amity between us will increase and that there will be a flourishing of the good relations that bind together our two great countries and our noble people in the light of the sentiments you have expressed once according to the guidance that you have laid down. I take this opportunity to express to Your Excellency my great respect, wishing health and happiness for yourself and progress and prosperity for the magnanimous American people.2
Your friend,
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, International File. Secret. The source text, which was initialed by Eisenhower, is a Department of State translation forwarded with the original letter to the White House under cover of a memorandum by Howe of June 6. According to Howe’s memorandum, the letter, which was handed to Mallory in Amman on May 15 for transmission by diplomatic pouch, was an acknowledgement of an oral message sent by Eisenhower to Hussein “through other channels” at the time of the Jordanian crisis. Howe indicated that the Executive Secretariat did not believe a written reply was necessary and suggested that a telegram be sent to Mallory instructing him to tell the King that the President had received his letter and “warmly reciprocates the King’s expressions of friendship.” A notation by Goodpaster in the margin of Howe’s memorandum reads as follows: “8 June 57 State advised President approves.”↩
- On June 8, in telegram 1927 to Amman, the Department instructed Mallory to inform the King that Eisenhower was “very pleased” with his message and warmly reciprocated his expressions of friendship and good will. (Department of State, Central Files, 785.11/6–857)↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩