Eisenhower 1150 handwritten Words on Biography: “outlin

Eisenhower 1150 handwritten Words on Biography: “outline plan for defeating Germany” Great WWII Content! with Related Items

101pp, measuring 8.5" x 11", No place, Ca. July 25, 1967. A fantastic collection of autograph notes and emendations on the original typescript of Colonel Russel P. "Red" Reeder's juvenile biography, "Dwight David Eisenhower: Fighter for Peace." The typescript consists of 101 leaves of bond typing paper, typed on the front only. Extensive autograph notes and corrections have been made by Eisenhower in pencil, totaling approximately 1,150 words. There is also an index card with a question concerning some of the text from Reeder, upon which Eisenhower has replied, "Right! DE." Additional notes and corrections in blue ink were made by the author. Highlights from Eisenhower's commentary:

p. 8: "Our poverty has been over-emphasized. By today's standards of course we were poor - but we were always well fed, well sheltered and adequately clothed. We always gave 'Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets of food' to those we considered as really poor."
p. 12: "My roommate in Beast Barracks was not Hodgson. He and I went to Plebe to camp as tent mates and were, thereafter, room-mates for four years. In Beast I roomed with a fellow named Dykes."
p. 19: "I don't remember the fight; but we were always in some pranks of these kind."
p. 24: "No - In those days 2nd Lts wore nothing on their shoulders. Gold bars came in after W.W.I. started. / Another anachronism! In those days lieutenants were called Mr. by everybody except Enlisted men."
p. 40: "With no Navy we cannot reinforce the Philippines effectively."
p. 41: "Not correct. He first directed me to draw up an outline plan for defeating Germany. This was approved. It was about 2 months later that he told me,"
p. 43: "What I said was - I don’t mind you calling him a so-in-so. But you called him a 'British so-in-so.' I don’t want you on my staff."
p. 56: "In the June Conference, which Roosevelt did not attend, the question to be settled was 'How deeply should we get committed into Italy after capturing Sicily?' Brooke wanted no important land attacks, any where!"
p. 70: regarding Normandy - "It was not this way at all."

The typed manuscript is accompanied by four one-page typed letters signed ("D.D.E."; "D.E."; "DDE"), several are possibly secretarial, from Eisenhower to Reeder. The letters dated April 26, 1966, July 14, 1967, and July 21, 1967, all concern Reeder's book. The last letter, dated May 22, 1968, was written while Eisenhower was recovering in Walter Reed Hospital after suffering from a heart attack. The group also comes with a first printing of Reeder's book, signed and annotated by the author. "Dwight David Eisenhower: Fighter for Peace." Champaign: Garrard Publishing Company, 1968. Marked "File Copy", the book has been signed and inscribed on the front free endpaper. With further annotations throughout the book. Green cloth-covered boards, black text on the front and spine, and with the original dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box with leather spine.

There is minor wear from use to the pages of notes, along with a few stray spots of soiling. Letters have mail folds and some ink smudging to one of the signatures. Light wear to the book from use. Overall, very fine. The group was originally offered by Sotheby's in 2014 with a $30-40,000 estimate.

In late 1942, Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force of the North African Theater of Operations (NATOUSA). He oversaw the planning and execution of the invasion of North Africa, codenamed Operation Torch, and later planned and supervised the successful Normandy invasion. After the war, he served as Army Chief of Staff (1945–1948), as president of Columbia University (1948–1953), and as the first Supreme Commander of NATO (1951–1952), before becoming the 34th President of the United States. He died approximately two years after making these notes, on March 28, 1969, from congestive heart failure at the age of 78.

Russell P. Reeder (1902-1998) graduated from West Point in 1926. He served under General George Marshall and is responsible for the conception of the Bronze Star Medal. Later in the war, Reeder served with the 12th Infantry Regiment and fought on Utah Beach during D-Day. Five days later, he was struck by a piece of shrapnel in his left ankle, resulting in his leg needing to be amputated. Upon his retirement from military service, Reeder was athletic director at West Point for twenty years until he quit to pursue a writing career in 1967.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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