Books and Manuscripts

President Eisenhower Writes to America's First Televangelist 

Eisenhower, Dwight D.
Autograph Letter, signed
(Washington, D.C.), October 22, 1954. Single sheet, 10 1/2 x 7 1/4 in. (267 x 184 mm). One-page autograph letter on White House stationery, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to Bishop Fulton J. Sheen: “Dear Bishop Sheen: Last evening, at the Alfred Smith Dinner, I was told that while I was passing through the streets of New York yesterday, you stopped at a street corner to greet me. I regret I failed to see you, but I do assure you that I am more than complimented by your friendly thoughtfulness. I would have valued the opportunity to have stopped my car, however briefly, to chat for a moment. With personal regards Sincerely Dwight D. Eisenhower”. Creasing from old folds; unevenly toned; old tape remnant in top edge verso. 

President Dwight D. Eisenhower writes to American Catholic Bishop and TV impresario Fulton J. Sheen, regretting having missed the opportunity to see him the previous evening while attending the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner, where Eisenhower gave the keynote speech. Sheen (1895-1979) was one of the most popular and renowned American religious figures of his day, known for his preaching on television and radio in programs such as The Catholic Hour (1930-50), Life is Worth Living (1952-57), and The Fulton Sheen Program (1961-68). Considered the first televangelist, his Life is Worth Living was a landmark religious television program, earning Sheen an Emmy (the only one ever awarded to a religious broadcaster), and at its height, garnered up to 30 million viewers. At this time he was serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of New York, a position he held until 1966, when he was appointed bishop of Rochester, New York.

A deeply religious figure, Eisenhower placed faith at the center of his presidency, and during his two terms in office helped shape a national religious revival that saw the rise of modern Evangelical Christianity. Although raised a Mennonite, Eisenhower was baptized into the National Presbyterian Church, of which his wife Mamie belonged, only ten days into his presidency. The religious tone of his leadership would have lasting effects on American politics, and is remembered for the implementation of several religious features in his governance, including the opening of cabinet meetings with prayer, initiating the National Prayer Breakfast, tapping evangelist Billy Graham as a spiritual advisor, and supporting and signing into law both the inclusion of “Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance, in June 1954, and the adoption of “In God We Trust” as the national motto, in 1956. 

Like Bishop Sheen, Eisenhower believed that religion was the most important distinction between American democracy and Soviet communism, and that the only way to win the Cold War was through spiritual devotion. As Eisenhower said in a speech he gave the night before he penned this letter, “The American dream is a goal that can be achieved only in work and wise thought, in unity among men and faith in God.”