Lot 728
RICHARD M. NIXON
(1913 - 1994) Thirty-seventh President of the United States who led during the Vietnam War, re-opened diplomatic ties with China and the U.S.S.R., resigned his office due to the Watergate scandal. Extremely rare and important content A.L.S. "RN" as President, 1p. 8vo. on White House notepad paper, [Washington], Nov. 7, 1973. A hastily written communication to Representative Al Ullman (1914 - 1986) of Oregon requesting cooperation from the congressman in light of the ongoing negotiations with the U.S.S.R. for a settlement to end the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Nixon writes to Ullman explaining: "The Speaker has a personal message for you from me. I would greatly appreciate your cooperation during this very delicate [underlined] phaze [sic] of our negotiations in the Mideast where the U.S.S.R. could play a very decisive role. RN" Creases, small loss from Nixon ripping the sheet from the pad (for which he adds the date again and circles it for clarity), else very good.
It appears that Congressman Ullman did cooperate with the President. Nixon's November 7 letter is offered together with a T.L.S. "RN" as President, 1p. 4to. on White House letterhead, Washington, Nov. 21, 1973, to Ullman: "…I want to express my appreciation for your cooperation in responding to my request to the Speaker to delay House consideration of the Trade Bill. I know how hard and how effectively you have worked on the Bill and the importance you attach to early action by the House. However, I am convinced that debate on Title IV and, in particular, the adoption of the Vanik amendment could seriously undermine prospects for a settlement of issues out of which war in the Middle East arose. It is my hope and belief that circumstances will permit us to return soon to consideration of the Bill…" One horizontal crease, else very fine.
This was one of several delays of the trade bill that the Nixon White House requested from Congress during the Middle East Crisis of 1973. Nixon requested the delays due to several controversial measures contained in it which that would have penalized the Soviet Union in response to its suppression of dissidents and its refusal to allow free Jewish emigration from the U.S.S.R. to Israel. The bill contained a provision that would deny equal trading status to the Soviets until the President had certified that free emigration was allowed. In addition, the Vanik Amendment proposed denying any new loans or loan guarantees to the Russians in light of their emigration policy. Interestingly, according to the New York Times, the White House ceased its requests for delays on November 1. House Speaker Carl Albert had "informed him that there would be no further requests to put off the bill… Mr. Albert said that the bill was scheduled for debate the week of Nov. 12. and that 'Mr. Kissinger gave me his consent to bring it up at that time." (NYT, "White House Ends Plea on Trade Bill" Nov. 2, 1973). However it appears that Nixon (or Kissinger) changed their mind and requested further delay that was not reported in the press. Debate resumed on the measure later in November and the bill passed the House (with the controversial amendments) in December.
In the end, the amendment, signed into law by Gerald Ford in 1974 did little to help Jewish emigrants leave the Soviet Union. In fact, the number of exit visas granted to Jews declined in the years following the passage of the trade bill. However the delay proved pivotal in cooling global tensions and averted a wider Middle East war.
Autograph Letters Signed by Nixon as President are prohibitively rare. Only a handful of examples are known to exist and only one other A.L.S. has shown up on the market in the past four decades. That example (A.L.S., Dec. 14, 1971 to Gen. and Mrs. Thomas A. Aldrich) sold at Charles Hamilton Galleries in 1977 for $7,250 and again at Christies in 2002 selling for $28,680 (Lot 326). That letter was a simple thank you for allowing Nixon to stay at the general's home during a visit. This letter, on the other hand, concerns a matter of tremendous import to American-Soviet relations at a critical moment in the Cold War as the Middle East crisis threatened to embroil both powers into confrontation.
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