When is the last time you wrote a letter to someone?
Letters can be many things—reaching out to a long-lost friend, writing a note to say thank you, making a new acquaintance, or sometimes, telling the most powerful leader in the country what you think.
As President, Dwight Eisenhower received many letters written by citizens, elected officials, and individuals from every walk of life, even including other famous figures from history. In 1957, and again in 1958, Jackie Robinson—who famously broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball a decade before—was one of those who took time to write to Eisenhower in the White House.
While many have seen Robinson’s letters as instances in history where two famous paths crossed—a baseball player writing to the President of the United States on policy—for Robinson, they were little more than him expressing his rights as an American, fulfilling his same view of citizenship and belonging that led him to don the Brooklyn Dodgers blue in 1947, changing the course of history in the process.
Jack Roosevelt Robinson and Dwight David Eisenhower were two monumental figures in the 20th Century. Both came from modest beginnings and found avenues to elevate themselves to the pages of history. Both shared a passion for sports and a drive for excellence and competition. Indeed, as a boy Eisenhower’s dream was to one day be a professional baseball player. Eisenhower and Robinson certainly had things in common, and to a degree, their lives had similar patterns. Yet a deeper look at those patterns reveals that their respective lived experiences highlighted the difference between blacks and whites in 20th Century American society.
When Eisenhower was two years old, his family moved from Texas to Kansas in pursuit of a better life and opportunity. When Robinson was two years old, his mother moved he and his siblings from Georgia to California, not only in pursuit of a better life, but also to escape Jim Crow and lynching.
During World War II, Eisenhower rose to become the Supreme Allied Commander and one of the most admired men in the world—Lieutenant Jackie Robinson was court martialed for refusing to go to the back of a segregated army bus at Fort Hood, Texas.
For their different experiences, both Eisenhower and Robinson would come to help shape the Civil Rights movement in the United States through their respective actions. Eisenhower became President at a time of great change in American society, and as president, made key decisions that influenced the federal government’s approach to Civil Rights, from signing legislation to using executive authority to enforce the Brown vs. Board of Education 1954 Supreme Court decision.
Robinson’s impact came not in government, but in culture and society, breaking through decades’ old barriers that kept black and white baseball players separate. In so doing, he was a harbinger of change to come, giving new life not only to the Brooklyn Dodgers championship hopes, but to the struggle for Civil Rights in America as well.
Jackie Robinson and President Dwight Eisenhower in the Oval Office, 1957
[Photograph Courtesy of the Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library]
In November 1953, Robinson had his first interaction with Eisenhower at a dinner in Washington D.C., honoring the 40th anniversary of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. Eisenhower was the keynote speaker that evening, an address carried live on the four major television networks. After Eisenhower’s speech, Robinson and several other notable guests were supposed to greet him on the dais for a handshake, yet Robinson was delayed. As Robinson recalled, by the time he stood up, Eisenhower was already heading back to sit down. Upon seeing Robinson standing, though, Eisenhower made his way across the room to shake his hand. Robinson would say that the moment was “one of the great thrills of my life,” telling a reporter, “To think the President of the United States would come halfway across a room just to shake my hand!” After the dinner, Jackie wrote to Eisenhower, telling him how deeply he enjoyed “the warmth and sincerity of your handshake in the midst of such an illustrious group of Americans.”Robinson had met Eisenhower’s Vice President Richard Nixon the year before, and now having met Ike, seemed to be comfortably in the camp of the GOP in the 1950s. In 1956, Robinson even threw his endorsement behind Ike in the presidential race.
By 1957, Robinson had retired from baseball and his attention turned to business, continued advocacy, and yes, even politics. He took a position as the Vice President of the Chock-Full-O-Nuts company and began speaking publicly in numerous settings on Civil Rights. In the wake of bombings of Black churches in Montgomery, Alabama, Robinson publicly called on Eisenhower to “show everyone the U.S. government will not condone these bombings.” He felt he knew Ike well from his interaction with him in 1953, and that he was a decent and good man. Yet he was growing frustrated with what he perceived as Eisenhower’s slow pace on Civil Rights. In the spring of 1957, Robinson was invited to the White House by attorney and presidential aide Maxwell Raab, who again introduced Jackie to the President. After the two talked—with boxer Joe E. Brown present as well—Robinson wrote to Ike, “I have a much better understanding of your thinking in the field of race relations.”That summer, however, Jackie grew more disillusioned with the world of politics as he watched a new Civil Rights bill working its way through Congress.
Three years before, the U.S. Supreme Court had decided in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. Now, the government proposed to do more to protect voting rights for African Americans, many of which were officially or unofficially stripped away by the hand of Jim Crow laws and Southern state legislatures. During the debate in Congress, significant Southern opposition sapped the legislation of some of its strength—by the time it arrived on Eisenhower’s desk to be signed into law in September of 1957, it was more watered down than many had hoped. It was during this time that Jackie Robinson sent his first message to the White House, weighing in on the matter.
On August 13, 1957, Robinson sent a telegram to E. Frederic Morrow, an administrative officer for special projects in the Eisenhower administration, and the first African American to hold an executive position at the White House. In his brief telegram, Robinson made clear that he was against the current, watered-down bill. “Have been in touch with a number of my friends we disagree that half loaf better than none,” Robinson’s telegram read. “Have waited this long for bill with meaning can wait a little longer unless House amends bill,” his telegram continued, asking that Eisenhower veto the legislation. Weeks after Robinson’s telegram, Eisenhower signed the 1957 Civil Rights bill into law, the first significant Civil Rights legislation to be passed into law since the end of Reconstruction.
Events would transpire quickly, however, changing the conversation from legislation to executive action. That September, Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne—the same division he had once sent into Normandy to fight the Nazis—to Little Rock, Arkansas to fight segregation and Jim Crow. Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus—in defiance of the Supreme Court—had utilized the Arkansas National Guard to prevent nine African American children from attending Little Rock’s Central High School. Eisenhower responded with federal intervention, emphasizing the need to enforce the law. While he was reluctant to deploy United States troops domestically to enforce court rulings, as Chief Executive and Commander in Chief, he had no other choice. Though Robinson was pleased by Eisenhower’s actions in Little Rock, he still sought more action from the Federal government in combatting prejudice and segregation. The following spring of 1958, following remarks Eisenhower delivered calling for continued patience in the Civil Rights struggle, Robinson again put his thoughts on paper, writing directly to Eisenhower himself:
May 13, 1958
The President
The White House
Washington, D.C.
My dear Mr. President:
I was sitting in the audience at the Summit Meeting of Negro Leaders yesterday when you said we must have patience. On hearing you say this, I felt like standing up and saying, “Oh no! Not again.”
I respectfully remind you sir, that we have been the most patient of all people. When you said we must have self-respect, I wondered how we could have self-respect and remain patient considering the treatment accorded us through the years.
17 million Negroes cannot do as you suggest and wait for the hearts of men to change. We want to enjoy now the rights that we feel we are entitled to as Americans. This we cannot do unless we pursue aggressively goals which all other Americans achieved over 150 years ago.
As the chief of executive of our nation, I respectfully suggest that you unwittingly crush the spirit of freedom in Negroes by constantly urging forbearance and give hope to those prosegregation leaders like Governor Faubus who would take from us even those freedoms we now enjoy. Your own experience with Governor Faubus is proof enough that forbearance and not eventual integration is the goal the pro-segregation leaders seek.
In my view, an unequivocal statement backed up by action such as you demonstrated you could take last fall in dealing with Governor Faubus if it became necessary, would let it be known that America is determined to provide – in the near future – for Negroes – the freedoms we are entitled to under the constitution.
Respectfully yours,
Jackie Robinson
In the eyes of Jackie Robinson—and in the eyes of many others—Eisenhower remained much too moderate on matters of Civil Rights. While Eisenhower did have some achievements in this area, he believed that there were limits to what the government could do to bring about the end of segregation and discrimination. Jackie’s letter voiced not only his frustration, but a broader lack of patience with such views.Robinson would go on to support the GOP ticket in 1960, partly due to his appreciation of Richard Nixon and the Vice President’s efforts to build a relationship with him. Over time, however, Robinson grew increasingly frustrated with moderate stances on Civil Rights legislation, including the opposition in Congress to the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Jackie Robinson never stopped working on behalf of others through the rest of his days. By the early 1970s, he was afflicted with diabetes, which was having an increasing impact on his quality of life. His last public appearance came on October 15, 1972, throwing out the first pitch before Game 2 of the World Series. When presented with a plaque commemorating the 25th anniversary of his breaking of baseball’s color barrier, Robinson noted, “I’m going to be tremendously more pleased and more proud when I look at that third base coaching line one day and see a black face managing in baseball.” Two years later Cleveland Indians hired Frank Robinson to be the first African American manger in Major League Baseball. Sadly, Jackie Robinson would not live to see that day, however, as he died on October 24, 1972, less than ten days after throwing out that ceremonial first pitch.Jackie Robinson was and remains an inspiration for countless individuals who seek to make their communities and their country better.
Among those who looked up to Robinson was the great Henry, “Hank” Aaron, whom Jackie once told, “the game of baseball is great, but the greatest thing is what you do after your career is over.” Robinson lived that advice out in his life—he chaired the NAACP million-dollar Freedom Fund drive in 1957, he founded the Freedom National Bank in Harlem in 1964, to support other black owned businesses, he established the Jackie Robinson construction company in 1970, to help build low income housing. He participated in the 1963 March on Washington. And, in 1957 and 1958, he didn’t shy away from writing to the President of the United States to speak his mind on the importance of addressing Civil Rights injustices in the United States.
Sources:
Nichols, David A. A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginnings of the Civil Rights Revolution. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007.
Rampersad, Arnold. Jackie Robinson: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books, 1997.
Robinson, Jackie. I Never Had it Made: Jackie Robinson, and Autobiography. New York: Putnam Books, 1972.
Tygiel, Jules. Baseball’s Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983.
|
February 17, 2021
|
Last updated: February 17, 2021