Kenneth Claiborne Royall (1894-1971), Large Archive with Letters from Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower

Lot Details & Additional Photographs

With approximately (90) items, circa 1946-1970, material addressed to or owned by Kenneth Royall (often addressed as "General Kenneth C. Royall" or "Honorable Kenneth C. Royall"); the majority consisting of single-page typed letters signed from Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, many are personal and offer a note of thanks and well-wishes, others have political/professional subject matter, some have added hand-written notes, and a few retain the original envelope; additional items in the archive include invitations and thank you cards sent by or in honor of Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, or Mamie Eisenhower, (2) signed U.S. Army Signal Corps photos of Royall and members of his staff, assorted notes and letters from Mamie Eisenhower and others, and several miscellaneous items such as a signed card from Truman; more than a dozen copies of typed letters from Royall and Eisenhower, not included in the item count, accompany the Lot; all material contained in two labeled folders.

Included in the large group of typed letters signed are (26) letters from Truman, with letterheads including personal (Independence, Missouri and Federal Reserve Bank Building) and White House; and (45) letters from Eisenhower, with letterheads including personal, White House, War Department, and Office of Dwight D. Eisenhower," with letters signed as "Ike," "Ike E.," "DE," "D.E.," "Dwight Eisenhower," and "Eisenhower."

Some highlights of the group include:

June 17, 1950: "Dear Kenneth: / I appreciated very much your letter of the / thirteenth, with the enclosed copy of a letter / from a gentleman who had been visiting with / the King of Arabia. I am most happy to have / his viewpoint. / I am certainly hoping that eventually we will / get a settled peace in the Near East and every- / body will be fairly treated. / Sincerely yours, Harry Truman"

September 15, 1952: (Marked "Personal and Confidential") "My dear Kenneth: / Your letter of the eleventh of / September was certainly a surprise to me. I / don't understand it and I never will understand / how people who profit from the fact this Demo- / cratic Party has been in power can knife it when / they are needed most. Maybe you can explain / it to me. / Sincerely yours, / Harry Truman"

February 23, 1962: (Marked "Personal and Confidential") It reads in part: "Dear Ken: / ... So far as my memory serves, the only difference of opin- / ion or conviction that has ever risen between us in all / the years we have known one another involved the wis- / dom of electing the Administration now in office. Frankly / I am worried about what I consider the recklessness and / impulsiveness that seem to me to characterize the / Administration; I am concerned about the expenditure / programs and the burdens they have been putting upon / the dollar; I am puzzled by the extraordinary amount / of time that the entire Kennedy family puts into self- / advertising with the implication that achievement of / personal political ambition is more important than / the national good; and I deplore what I consider to / be the incompetence of the principal advisers sur- / rounding the President.... As ever, / Ike E"

Each folder approximately 1 x 15 x 10 1/2 in.

Kenneth C. Royall (1894-1971) was a native of North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served as the United States Under Secretary of War during Truman's administration from 1945 until 1947, and then as the Secretary of War for just two months before the position was abolished. Royall then became the first Secretary of the Army during the same administration, a position he held until 1949.

All items with some degree of wear, varying from light to heavy; letters with expected folds from mailing, and all items with frequent other signs of wear such as grime, stains, offsetting, toning, rust marks from paper clips, pencil notations, staples, and various general signs of handling and storage; those with heavier wear have paper or tape remnants (mostly on verso), chips and tears, and a couple of letters are attached together with tape (though likely possible to be separated). Not all signatures authenticated; some secretarial and autopen signatures possible.