Description
Letter from President Gerald R. Ford to Sol Stein, President of Stein and Day Publishers, defending his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General George S. Brown.
White House stationery, embossed with presidential seal along top edge. Previously folded, metal paperclip mark on verso. This letter is dated November 26, 1974 and signed by President Gerald R. Ford in black pen. Provenance: From the estate of Sol Stein.
“It’s so strong you wouldn’t believe now. We have the Israelis coming to us [The Pentagon] for equipment. We say we can’t possibly get the Congress to support that. They say, ‘Don’t worry about the Congress. We will take care of the Congress.’ Now this is somebody from another country, but they can do it. They own, you know, the banks in this country, the newspapers. Just look at where the Jewish money is.”
This comment was made on October 10th, 1974 by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General George S. Brown, at Duke University Law School. It generated controversy around the country, with many calling on President Ford to dismiss him immediately. He was reprimanded by President Ford but not dismissed.
General George S. Brown (1918-1978) spent his career in the United States Air Force, eventually being sworn in as the eighth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on July 1, 1974. He was responsible for the United States military response to the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the Mayaguez Incident in 1975, one of the last acts of the Vietnam War.
