White House Aide Rocco Siciliano Reports on Black Leaders’ Positive Reaction to Their Civil Rights Meeting with Eisenhower (1958)

Date: June 25, 1958

Created By: Rocco C. Siciliano

Original or Replica: Original

Era: Civil Rights, The Presidency

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: DDE’s Papers as President, DDE Diary Series, Box 33, June 1958 Staff Notes (2); NAID #12188975

This June 25, 1958 memorandum from White House aide Rocco C. Siciliano provides President Dwight D. Eisenhower with an assessment of his recent meeting with prominent Black civil rights leaders. Siciliano reports that the participants were highly enthusiastic about their reception at the White House, particularly the amount of time Eisenhower gave them, his willingness to listen, and what they viewed as his sympathetic attention to their concerns.

Siciliano also describes the civil rights leaders’ meeting with reporters immediately afterward. He characterizes their public accounts of the conference as accurate and notes that reporters repeatedly attempted to draw criticism of Eisenhower from the participants, especially NAACP Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins. According to Siciliano, the leaders instead appeared reluctant to criticize the president. He recounts an exchange in which journalist Louis Lautier questioned Wilkins about the apparent change in his attitude toward Eisenhower compared with a month earlier. Siciliano concludes that, based on his conversations with knowledgeable observers, the meeting had been an “unqualified success.” The memorandum provides a behind-the-scenes White House assessment of Eisenhower’s relationship with Black civil rights leaders and demonstrates the administration’s attention to both the substance and public perception of presidential engagement on civil rights.