Department of the Interior Prepares Eisenhower for a Meeting with Alaska Statehood Advocates (1954)

Date: May 13, 1954

Created By: Orme Lewis

Original or Replica: Original

Era: Alaska & Hawaii Statehood, The Presidency

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: DDE’s Records as President, Official File, Box 629, OF-147-D Alaska (2); NAID #12010332

This May 13, 1954 memorandum from Assistant Secretary of the Interior Orme Lewis to White House Secretary Thomas E. Stephens concerns a delegation of Alaskan political leaders scheduled to meet with President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The group included Alaska Territorial Governor B. Frank Heintzleman, congressional delegate E. L. Bartlett, members of the Alaska Legislature, local officials, and Republican and Democratic political leaders. They traveled to Washington to discuss the campaign for Alaska statehood with the president.

The memorandum notes that Governor Heintzleman had received considerable political criticism for suggesting statehood for only a portion of the Alaska Territory. Lewis advises that it would benefit both Heintzleman and the Republican Party if Eisenhower offered complimentary remarks about the governor’s activities during the meeting. The second page provides a complete list of the Alaskan delegation scheduled to meet with Eisenhower, illustrating the broad political and civic representation involved in the statehood campaign. The document provides insight into both the political strategy surrounding Alaska’s effort to become a state and the Eisenhower administration’s interactions with territorial leaders several years before Alaska officially achieved statehood.