Eisenhower Tells a Concerned Citizen That the Rosenberg Espionage Case Has Deeply Disturbed Him (1953)

Date: June 17, 1953

Created By: Dwight D. Eisenhower

Original or Replica: Original

Era: The Presidency, The Rosenberg Case

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: DDE’s Records as President, Official File, Box 354, OF-101-R Amnesty-Pardons, Rosenberg, Julius and Ethel (1); NAID #12451368

In this brief June 17, 1953 letter, President Dwight D. Eisenhower responds to C. C. Burlingham regarding the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Eisenhower thanks Burlingham for a letter dated June 10 and offers a short but personal reflection on the controversy surrounding the Rosenbergs. Rather than discussing the evidence, legal proceedings, or his decision regarding executive clemency, Eisenhower simply states that the Rosenberg case had disturbed him as much as any case he had encountered.

The letter was written at a critical moment in the Rosenberg case. Its June 17 date placed it only two days before Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were scheduled to be executed. Eisenhower’s response therefore provides insight into his personal reaction to one of the most controversial decisions of his early presidency. Although the document does not explain what specifically troubled Eisenhower or reveal his reasoning about whether the sentences should be commuted, his unusually direct statement indicates the seriousness with which he regarded the matter. The letter is especially useful when considered alongside other correspondence and memoranda concerning the Rosenbergs, as it reveals the personal weight of the case on Eisenhower while he faced intense appeals concerning the couple’s fate.