C. D. Jackson Urges the Justice Department to Seek Information from the Rosenbergs Before Their Execution (1953)

Date: February 23, 1953

Created By: C.D. Jackson

Original or Replica: Original

Era: The Presidency, The Rosenberg Case

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: C.D. Jackson Records, Box 2, Herbert Brownell; NAID #18558036

In this February 23, 1953 letter, White House adviser C. D. Jackson writes to Attorney General Herbert Brownell Jr. suggesting that the government make another effort to obtain information from Julius and Ethel Rosenberg before their executions. Jackson argues that such an effort could potentially provide valuable intelligence while also producing what he describes as psychological leverage against Soviet antisemitism. Rather than relying on conventional interrogation, Jackson recommends bringing in a skilled Jewish psychiatrist to spend significant time with one or both Rosenbergs in an effort to establish confidence and encourage cooperation.

Jackson proposes allowing approximately thirty days for the psychiatrist to work with the Rosenbergs. If either began showing signs of cooperating, he suggests that the government could postpone the execution for an additional thirty or sixty days while the effort continued. Significantly, Jackson makes clear that his proposal was not motivated by a desire to save the Rosenbergs from execution. He states that he believed they deserved their sentences, but argues that information obtained from them might eventually save the lives of other Americans.

The letter provides a revealing look at discussions within the early Eisenhower administration about whether the period before the Rosenbergs’ executions could be used to obtain additional intelligence. It also demonstrates how officials viewed the case through the broader lens of Cold War intelligence and psychological warfare, even after Eisenhower had denied the Rosenbergs’ request for executive clemency.