From George Washington
(Surviving letters from George Washington to children are all addressed to young relations. He was actively involved throughout his life in offering advice and support to a number of nieces, nephews and other young kin. This letter is to a young cousin, Sally Ball Haynie, who had recently left her job as companion or governess.)

Mount Vernon
February 11, 1798

Miss Salley:

I have received your letter of the 28th of last month, and without enquiry at this time why you left Mr. Lewis's family or how you employ your time, I have requested him to furnish you with ten pounds to supply you with such necessaries as you may be in immediate want.

But as you have no fortune to support you, Industry, economy, and a virtuous conduct are your surest resort, and best dependence. In every station of life, these are commendable. In the one in which it has pleased Providence to place you, it is indispensably necessary that they should mark all your footsteps. It is no disparagement to the first lady in the Land to be constantly employed, at some work or another; to you, it would prove, in addition to a chase and unsullied reputation the surest means of attracting the notice of some man with whom your future fortune will be united in a Matrimonial bond and without which it would be in vain to expect a person of worth. I wish you well and am Your friend.

G. Washington

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From Abraham Lincoln
(This was Presidential candidate Lincoln's reply to a young girl who suggested he would have a better chance of being elected if he grew whiskers.)

Private
Springfield, Ills.
Oct. 19 1860

Miss Grace Bedell

My dear little Miss.

Your very agreeable letter of the 15th is received.

I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughters. I have three sons—one seventeen, one nine, and one seven, years of age. They, with their mother, constitute my whole family.
As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affection if I were to begin it now? Your very sincere well-wisher

A. Lincoln

(Lincoln wrote this letter to Fanny McCullough, the daughter of an acquaintance, Lt. William McCullough of the 4th Illinois Cavalry, killed in Mississippi during the Civil War.

Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 23, 1862

Dear Fanny,

It is with deep grief that I learn of the death of your kind and brave Father; and, especially, that it is affecting your young heart beyond what is common in such cases. In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and, to the young, it comes with bitterest agony, because it takes them unawares. The older have learned to ever expect it. I am anxious to afford some alleviation of your present distress. Perfect relief is not possible, except with time. You can not now realize that you will ever feel better. Is this not so? And yet it is a mistake. You are sure to be happy again. To know this, which is certainly true, will make you somewhat less miserable now. I have had experience enough to know what I say; and you need only to believe it, to feel better at once. The memory of your dear Father, instead of an agony, will yet be a sad sweet feeling in your heart, of a purer, and holier sort than you have known before.

Please present my kind regards to your afflicted mother.

Your sincere Friend
Abraham Lincoln

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From Herbert Hoover
(This letter is in response to 10-year-old Barbara McIntyre of Columbus, Ohio, who wrote to Hoover at the start of the Depression winter of 1931 to say that she and her friends were planning to collect old blankets, clothing, shoes and food to send to him in Washington, for distribution to the poor.)

The White House
Washington
November 19, 1931

My dear Barbara,

I have your very sweet letter of November 10th. It is a very beautiful undertaking. I would suggest, however, that instead of sending the contributions which you collect to me, that you should yourself distribute them to those in need in your own locality.

Yours faithfully,
Herbert Hoover

(This letter is undated, in response to a girl's question about whether a woman would ever be president)

My dear Kathy:

As a generalization, the men have not done too good a job of government in the world in the last forty-seven years, and the chances for the women are thereby increased.
With good wishes to you if you are a candidate for President about thirty years hence.

Yours faithfully,
Herbert Hoover

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From Franklin D. Roosevelt
(This letter is to a 16-year-old boy, Le Roy Johnson, stricken with infantile paralysis.)

The White House
February 7, 1934.

My dear Le Roy:

I have just learned that you were stricken with infantile paralysis last fall. I am awfully sorry and I want to write you personally to give you if I can a word of cheer. Do exactly what the doctors tell you and keep up the same fine courage you put into your athletics —put all you have got into the determination to get better and you will win out.

My very best wishes go to you with this note.

Very sincerely yours,
Franklin D. Roosevelt

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From Harry S. Truman
(This is former President Truman's reply to Val Osher's question as to whether there was any real difference between the two major political parties, aside from their name.)

Independence Missouri
July 31, 1962

Dear Val:

In reply to your recent letter, the main difference between the Democratic and Republican Parties is that the Democratic party is for helping the common everyday man and the Republican Party has the viewpoint that if you start at the top things will work out all right for those at the bottom and that is the reason I am a Democrat.

Sincerely yours,
Harry S. Truman

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From Lyndon B. Johnson
(This letter is to an 11-year-old girl in Dallas, Texas.)

The White House
Washington
December 5, 1963

My dear Fern:

Thank you for your very thoughtful and encouraging letter. President Kennedy's death has made all of us, young and old alike, sadder than anything we could have imagined.

What happens to the reputation of Dallas in the future depends on its citizens—particularly you and your cousin and all the children and young people of your city. If each and every one of you can learn the lesson of love which President Kennedy taught us—if we can all be a little more tolerant of each other and a little less ready to hate— if you can grow up learning to get along with and respect all kinds of people and to avoid saying mean things about them even where you do disagree— then your city and every city in this wonderful country of ours will be a better place in which to live.

Thank you again, Fern, for writing your President. I am so very grateful to you and I ask that you pray for me.

Sincerely,
Lyndon B. Johnson

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From Richard M. Nixon
(To the son of Senator Thomas Eagleton, who had been dropped as George McGovern's running mate due to revelations that he had been treated for depression.)

Personal
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON

August 2, 1972

Dear Terry,

When I saw the picture in Life a week ago I was reminded of our meeting at the White House when your father introduced you to me.

I realize these past few days have been very difficult ones for you and the members of your family. Speaking as one who understands and respects your father's decision to continue to fight for his party's nominees and against my administrative policies, I would like to pass on to you some strictly personal thoughts with regard to the ordeal your father has undergone.
Politics is a very hard game. Winston Churchill once pointed out that "politics is even more difficult than war, because in politics you die many times; in war you die only once."

But in those words of Churchill we can all take some comfort. The political man can always come back to fight again.
What matters is not that your father fought a terribly difficult battle and lost. What matters is that in fighting the battle he won the admiration of foes and friends alike because of the courage, poise and just plain guts he showed against overwhelming odds.
Few men in public life in our whole history have been through what he has been through. I hope you do not allow this incident to discourage or depress you.

Years later you will look back and say "I am proud of the way my dad handled himself in the greatest trial of his life."

Sincerely,
Richard Nixon

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These letters are reprinted from Dear Young Friend: The Letters of American Presidents to Children, Standley Weintraub and Rodelle Weintraub, published by Stackpole Books [1].

Talk Back

If you've got comments or questions about this story, we'd like to hear them. Send your response to Susan Phillips [2].

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