Atoms for Peace
On December 8, 1953 (59 years ago today), 17 days before Christmas of 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his famous "Atoms for Peace" speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
The speech was intended to focus on the peaceful uses for atomic energy. With some influence from Albert Einstein, Eisenhower was attempting to convey a spirit of comfort to a terrified world that the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would not be experienced again. According to some historians, western European nations wanted reassurance that the U.S. did not intend to provoke a nuclear war in Europe, and the speech was designed to give them some comfort.
Eisenhower said in the speech:
"It is with the book of history, and not with isolated pages, that the United States will ever wish to be identified. My country wants to be constructive, not destructive. It wants agreement, not wars, among nations. It wants itself to live in freedom, and in the confidence that the people of every other nation enjoy equally the right of choosing their own way of life."
He later stated:
"To the making of these fateful decisions, the United States pledges before you--and therefore before the world--its determination to help solve the fearful atomic dilemma--to devote its entire heart and mind to find the way by which the miraculous inventiveness of man shall not be dedicated to his death, but consecrated to his life."
A Dwight Eisenhower Christmas
During his first Christmas in the White House in 1953, Eisenhower asked Hallmark President Joyce C. Hall for assistance with his first official Christmas cards as the President of the U.S. An artist himself, Eisenhower had painted a portrait of Abraham Lincoln while waiting for news on a Korean armistice. For inspiration, he used a photograph of Lincoln done by Alexander Gardner in 1863. Eisenhower ordered 1,100 white keepsake folders from Hallmark, each containing a reproduction of his Lincoln painting. All of the folders were embossed with the official Presidential Seal. Over 500 of the reproductions were given to White House staff members at the annual Christmas party. Each folder was accompanied by a gift enclosure Christmas card imprinted with the words “Season’s Greetings” in gold.
Eisenhower also had Hallmark produce 1,100 official White House Christmas cards to be sent to diplomats, government officials, Cabinet members, and Congress members. The card design was on an ivory stock and bore an embossment of the Presidential Seal along with the words “Season’s Greetings” in gold. Inside the card, engraved in black, it read: “The President and Mrs. Eisenhower extend their best wishes for Christmas and the New Year”.
Hallmark also produced 500 informal Christmas cards for the President and First Lady to send to their close and personal friends. The design of the informal Christmas cards contained an embossment of holly leaves and red berries. “Mamie and Ike” was engraved on the inside in the First Lady’s handwriting.
Before lighting his first National Community Christmas Tree for over 4,000 onlookers, Eisenhower gave the President’s annual Christmas speech from inside the White House. His words expressed contentment with the Korean armistice but also acknowledged the cold war that still existed. President Eisenhower’s first Christmas speech was broadcast via radio and television and was transmitted around the world by Voice of America radio in over 30 languages.
The speech was intended to focus on the peaceful uses for atomic energy. With some influence from Albert Einstein, Eisenhower was attempting to convey a spirit of comfort to a terrified world that the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would not be experienced again. According to some historians, western European nations wanted reassurance that the U.S. did not intend to provoke a nuclear war in Europe, and the speech was designed to give them some comfort.
Eisenhower said in the speech:
"It is with the book of history, and not with isolated pages, that the United States will ever wish to be identified. My country wants to be constructive, not destructive. It wants agreement, not wars, among nations. It wants itself to live in freedom, and in the confidence that the people of every other nation enjoy equally the right of choosing their own way of life."
He later stated:
"To the making of these fateful decisions, the United States pledges before you--and therefore before the world--its determination to help solve the fearful atomic dilemma--to devote its entire heart and mind to find the way by which the miraculous inventiveness of man shall not be dedicated to his death, but consecrated to his life."
A Dwight Eisenhower Christmas
During his first Christmas in the White House in 1953, Eisenhower asked Hallmark President Joyce C. Hall for assistance with his first official Christmas cards as the President of the U.S. An artist himself, Eisenhower had painted a portrait of Abraham Lincoln while waiting for news on a Korean armistice. For inspiration, he used a photograph of Lincoln done by Alexander Gardner in 1863. Eisenhower ordered 1,100 white keepsake folders from Hallmark, each containing a reproduction of his Lincoln painting. All of the folders were embossed with the official Presidential Seal. Over 500 of the reproductions were given to White House staff members at the annual Christmas party. Each folder was accompanied by a gift enclosure Christmas card imprinted with the words “Season’s Greetings” in gold.
Eisenhower also had Hallmark produce 1,100 official White House Christmas cards to be sent to diplomats, government officials, Cabinet members, and Congress members. The card design was on an ivory stock and bore an embossment of the Presidential Seal along with the words “Season’s Greetings” in gold. Inside the card, engraved in black, it read: “The President and Mrs. Eisenhower extend their best wishes for Christmas and the New Year”.
Hallmark also produced 500 informal Christmas cards for the President and First Lady to send to their close and personal friends. The design of the informal Christmas cards contained an embossment of holly leaves and red berries. “Mamie and Ike” was engraved on the inside in the First Lady’s handwriting.
Before lighting his first National Community Christmas Tree for over 4,000 onlookers, Eisenhower gave the President’s annual Christmas speech from inside the White House. His words expressed contentment with the Korean armistice but also acknowledged the cold war that still existed. President Eisenhower’s first Christmas speech was broadcast via radio and television and was transmitted around the world by Voice of America radio in over 30 languages.