From the archives: dinner with the president

January 12, 1954

Dear Mr. Annenberg:
I wonder if it would be convenient for you to come to an informal stag dinner on the evening of Thursday, March fourth. I hope to gather together a small group, and I should like very much for you to attend if it is possible for you to do so.

Because of the informality of the occasion, I suggest that we meet at the White House about half past seven, have a reasonably early dinner, and devote the evening to general chat. While I am hopeful that you can attend, I realize that you already may have engagements which would interfere. If so, I assure you of my complete understanding.
I shall probably wear black tie, but business suit will be entirely appropriate.

With warm personal regard,

Sincerely,

Dwight Eisenhower

Mr. Walter H. Annenberg
Editor
The Philadelphia Inquirer
400 North Broad Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

One of Leonore and Walter Annenberg’s first guests at Sunnylands was President Dwight D. Eisenhower. But Walter Annenberg and Dwight Eisenhower were friends long before they golfed together at Sunnylands, as this 1954 letter from the White House shows. The letter is part of a long correspondence between the Eisenhowers and the Annenbergs in the Sunnylands archives.