Lot 4388
Eden, Anthony (1897-1977) British Foreign Secretary (1935-38, 40-45, 51-55) and Prime Minister (1955-57). Typed Letter Signed ("Anthony") with holograph greeting, closing, and one sentence, on personal letterhead, Fyfield Manor, Pewsey, April 20, 1961, one page, quarto. Three days after President Kennedy launched the diastrous Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba, the former British prime minister writes to Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook. In part: "As I told Junor, I do not at the moment want to say anything about the Cuban affair, but if I do I will contact him and…he can decide whether he thinks it useful or not. / My own fear is that the Americans have launched their partisans in insufficient numbers and with insufficient power. They may be faced with a choice of backing them with American forces or letting them fall. As they have only eighty miles of sea to cover and not a thousand, as we had at Suez from Malta, they ought not to have under-estimated the job they have to do, and Kennedy ought to know that exiles are always optimistic. Maybe the Americans have calculated better than appears on the surface. I pray so…."
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a foreign policy debacle for President Kennedy. Eden had his own foreign policy debacle in 1956 when Britain attempted (with France and Israel) to regain international control of the Suez Canal. Eden was forced to resign as prime minister. Excellent content.
Estimated Value $2,000 - 2,500.
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