Letter Accepting Resignation of Edwin A. Locke, Jr., as Special Assistant to the President.
Dear Eddie:
It is inevitable in government service that there must be withdrawals and separations and the breaking of official ties which also, in many instances, involve friendships and delightful personal associations. Your own determination to leave the public service is a case in point.
Greatly as I hate to lose you for personal as well as for official reasons, I cannot for selfish considerations stand in the way of your best interests. Reluctantly therefore, I accept, effective at the close of business on December thirty-first next, the resignation as Special Assistant to the President which you submitted in your letter of December sixteenth. You came into the service of the government in a time of grave national crisis and successively in different and exacting positions of trust and responsibility--latterly as my Special Assistant--discharged your duties with singular ability and efficiency.
Your contributions to the winning of the war were not more helpful than have been your counsels and your work in implementation of policy during the period of reconversion and return to a peacetime policy.
As you return to private life, I can say very heartily: well done. You must not be surprised if, from time to time, I call upon you for advice and assistance.
My best wishes for your continued success go with you.
Very sincerely yours,
HARRY S. TRUMAN
Note: Mr. Locke served as Special Assistant to the President from March 19, 1946, through December 31, 1946. His letter of resignation was released with the President's reply.
Harry S Truman, Letter Accepting Resignation of Edwin A. Locke, Jr., as Special Assistant to the President. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/232363