Letter Accepting Resignation of Ray C. Bliss as Chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Dear Ray:
I have read with great personal regret your February 17 letter advising me of your decision to leave the National Chairmanship in mid-April.
In our Party's six score years we have never had a Chairman more dedicated than you have been, more professionally competent, or with a record of greater achievement than yours. It is also true that no Chairman has won more respect throughout our Party's ranks than you have won since you took up the reins of leadership in 1965. You have, therefore, every reason for full satisfaction as you leave this high post. I join our entire Party membership in saluting you for a job extraordinarily well done.
In accepting your decision I must request that you remain available as our counselor despite your retirement, because you offer our Party far too much professional skill to remove yourself entirely from our common cause.
I will, as you suggest, designate a representative to work with you at the Committee, and shortly after my return from Europe I will schedule a meeting for us to discuss the Committee's requirements for the future.
Pat joins me in warmest greetings to Ellen and in congratulations to both of you for having so ably served our Party and our country for so many years.
Sincerely,
DICK NIXON
[Honorable Ray C. Bliss, Chairman, Republican National Committee, 1625 Eye Street, NW., Washington, D.C. 20006]
Note: The letter of acceptance was dated February 17, 1969, and released February 18, 1969. Mr. Bliss' letter of resignation, released along with the President's letter, follows:
Dear Mr. President:
While I appreciated very much your suggestion at our January 10 meeting at the Pierre Hotel in New York that I continue as Chairman of the Republican National Committee, I have given it much thought and have concluded that I will retire as Chairman in April and return to my private business.
I am writing to let you know that I will submit my resignation to the Republican National Committee at a meeting in Washington in mid-April, called for the purpose of electing a new Chairman. This will round out four years of service in my present post.
My retirement at that time will provide necessary lead-in time for the new Chairman to prepare for the 1969 and 1970 elections. It will give him the same advance planning period that was available to me on my assumption of the Chairmanship and which I found fully satisfactory.
In order to facilitate an orderly transition, you may find it desirable to appoint a representative of your administration to work closely with me until the new Chairman is elected. Following your return from your most important European trip, I am looking forward to meeting with you and discussing details concerning future political plans for our party and ways I can be most helpful.
The last four years have been the most important and satisfying of my life since they provided me an opportunity to help rebuild the Republican Party and to help elect you President of the United States.
You may be assured of my continued support and dedication to the principles of the Republican Party which you so ably espouse.
With warm regards and high esteem, I am
Sincerely yours,
RAY
Richard Nixon, Letter Accepting Resignation of Ray C. Bliss as Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/240492