[Released December 9, 1930. Dated December 8, 1930]
My dear Mr. Barton:
I am profoundly grieved to learn of the death of your father, and Mrs. Hoover and I wish you to know our deep sympathy with you in your loss. The Nation will long cherish the memory of his outstanding contributions to religion and literature and his splendid idealism in service of our country.
Yours faithfully,
HERBERT HOOVER
[Mr. Bruce Barton, 383 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y.]
Note: The Reverend William E. Barton, Congregational minister and author of a number of books on Abraham Lincoln, died on December 7, 1930. His son, Bruce Barton, was an advertising executive and popular writer.
Herbert Hoover, Message of Sympathy on the Death of William E. Barton. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/210964