THIS IS a very fine tribute. I appreciate it, and I hope I deserve it--and I hope I will continue to deserve it.
I have just received a book from a friend of mine awhile ago, on his tour of duty in Israel, and he passes around an immense amount of credit in my direction, which is not customary for publications in this present day and time.
I am very appreciative of your thoughtfulness in giving me this plaque. I will treasure it as long as I live.
Thank you very much.
Note: The President spoke at 3:40 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House.
The plaque, presented to the President in recognition of his assistance to the State of Israel, was presented by Henry Morgenthau, Jr., former Secretary of the Treasury and chairman of the Board of Governors of the American Financial and Development Corporation for Israel.
The book referred to by the President was presented to him earlier in the day by its author, James G. McDonald, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel. It is entitled "My Mission in Israel 1948-1951" (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1951, 303 pp.).
The First National Conference on Israel was held in Washington to formulate plans for the mobilization of capital resources to aid the economic development of Israel.
Harry S Truman, Remarks to the Delegates to the First National Conference on Israel. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/230810
