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Show From "Pressure Groups" "What about the pressure group mail the look-alike letters or cards?" we asked. "We don't put a label on mail of that type." said the director of the White House mail room. "Oh, sometimes we get several hundred letters a day on a particular issue and we know there is a group activity behind it. However, these are individual citizens writing to the Fresident. This fact is paramount. When we write an analysis of the mail, the fact that 500 letters came in which appeared to be using the same language, is considered, consider-ed, of course, but the letter writers are not downgraded simply because they are a part of a concerted voice." "What kind of letters particularly par-ticularly impress their message mes-sage on the President?" we asked. "The sincere, unselfish letter from a citizen who obviously has the general welfare of our country at heart. We get lots of these. If they are logical along with their honesty and selflessness, they carry substantial sub-stantial weight with the President Presi-dent and with us, in our analysis." r Looking Ahead SIWfe Dr. George S. Benson NATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAM SPEAKING TO THE PRESIDENT Once (and sometimes twice) a week when President Richard M. Nixon arrives at his desk in the Oval Room of the White House, he reaches first for a concise report on what the people of America are thinking. think-ing. The report is prepared by a group of public opinion analysts though they are not called that in the White House. Their product is called a "News Summary." It highlights high-lights the public reaction to top issues in controversy in the United States, and summarizes sum-marizes both the "pros" and "cons." In the report also is a nar rative-like summarv cn what the people of America were saying to their President, in a massive batch of mail, on Monday, on Tuesday, and on each day throughout the week. Also in the report is a summary sum-mary on what the newspaper editorials are saying, and what the maior columnists are saying. say-ing. The President himself considers the message in the mail an authentic guideline on what the people of America are thinking; what they want their Prc;ident to do. From The Chidren My White House source also said: "The President gets a lot of mail from children. Almost Al-most without exception, they have no ax to grind. The President Presi-dent highly values this mail. He wants to personally read as much of it as possible, and quite frequently he answers it personally." Every action of the President Presi-dent brings comment from citizens citi-zens who take time to write. The mail was heavy after President Nixon's European trip. It was heavy after his conference at Midway Island with South Vietnam governmental govern-mental leaders. It becomes exceedingly ex-ceedingly heavy when the White House is involved in a national issue affecting all the people like war and taxes. "The question of whether to continue or discontinue the personal income sur-tax stimulated stimu-lated a great volume of mail, and the opinions expressed, together to-gether with the thinking of the people on inflation, drew the studious attention of President Nixon," said our White House contact. The key fact spotlighted in mv conversations with these White House staffers is that you, as a citizen, have a voice in Government if you but use it. Every Letter I; Read This information was given to me by some of the key-people key-people responsible for making up this "public opinion" survey sur-vey each week in th White House. They estimate that in the first 100 days of the Nixon Administration more than 500,000 letters came addressed to "The President." The volume now is greater than 30,000 a week. It takes a considerable con-siderable staff to just lead the mail, and a number of knowledgeable know-ledgeable persons to fully analyze its content. "Every letter addressed to the President is carefully read," said the man in charge of this activity in the White House. "The President has made it clear to all of us that he respects the people who write him and is determined to convey that respect back to the people. He appreciates the mail. In the Nixon Administration, Administra-tion, the mail works for the President. It tells him. in a sense, what the nation is thinking; it gauges for him the public understanding on an issue; it has become one of the key factors in his presidential presi-dential decisions and actions. |