Two items: a TLS signed “Uncle Ike,” one page, 7.25 x 10.25, personal 'DDE' letterhead, November 19, 1965, sent to Carl Schulz, the son of Brig. General Robert L. Schulz, the longtime aide to Dwight D. Eisenhower, in full: “A very Happy Birthday and many, many more of them. Although the doctors have me confined to the hospital here in Georgia I do not want to fail to send you my warm felicitations. I hope you have a good celebration with all the trimmings”; and a holiday “Season’s Greetings” money envelope from The Gettysburg National Bank, measures 6.5 x 5.75 open, signed and inscribed inside in black ink, “Dear Carl, from, Aunt Mamie Eisenhower, 1965.” In overall very fine condition. Accompanied by the letter’s original mailing envelope bearing stamped free frank signature.
Born in 1907, Robert L. Schulz attended the Academy of Advanced Traffic in New York and entered the field of traffic management in the mid-1930s. At the beginning of World War II in 1942, he was commissioned a captain in the Office of the Chief of Transportation, assigned to the Traffic Control Division. He began arranging transportation for General Dwight D. Eisenhower as early as 1945 and was appointed as Ike's aide-de-camp in 1947. His duties included arranging transportation and handling personal business matters for Eisenhower and his family, acting as a gatekeeper and discreet channel of communication for the general's family and close friends.
As a five-star general, Eisenhower was entitled to keep his aide, and Schulz remained with him when he became president of Columbia University in 1948 and when he took command of NATO forces in Europe in 1950. Schulz then served as a military aide to President Eisenhower for the duration of his term in the White House, from 1953 to 1961. During this time, in addition to accompanying the president nearly everywhere he went, Schulz represented Eisenhower at ceremonies, arranged foreign trips, and spoke to reporters during his illnesses. When President Eisenhower left office, Schulz became his executive assistant, and in 1969 he was appointed by President Nixon as Special Assistant to the President for Liaison with Former Presidents. For more than twenty years, Brigadier General Robert L. Schulz served by the side of Dwight D. Eisenhower, allowing incredible access to one of the towering figures of the American 20th century.