The art of flattery: letters from a CIA director to a president.

• Author: Komisar, Lucy
• Position: Richard Helms; Richard Nixon

There is an epistolary genre, not unknown in Washington, which is best described as--forgive the crudeness--the sucking up letter." It is a tool of the trade of speaking flattery to power.

In the course of my research in the Nixon files at the National Archives, I came across these seven examples which deserve a prominent place in the canon of this genre.

They were written by then CIA Director Richard Helms to President Richard Nixon. Many people have seized opportunities to warmly address a patron or benefactor, and you may even reluctantly recognize something of yourself in Helms. Still, he was a master of the art. Helms, you will recall, had a difficult time in the Nixon administration. He'd been invited, as CIA chief, to attend Johnson administration National Security Council meetings, but Henry Kissinger informed him that under the new regime he would have to leave the room after giving his intelligence briefings. Helms got the order reversed, but it was clear that he needed to forge links to the President to counter the threat from Kissingel

Helms, like everyone else, found it difficult to get past H.R. Haldeman's Oval Office blockade. So, he got in the habit of leaving notes at Nixon's place at NSC meetings. An early example of the canon came just after Kissinger's initial threat to his status and power.

On March 4, 1969, Helms wrote: "My dear Mr. President: After hearing you this morning and reading incoming reports from Western Europe, may I say what a remarkable personal tour de force you achieved on your trip ... I feel compelled to tell you that your approach to the real world is a most reassuring one. I do not mean to sound gratuitous; I just want you to know how I see it. Respectfully, Dick."

And a week later, March 10, 1969: "My dear Mr. President: Again I want to thank you for visiting the Agency Friday. From the standpoint of our people, it was everything that one could have desired. I know you could sense the lift in morale even while you were on the premises. Your warm friendliness has brought nothing but glowing remarks, even from those "cynics" who believe they have seen it all ... Your words about me were humbling. I need not assure you that I will do everything I can to justify them ... Respectfully, Dick."

Thomas Powers, Helms's biographer, remarked that Helms never managed to win Nixon's confidence. "At times, Nixon's treatment of him in meetings seemed harsh to the point of cruelty. He frequently interrupted Helms...