2

Lehman Brothers

One William Street

New York, NY 10004

September 12, 1968

Mr. Julian Bond

162 Euhrlee Street, SW

Atlanta, Georgia 30314

^{Thanks for your offer of aid.}

Dear Mr. Bond:

You, Mr. Bond, are in deep trouble! If your shoulders were as broad as those of fellow-delegrate Grier, perhaps I should not be so concerned for you. But at your (our) age, the responsibility of representing the millions of disfranchised in this country to the world is staggering.

Never, in my memory or research, has a black man made such an impression on the organized community. Your rationality in the midst of chaos, your composure and self-presence in the face of adversity, and, most importantly, your articulate thought and speech command the respect of all conscious men.

But you must therefore be very careful. You can already do what no other black public figure has been able to do. You meet and speak with all as a peer. It is this beautifully and articulately developed attribute which, I feel, you must carefully exploit to achieve your goals. (I know I use the word articulate in the above paragraph, but it, more than any other, describes your subtle impact.)

Your comments last night on Channel 13's "SOUL" program concerning the strength of your word are food for everyone's thought. Your sense of humor, as exposed last night, at the Convention, and in your letter to the New York Times in 1967, is great even if you do owe something, albeit subconsciously, to David Brinkley. All in all, you impress

New York • Chicago • Denver • Houston • Los Angeles • San Francisco • Paris