President Richard M. Nixon Immortalizes Egypt’s Assassinated President Anwar el-Sadat in a Letter to His Widow: “Men are mortal but the spirit of a man of peace is immortal because it lives on in the millions he has inspired.”

Nixon had himself played a key role in aiding the launch of the peace process, mediating the Sinai I disengagement agreement between Egypt and Israel in 1974

Israel and Egypt (with its Arab allies) had been engaged in hostilities for three decades, and this resulted in four wars in twenty four years. The hatreds in the region were fierce, and the constant conflicts seemed interminable. The last of these, the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, was launched by the Arabs as a surprise, and they had initial successes before Israel emerged victorious. Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat’s own brother was killed in that war. No one foresaw peace as a possibility.

But President Sadat saw the wars as a disastrous drag on the Egyptian economy and knew that they stood as a barrier to its receiving aid from the United States and many NATO countries. They also tended to throw the Middle East into the arms of the Russians, whom Sadat distrusted. Sadat had no intention of allowing Egypt to become a Soviet satellite.

Despite friction with his Syrian allies, Sadat signed the Sinai I (1974) and Sinai II (1975) disengagement agreements with Israel which stated that the conflicts between the countries “shall not be resolved by military force but by peaceful means”, and led to the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces in the Sinai, the creation of a U.N. buffer zone in their place, and the implementation of multiple U.S. stations in the Sinai. The also secured for Egypt large foreign assistance commitments. The first of these agreements were mediated by President Richard M. Nixon and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and the second by President Gerald R. Ford and Kissinger, who with thus played key roles in aiding the launch of the peace process.

Jimmy Carter became President of the United States on January 20, 1977. Israeli and Arab resistance was slowing Sadat’s hoped-for progress, so on November 9, 1977, Sadat made a stunning, dramatic gesture, one that left the world in shock: He would personally journey to Jerusalem to address the Israeli Knesset (parliament) to seek a permanent peace settlement between Israel and Egypt! The Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Menachem Begin, rose to the occasion, and ignoring those who saw Sadat’s move as some kind of trick, cordially invited him to address the Knesset in a message passed to Sadat via the US ambassador to Egypt. This was something of a surprise, as Begin had a reputation as a hard-liner, and some expected him to reject Sadat’s overture. On November 19, 1977, Sadat arrived for the groundbreaking three-day visit, which launched the first peace process between Israel and an Arab state. He met with Begin and spoke before Israel’s parliament, as the world looked on, in utter disbelief, and glued to the television. The astonished, approving reaction of ordinary Israelis and Egyptians who watched Sadat and Begin on live television was itself of importance. The sight of the two leaders facing each other in open, honest debate changed attitudes at the street levels of both countries. Much of the change came from Sadat’s choice of words. “The October War,” he said, “should be the last war.”

The visit was, however, met with outrage in much of the Arab world. Despite this, Sadat continued to pursue peace with Israel. However, a reciprocal visit by Begin was unsuccessful, and no progress was made toward peace. Then Rosalynn Carter, the U.S. first lady, suggested to her husband President Carter that he invite Sadat and Begin to Camp David, where the relative privacy and seclusion might provide a setting for a breakthrough.

Both Sadat and Begin trusted the United States to be an honest broker, and the two leaders accepted Carter’s invitation. The summit began on September 5, 1978, and lasted for 13 days. Carter preferred that the three men work together in private sessions in a small office at Aspen, his cabin at Camp David. Carter compiled a document that encompassed a resolution of the major issues, presented the proposals to each leader in separate meetings, assessed their comments, and redrafted the manuscript some two dozen times, shuttling the manuscript back and forth for their review. The Camp David Accords, signed on September 17, were the first peace agreement between the state of Israel and one of its Arab neighbors, and laid the groundwork for diplomatic and commercial relations.

In a ceremony at the White House on March 26, 1979, Sadat and Begin signed the historic peace treaty; it was considered the diplomatic triumph of the the era. President Carter oversaw the signing, and untold millions watched on television. The peace treaty formally ended the state of war that had existed between the two countries. Israel agreed to fully withdraw from Sinai, and Egypt promised to establish normal diplomatic relations between the two countries and open the Suez Canal to Israeli ships (which until then had been banned from the waterway). These provisions were duly carried out. Sadat was vilified for this in many Arab quarters, and Egypt was expelled from the Arab League, but Sadat was determined to end hostilities and move into a better future. He was well aware that his courage might well cost him his life, as he received death threats and some predicted his assassination.

For their achievement, Sadat and Begin were jointly awarded the 1978 Nobel Prize for Peace. Then, on October 6, 1981, extremists assassinated Sadat in Cairo. He is widely recognized today as a martyr to peace, and when we hear the phrase “blessed are the peacemakers”, his image immediately springs to mind. Despite the tragedy, the peace process continued without Sadat, and in 1982 Egypt formally established diplomatic relations with Israel. This led to, among many other benefits, increased tourism in the region.

Nixon, who with Kissinger got this process going, wrote this letter to Mrs. Sadat, saying her husband is immortal. Typed letter signed, on Nixon’s letterhead, October 12, 1982, with salutation in his hand to Sadat’s widow Jihan el-Sadat, on the occasion of the honoring of President Sadat by the American Society of Travel Agents, as Sadat’s efforts for peace did so much for tourism the region. He was to be awarded its 1st International Peace and Tourism Award. “I am honored to join in this tribute to Egypt’s great President, and also to you, his great First Lady.

“Men are mortal but the spirit of a man of peace is immortal because it lives on in the millions he has inspired. President Sadat was such a man. In the year since his voice was silenced events in the Middle East have only proven the wisdom of the strong, measured, deliberate way he sought peace. The impact of his loss is incalculably great; but so too is the gift of his example.”

Donald Reynolds was executive director of the American Tourism Society (later the American Society of Travel Agents). Under his leadership, ATSA facilitated travel to Russia and the newly independent republics of the USSR, and later expanded its outreach to the Middle East. His efforts in Egypt brought him in contact with Mrs. Sadat and they became friends. She gave this letter to him, and we obtained it from his heirs. It has never before been offered for sale.