I recently received some military documents and memorabilia of my grandfather, Michael John Hanley Jr. (1924-2015). Included in this collection were three letters he received from U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. He received these letters in his role as a plant manager at the Fisher Body General Motors Corporation at 5200 East Cork Street in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The letter from Richard Nixon on June 20, 1974 thanked him for me agreeing to be the Chairman of the National Alliance of Businessmen for Kalamazoo.

The July 25, 1975 letter from Gerald Ford thanked him for his contributions as the Metro Chairman for the Southwestern Michigan metropolitan area for the same organization.

On August 6, 1981 my grandfather received a letter from President Ronald Reagan thanking him for the Administration’s Program for Economic Recovery.

I don’t know how common these types of letters were or if they are even live signatures. If they are live, were they actually signed by the presidents or one of their secretaries? Here are some close up scans if you have any thoughts to share.

Whatever the case, these were obviously letters that my grandfather was proud of and wanted to keep. I am proud of them too and happy to share them with you.

An additional document in this collection was a Western Union Mailgram from the White House (during the Presidency of Gerald Ford) inviting my grandfather to a reception for the National Alliance of Businessmen on April 8th, 1975.

According to President Gerald R. Ford's Daily Diary for that day, President Ford did in fact hold this reception on the first floor residence of the White House from 5:30pm-6:20pm. And, sure enough, my grandfather was listed as present.