I enjoyed your article in the June issue about William Eddy 1917 *1921 (Princeton Portrait). His presence as translator and briefer at the 1945 meeting between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Saudi King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud was important because of his fluency in Arabic and his understanding of the long-term stakes involved in the two countries’ relationship. The conversation between the president and the king in the Red Sea aboard the USS Murphy provided an early look at issues that were to shape Middle East politics for decades to come. An excellent biography of Eddy is Arabian Knight, by Thomas W. Lippman.

Philip Seib ’70
Pasadena, Calif.