In a world where texting is ubiquitous, handwritten letters might feel positively archaic. However, up until recently, letters were the most effective means of communicating over large distances, and they are an invaluable resource for learning about the lives of historical personalities. There is nearly always a correspondence archive for a well-known individual.Letters can demonstrate a person’s relationships with others in addition to disclosing things like thoughts that they did not express in public. And there are lots of intriguing and unusual combinations to be found when it comes to the wealthy, powerful, and well-known. Here are ten little-known instances of well-known persons writing to each other, ranging from those attempting to influence world leaders to powerful pen pals and hidden admirers.

10. Freud and Einstein

It seems sense to believe that bringing together some of the most creative and intelligent people on the planet could lead to solutions for some of the most challenging issues facing humanity, like conflict. This was the concept behind the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation, which supported a correspondence between Sigmund Freud, a psychiatrist, and Albert Einstein, a physicist, in 1932.Entitled “Why War?” it started with Einstein requesting Freud’s insights into human psychology to determine whether violence was innate in human nature or if there was any chance of world peace. The two continued talking about their expectations for the League of Nations as well as the history of war and its place in politics.Sadly, world peace was not brought about by the correspondence between these two influential intellectuals. Since the exchange was released in 1933—the year Hitler assumed power—it did not receive the intended level of circulation. The two were pacifists and Jews, and the Nazis wasted little time in trying to undermine their contributions.[1]

9. Hitler and Gandhi

There were additional pacifists focusing on averting another world war besides Freud and Einstein. A few years later, in 1939, Mahatma Gandhi wrote from a different part of the world. But he took a more straightforward tack and wrote to Adolf Hitler. It was a desperate attempt to convince Mussolini in person after a previous attempt had failed. War was unavoidable, and Gandhi, for all his opposition to colonial control, did not want India to become free as a result of England’s devastation, nor did he want to see Europe reduced to ruins.He therefore believed that it was his moral obligation to strive to prevent the conflict. Hitler is questioned about if any material possession is worth the cost of bringing humanity to barbarism as he emphasizes to him the “considerable success” he has attained without using force. Sadly, the colonial authority forbade him from sending the letter. But the tone of apology implies he was aware of what Hitler would have probably said in return. In late 1940, he gave it another shot, but the outcome remained the same.[2]

8. Gandhi and Henry Ford

An unexpected source of admiration for Gandhi’s nonviolent approach and the triumph of his civil disobedience movement came from one of the richest men on the planet, who also happened to be producing bomber planes for the Second World War. However, Henry Ford had bowed to political pressure to support the war effort. In his view, the United States of America ought to have maintained its neutrality. Additionally, he disapproved of imperialism and had been monitoring India since his automobiles were selling well in the nation’s major cities. Gandhi was so impressive that Ford wrote to him in 1941 to tell him so, calling Gandhi “one of the greatest men the world has ever known.”It’s interesting to note that a few years prior, Henry Ford supposedly received a letter from a well-known admirer. Still, it was probably a scam, and it surely wasn’t from a pacifist. The notorious bank robber and mobster John Dillinger signed a 1934 letter to him complimenting Ford’s “excellent” automobiles, which the criminal was known to drive.[3]

7. Churchill and Wells, H.G.

Winston Churchill was a science fiction reader, something that is difficult to think went unnoticed until 2006. His writings have been about him for so long. He was especially fond of the writings of H.G. Wells, who wrote numerous short stories, including The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. In several of his most well-known remarks, he quoted Wells, and in 1931, he claimed he could “pass an exam” on the popular author’s writings. Churchill’s political views may have been affected by Wells as well, although primarily through his non-fiction writings, such as the book of forecasts Anticipations.However, Churchill also appreciated Wells’s fiction, even though he disapproved of one of his works for being overly cerebral and lacking in action. Churchill received a copy of Anticipations from Wells’s publishers in 1901 and replied in a letter that he had read every word of Wells’s writing. They had a face-to-face meeting the next year and corresponded via letter until Wells passed away in 1946.[4]

6. Karl Marx and Abraham Lincoln

Politicians should, one would imagine, read and converse with philosophers and economists in their free time, not science fiction authors. Abraham Lincoln was one of these individuals, but some of the thinkers he connected with were unexpected. Lincoln studied Karl Marx’s writings and even exchanged letters with him, yet he was neither a socialist nor a communist. In actuality, the two had a friend named Charles Dana and were only nine years apart in birth.Marx was hired by Dana, the managing editor of the New York Tribune, to serve as the paper’s correspondent in Britain. Later on, Dana quit the Tribune to work as an advisor to Lincoln in the American Civil War. In 1865, Marx wrote to Lincoln to congratulate him on his reelection and on his efforts to abolish slavery. Lincoln replied by way of the American envoy to Great Britain, saying he thought of Marx and his supporters as “friends.” Newspapers across the Atlantic carried the exchange, and Marx was delighted to see the bourgeoisie “shaking their heads.”[5]

5. Queen Victoria and Mary Todd Lincoln

Following his assassination, Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s heartbroken wife, came under public scrutiny. The public was interested in seeing if she could compose herself and act like a respectable woman in the given situation. In the 19th century, that meant keeping your emotions in check in public. Mary could not, and it is now thought that she suffered from bad mental health and may have been bipolar. News from the White House began to circulate that she was frequently crying out, screaming, and flailing in her emotional state. Her acts were perceived as attention-seeking by her fellow citizens, although not everyone shared her lack of empathy.A kind, handwritten letter of condolence from Queen Victoria herself, a fellow widow across the pond, reached her in April 1865. The British monarch had never met the First Lady, describing herself as “utterly broken hearted” in the letter after losing her own husband in 1861. Nevertheless, she described how she could not remain mute in the face of such a tragedy for Mrs. Lincoln. The letter rejects the image of Queen Victoria as a frigid person with a “stiff upper lip.”[6]

4. Voltaire and Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great of Russia, who was for a long time the pen friend of the well-known French philosopher and writer Voltaire, was another empress who communicated with individuals who were far removed from her nation and social circle. The two never really met in person; instead, their entire relationship was maintained through letters. Following the death of her husband Peter III, Catherine rose to become empress and is reported to have supported the arts and considered herself a bit of a philosopher.This inspired her to approach the brightest brains of the day, and some were more than happy to answer—Voltaire, for example, who already admired her. Voltaire thought well of her despite her autocratic manner of governance, especially when compared to the French monarchy. He loved her so much, in fact, that he kept a picture of her in his bedroom.26 letters were written between the two; they have been called “intimate” rather than diplomatic. Only in 2006, after a Russian art dealer paid €583,200 to acquire the letters from a private collection in Paris, did the details of the correspondence come to light.[7]

3. Richard Nixon and Elvis

A hastily written letter on a piece of aircraft notepaper can get someone a meeting with the US president, but only if they are famous and powerful enough. But Elvis Presley had accomplished that in 1970. The rock n’ roll icon submitted his letter to the White House in December of that year after taking a plane to Washington, D.C., and a few hours later, he was in a room with President Richard Nixon.Elvis wanted to expand his collection of police badges by obtaining a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He wrote to the most powerful man in the country, pleading with him to give him the federal agent credentials he required to obtain this.Elvis wrote to Nixon about his love for the United States, how he had researched drug misuse and communist indoctrination techniques, and how he could speak with anti-establishment groups since they did not view him as an enemy. Nixon accepted his badge in exchange for Elvis giving him a weapon when they first met.[8]

2. Martin Luther King Jr. and J. Edgar Hoover.

Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the civil rights movement, was not an exception when it came to facing obstacles and deceitful methods. A letter presented itself as one of his challenges. Even though it was anonymous, the FBI was known to be the source. J. Edgar Hoover, who oversaw the bureau at the time, had the FBI wiretap King’s residence and place of business in order to watch him.They recorded evidence of his adulterous relationships and submitted it to King, along with an anonymous letter labeling him “evil,” “a colossal fraud,” and engaging in “immoral conduct lower than that of a beast.” The Senate Select Committee eventually concluded that the letter’s tone and wording went beyond merely seeking to defame or humiliate King in order to persuade him to take his own life.King remained unconvinced, and by a fortunate coincidence, the FBI had miscalculated the tone of the media at the moment. It took ten years for the contents of the letter to be made public because the press refused to deal with it.[9]

1. Helen Keller and Alexander Graham Bell

Although Alexander Graham Bell is best known for his sound-based invention, he had a great deal of empathy for the deaf community. In fact, as he grew older, he thought that his satisfaction from working with the deaf outweighed his status as the telephone’s creator. Even though he has faced criticism for some of his techniques, his relationship and support for deaf-blind novelist Helen Keller is proof of his deep concern.Keller was a little kid when Bell first met her in 1886, and he remained her supporter for the rest of her life. She frequently visited the Bell home, and he frequently sent her money in addition to setting up a trust fund that covered Keller’s tuition at the esteemed Radcliffe College. In the year 1900, Bell acquired the skill of operating a braille typewriter, enabling him to compose messages to Keller directly. This impressed Keller, who wrote back to him when he tried writing a braille letter for the first time, saying it was almost like he had clutched her hand in his and that she had not detected any faults.[10]

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