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Show Wsfwxgiim AN INSIDE STORY Harry Truman will be known as the man who didn't want to be President. Unassuming, modest, in love with his job as senator from Missouri. Harry never wanted to be vice president in the first place. And after he was elected, he dreaded the thought that anything might hap- pen to President Roosevelt. Once, during the campaign, he awoke in ft co'r: sweat. He had dreamed that Roostvelt had died and he was called upon to assume his mantle. ; Harry said he never had such a terrible ter-rible dream before in all his life. i Truman had arrived in Speaker J Sam Rayburn's office to discuss that awesome possibility when the call j came to hurry to the White House. On Wednesday, the night before, I Speakei Rayburn had had a pre- ' monition of things to come. Dining with iriends, Rayburn said: "This country is in for a great tragedy, and I feel it's coming very soon. I don't think the President will be W'th us much longer." 1 Rayburn's listeners were shocked. When they asked the speaker for an explanation, he replied: "Roosevelt's not a well man." Refusing to be more specific, he turned his head away from the table for a moment and then said: "I think I'll have a talk with Harry (Truman) tomorrow. He's got to be prepared to carry a tremendous tre-mendous burden. He's got to get himself ready for this." Next afternoon, about three, even as Franklin Roosevelt was entering his last hour of life, Rayburn called over to Truman's Tru-man's office in the senate, said he wanted to see the vice president. Truman said he'd drop over when the senate recessed. re-cessed. He had just arrived to see Rayburn when word came from Steve Early that the event which Truman so long dreaded, finally had transpired. TRUMAN'S OLD STAMPING GROUND It has been a long time since a President of the United States went up to Capitol hill to confer with congressmen. However, it didn't seem at all unusual when Pres. Harry Truman came up to the senate sen-ate for lunch on the first day he seryed as President of the United States. Also he didn't act any differently. dif-ferently. "I feel just as if someone had hit me over the head with a 16-pound 16-pound mallet," he said. "I don't know what's happened to me yet. "This morning," he continued, "I wanted to come up on the hill to see my old friends, and they tried to tell me it wasn't done. " 'Done or not,' I replied, Tm going to do it.' "But when I went out to get my car, I found it surrounded by motorcycles. motor-cycles. They took me up to the hill and caused a terrible commotion on the street. They even stopped people peo-ple from crossing the street." At this point, Majority Leader Alben Barkley said: "That's just what happens to a country boy when he gets in your spot." Truman laughed and concluded con-cluded : "Some day I hope they'll build a tunnel between congress and the White House so the President can come up here without blocking traffic." Truman also told his old congressional con-gressional colleagues that he hoped they would come down to see him. "I may not always agree with you," he said, "but I'll give your request all the consideration con-sideration I think it is worth." Michigan's Republican Senator Vandenburg piped up at this point r ask, "Couldn't you give it just a little lit-tle more consideration than you think it's worth?" They all agreed that the Presidency Presi-dency hadn't spoiled Harry and they didn't think it would. COURAGEOUS SENATOR Though Harry Truman dreaded the possibility of becoming President, Presi-dent, as senator he never ran away from a fight. His chief senatorial battles were as chairman of the so-called Truman Tru-man committee. The name resulted from Harry's crusading determination determina-tion to investigate war scandals or anything else interfering with the war. Harry was so fervent that even Republicans on the committee came to admire and respect him. Republican Senator Ferguson of Michigan, one of the most fearless men in congress, joined the committee com-mittee under the impression that Truman was playing politics. He soon learned to he contrary If the administration was to blame, Truman Tru-man said so. Ferguson came to be a rooter on the Truman team. Time after time also, Truman stood up against the army and navy. Some senators put their tail. between their' legs vhere the brass-hats are concerned. But not Truman. He also told the truth about Jesse Jones' delays in providing provid-ing synthetic rubber, exposed the secret deal with the Aluminum Alumi-num corporation for the Ship-shaw Ship-shaw plant in Canada, prodded the navy for failing to accept the Higgjns landing craft, thus delaying the fateful European invasion. |
