Ferguson: The chambermaid’s side
By Mrs. Walter Ferguson
…
Senators weep paying tributes
Meet in solemn mood before packed gallery
WASHINGTON (UP) – The Senate, which fought him bitterly on many domestic issues, today forgot past animosities and paid heartfelt tribute to Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Meeting in a solemn mood before crowded galleries, the Senate heard its leaders eulogize the late President as a leader of mankind and a great symbol of democracy in America. All traces of partisanship were gone in the face of a loss which members obviously believed to be one of the severest ever suffered by the United States,
Democratic Leader Alben W. Barkley (D-Kentucky) opened the session.
He said of the dead President:
We do not honor him merely because the American people allowed him to shatter precedents. We do not honor him because history allowed him to rise to a position of world leadership. We honor him for his personal qualities, his moral and intellectual stature. We honor him as an American and as a citizen of the world in the true sense.
Wherever men long for liberty, wherever they shed their blood for the high ideals of humanity, his name is and will be cherished throughout the world, now and in all the ages.
Vandenberg tribute
Sen. Arthur H. Vandenberg, the Republican senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt chose to go to San Francisco, solemnly told the Senate that “a successful peace must be his monument.”
Democratic Whip Lister Hill (D-Alabama) said Mr. Roosevelt was “the foremost man of all this world.”
‘He’ll never die’
Mr. Hill continued:
And now, he stands with Washington, with Jefferson, with Lincoln, with Wilson, and has joined the choice and master spirits of all the ages. He is not dead. Is Washington dead? Is Jefferson dead? Is Lincoln dead? Franklin Roosevelt will never die.
Members wept openly and unashamedly as Mr. Barkley spoke. In a Senate which he had roundly trounced in the last few weeks for large-scale absenteeism, there were few empty seats. The atmosphere was stilled and tense.
Sits in back row
Sen. Edwin C. Johnson (D-Colorado), who so often had opposed administration policies, sat in the back row, his face lined with grief.
Republican Leader Wallace H. White (R-Maine) sniffed, took out a big white handkerchief and blew his nose. Mr. Vandenberg held his head in his hands. Sen. Robert F. Wagner (D-New York), the President’s great friend since they were together in 1911 in the New York Senate, seemed lost in grief.
30-day mourning proclaimed by Dewey
ALBANY (UP) – Gov. Thomas E. Dewey proclaimed today a 30-day period of public mourning in New York State to the memory of President Roosevelt.
“In the tragic loss of Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, the State of New York has lost its most distinguished citizen, who was twice governor,” Mr. Dewey said.
Gov. Dewey, who opposed President Roosevelt as Republican candidate for the nation’s highest office last fall, directed that all state officers be closed tomorrow, the day of President Roosevelt’s funeral services.
Hopkins likely to fade fast as chief aide
But will be very important at first
By Marshall McNeil, Scripps-Howard staff writer
WASHINGTON – For the time being, Harry Hopkins, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s closest personal adviser, will be almost indispensable to President Truman in his dealings with our major allies.
For Mr. Hopkins is probably the only American who knows firsthand all the understandings among the Big Three.
He attended all the meetings of Mr. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Marshal Stalin. He was Mr. Roosevelt’s agent on special trips to London, Moscow, Paris and Rome. For months he lived in the White House.
Hence, at first, the new President will have to depend upon Mr. Roosevelt’s most loyal – and most criticized – friend.
Changes predicted
After that…? Persons who know President Truman well insist that as soon as possible, in these circumstances, he will begin to make changes. Mr. Hopkins, they think, will be a figure in the earliest of these shifts.
Mr. Truman is the sort of man who will have his own “Kitchen Cabinet,” and already some men are being mentioned as possible holders of these important, but often unofficial posts.
There is Hugh Fulton, for example. He is the former Justice Department lawyer whom Mr. Truman employed as chief counsel of what was then the Truman Investigating Committee of the Senate.
Quit with Truman
The new President, while a Senator from Missouri and chairman of the war investigating group, leaned heavily upon this quiet, capable man. Mr. Fulton quit the committee when Mr. Truman became Vice President.
Another may be Democratic National Chairman Robert Hannegan, to whom Mr. Truman can give credit for making him Vice President. Bob Hannegan may become as powerful as Jim Farley was in the early New Deal.
Then, if President Truman picks advisors from the Senate, he may settle upon the quiet-mannered Sen. Carl Hatch (D-New Mexico).
Banker mentioned
The new President’s associates also mention an old friend from St. Louis, John Snyder, a banker there, to whom they expect the new executive to turn for advice.
Mr. Roosevelt had his own “kitchen cabinet” as his administration began, except that it was known as the “Brain Trust.”
With two exceptions, all these are either dead, or gone from official life – James Byrnes and Benjamin Cohen within the last few weeks.
As the years passed, Mr. Roosevelt’s “Kitchen Cabinet” dwindled in size.
Two regulars left
As the war progressed, it was reduced to only two regulars – Mr. Hopkins and Judge Samuel Rosenman. Mr. Hopkins became chairman of the Munitions Assignment Board, and Judge Rosenman took the title of special counsel to the President.
Like Mr. Hopkins, Judge Rosenman is not expected to stay long beyond the time when President Truman himself, or his own “Kitchen Cabinet,” learns the answers.
Brain hemorrhage called paralytic stroke by layman
Ailment may result from exertion or from coughing or sneezing
By Jane Stafford, Science Service medical writer
WASHINGTON – Brain hemorrhage, from which President Roosevelt died, is the commonest of what physicians call “cerebral accidents.” The layman calls it a stroke or apoplexy or a paralytic stroke.
High blood pressure and blood vessel disease are the chief causes of the condition. The exact mechanism by which conditions occur, such as those leading to death from brain hemorrhage or from coronary artery trouble, is not known.
These blood vessels are where the strain comes, and undoubtedly many physicians, knowing the strain Mr. Roosevelt had been under, had been expecting that blood vessels of either heart or brain would give way.
The immediate cause of brain hemorrhage is a rapid rise in blood pressure. This may result from severe muscular exertion or from coughing or sneezing. The immediate sequel of the hemorrhage into the brain is the apoplectic seizure.
Most patients are said to have premonitory symptoms, as dizziness or a sense of pressure in the head. The seizure may, however, occur suddenly in a person in apparently perfect health.
Although paralysis often follows hemorrhage, there is no evidence that infantile paralysis has any connection with the kind following apoplectic seizure. Indirectly it might add some strain through the burden of getting about under physical handicap.
Death shocks Adm. McIntire
Physician planned weekend visit
By Ned Brooks, Scripps-Howard staff writer
WASHINGTON – Among all the White House attaches, the man most profoundly shocked by President Roosevelt’s death was Vice Adm. Ross T. McIntire, the Navy physician who had watched over the executive’s health for 12 years.
So confident was Adm. McIntire of the executive’s wellbeing that he did not consider it necessary to be at Mr. Roosevelt’s side at the Warm Springs “Little White House.” He had intended to join the presidential part, over the weekend, play golf and return Monday with the President.
‘No indication of trouble’
In recent months, while rumors about Mr. Roosevelt’s health were thick in Washington, Adm. McIntire had maintained steadfastly that there was no cause for concern. Today he reiterated this conviction:
Everything I have ever said about the President’s health was factual. As late as yesterday morning, there was no indication of trouble. The President was carrying on routinely as he had always done at Warm Springs.
Adm. McIntire said the “only complaint” he had found about Mr. Roosevelt’s condition was his loss of weight. This, he said, offered no warning of the cerebral attack which resulted in the President’s death.
Tells of phone call
A half-hour after the White House flag had been lowered to half-staff, Adm. McIntire received newsmen in Secretary Stephen T. Early’s office. Grief and remorse were evident beneath his composure.
He told his story simply – how a telephone call at 3:05 p.m. had brought the news of Mr. Roosevelt’s fainting, how he had sent Dr. James Paullin of Atlanta hurrying to the President’s bedside, how a second conversation had been broken off suddenly and how, five minutes later, he got the final message: “The President has died; the end came very suddenly.”
Hometown proud of President Harry
First Missourian in highest office
INDEPENDENCE, Missouri (UP) – The hometown neighbors of President Harry S. Truman – regardless of how they differ with him on political questions – were certain today that he would make a good Chief Executive.
They were against him heavily in the election last fall, but one and all, they weir proud to have Missouri’s first President come from Independence. and they wanted him to know it.
Mr. Truman is just “Harry” to the residents of this old Jackson County courthouse town. Despite the fact that he now holds the highest office in the nation, he probably will continue to be “Harry” when he comes back home for a visit.
Discuss trick of fate
When the news of Franklin Roosevelt’s death was flashed across the Nation yesterday, men from all walks of life gathered around the courthouse, where the new President once presided as a county judge, and discussed the strange trick of fate that had elevated a “local boy” to the presidency.
They talked far into the night, recalling anecdotes about the new Chief Executive. Their mourning for Mr. Roosevelt was intermingled with a feeling of pride that his successor was their neighbor and friend.
Proud of Harry
“Harry will make a good President,” said Col. William Southern, editor of the Independence Examiner, who has known Mr. Truman all his life.
“With everyone else in Independence, I am proud that a man from Missouri – and one from Independence – has become President of the United States,” he added.
Mrs. Margaret Ellen Truman Noland, 96, an aunt of the President, lives across the street from the Truman home. She said she was “stunned by the great responsibility which is thrust upon Harry.”
“But,” she added, “I’m proud of him and have all the faith in the world he can handle the job.”
Callers galore seek to rent Truman house
WASHINGTON (UP) – The Harry S. Trumans are moving to the White House from their Connecticut Avenue apartment, and house-seeking Washingtonians are keeping the telephone lanes busy in the hope they can get it.
The operator at the apartment house switchboard, however, has a stock answer: “The owner has asked me to save this apartment for at least three different people, but I will keep you in mind.”
The Truman apartment consists of two bedrooms, a large living room, bath, foyer, sunporch, dining room and kitchen. It rents for $120 a month, unfurnished.
Pope Pius cables his condolences
ROME, Italy (UP) – Pope Pius XII was plunged into sorrow when he learned of President Roosevelt’s death, Vatican sources said, and cabled his personal condolences to Mrs. Roosevelt and to Vice President Harry S. Truman early today.
Besides personal grief, the Pope was said to have felt greater sorrow because he had been certain that Mr. Roosevelt would have made a great contribution to the restoration of peace in a war-stricken world.
The Pontiff had met President Roosevelt personally in October 1936.
The Italian cabinet suspended meetings until Tuesday and ordered all schools and places of entertainment closed today and tomorrow.
The Vatican charged Archbishop Francis J. Spellman of New York with relaying the Pontiff’s condolences to Mrs. Roosevelt and President Truman.
Roosevelt picture on Moscow front pages
MOSCOW (UP) – Moscow newspapers today printed on their front pages a picture of President Roosevelt with his name in a black border.
Roosevelt third to die away from Washington
WASHINGTON (UP) – Franklin D. Roosevelt was the third President to die while away from Washington.
Warren G. Harding, the 28th President, died in San Francisco and William McKinley, the 24th, in Buffalo, New York.
Only two Vice Presidents were forced by the death of their Presidents to take the oath of office outside the capital.
When Harding died, Calvin Coolidge took the oath from his father in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in at Buffalo after McKinley’s assassination.
Baruch, Rosenman returning from London
LONDON (UP) – Bernard Baruch and Samuel Rosenman, personal emissaries of the late President Roosevelt, were understood today to have left for the United States.
Both had come to Europe on special missions on behalf of the President.
Truman’s mother asks divine help
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (UP) – President Truman’s aged mother tonight offered prayers for divine guidance for her son in leading the nation.
Too weak to come to the telephone herself, 92-year-old Mrs. Martha Truman spoke through her daughter, Miss Mary Jane Truman, who shares her bungalow at suburban Grandview, Missouri, near here.
She said:
We are praying that God will guide him and give him wisdom in the great responsibilities that he faces.
Mother is terribly, terribly distressed. The news came as such a shock, we have been unable to adjust ourselves to it.
Mrs. Martha Truman had not seen her son since he flew here several weeks ago to attend the funeral of T. J. Pendergast, who started him on the political career which led ultimately to the White House.
The aged mother during the Democratic Convention in Chicago which nominated Truman to the vice presidency, said at first that she hoped he would remain in the Senate. At that time, she said, “He has done such fine work there and I think that is where he best can serve his country.”
Pittsburghers recall visits Roosevelt made to city
60,000 jammed Forbes Field in 1936 to hear him campaign for reelection
Friday, April 13, 1945
Thousands of persons in the Pittsburgh district were saying in voices solemn with sorrow but filled with pride: “I remember him when…”
They were recalling that night in October 1932 when Franklin D. Roosevelt, Governor of New York, made one of the most important speeches in his first campaign for President – on the soldiers’ bonus question – at Forbes Field.
They were reminiscing, too, about that night in 1936 when a harvest moon shone down on 60,000 persons hammed into Forbes Field to hear President Roosevelt campaign for reelection.
No political speeches
And they were remembering October 1940 when the President last visited this district. He was his party’s candidate for a third term.
While here, President Roosevelt did not make a political speech. He visited “national defense plants,” as they were called before Pearl Harbor, and dedicated the Terrace Village housing project.
They were remembering the battered campaign fedora which President Roosevelt waved as banner as his car passed through streets lined with cheering crowds, the famous smile, the upturned cigarette holder, the silvered hair, the intoned opening phrase of his speeches, “My friends.”
60,000 in Forbes Field
Thirty-five thousand persons were present when Gov. Roosevelt gave his position on the soldiers’ bonus question and pledged himself to a 25 percent reduction in governmental expenses.
Four years later, again in Forbes Field, he spoke to 60,000 wild-cheering supporters in defense of his New Deal He came to give an accounting of his four years as Chief Executive and to outline the route he intended to follow in the future.
Gets medal from Fagan
He was the “old-time campaigner” that night. All the hoopla of a presidential campaign was staged. A youth dressed as Uncle Sam rode a donkey before the laughing spectators. Mr. Roosevelt took a bouquet of roses from Carol Gene Trainer, then five, of Wilkinsburg. He waved happily, smiled broadly and hit hard as he delivered his address.
He was visibly pleased when Patrick T. Fagan, then president of District 5 of the United Mine Workers, presented him with a gold medal “and the 40,000 votes of the miners in District 5 and the votes of every union miner in America.”
Mr. Roosevelt was a candidate for a precedent-shattering third term when he returned to Pittsburgh on October 11, 1940. His opponent, Wendell Willkie, had been here the week before.
President Roosevelt came to visit the plants then producing munitions for an England with its back to the wall. France had gone under and war was spreading toward the United States.
At the Carnegie-Illinois plant at Munhall, Mr. Roosevelt saw armor plates bearing placards of warships they were made for. One placard read: “USS Juneau,” the cruiser sunk by the Japs in the South Pacific. The five Sullivan brothers went down with the ship.
His last act here was to dedicate the housing project and to give to tenants Mr. and Mrs. Lester Churchfield a gold key for the 100,000th housing unit built under his administration. After the ceremony, Mr. Roosevelt remarked jocularly, as he frequently did: “Well, I’ve got to rum to catch a train.”
Democrats postpone Jefferson Day dinners
WASHINGTON (UP) – The Democratic National Committee has indefinitely postponed Jefferson Day dinners scheduled to be held here and in other parts of the country tonight.
President Roosevelt was to have addressed the gatherings by radio from Warm Springs. The Pittsburgh dinner was held Wednesday night.
Elliott Roosevelt flying from Britain
LONDON (UP) – Brig. Gen. Elliott Roosevelt left for the United States in an American plane early today to attend his father’s funeral.
Gen. Roosevelt was visiting friends in London last night when his Army chauffeur heard the news of the President’s death on a British broadcast.
The chauffeur informed Gen. Roosevelt, who returned immediately to Eighth Air Force headquarters and prepared to leave for the United States.
Yanks will win war in hurry – ‘for the old man’
WITH THE U.S. FIRST ARMY (UP) – Speaking for the men in his unit, Lt. Alfio Vielmetti of Norway, Michigan, said last night of the death of President Roosevelt:
It is an awful shock. The Doughboys are going to be jolted when they awaken in the morning and learn of the President’s death. But after the first impact hits them they are going to be like a college football team.
I think they are going into battle to win it in a hurry for the old man – their coach.
Last public appearance at writer’s banquet
WASHINGTON (UP) – President Roosevelt’s last public appearance here was at the White House Correspondents Association dinner March 22.
He enjoyed the show, during which well-known radio artists quipped about his extended stay in office.
Mr. Roosevelt made no formal talk, but at the close of the evening’s entertainment, he spoke for a few minutes. He began in a seemingly serious vein about his constant concern for humanity. He wound up with the announcement that he would not hold a press conference the following day. The crowd roared.
Stettinius now next in line
Succession provided by act of Congress
WASHINGTON (UP) – With Harry S. Truman installed as President, the nation will be without a Vice President until January 19, 1949, when the present term of office ends.
While there is provision for succession of Cabinet members to the presidency in event of the death or removal from office of both the President and Vice President, there is no provision for a successor to the Vice President when that office becomes vacant.
In event of Mr. Truman’s death, the line of succession to the presidency would be:
- Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius Jr.
- Secretary of Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr.
- Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson
- Attorney General Francis Biddle
- Postmaster General Frank C. Walker
- Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal
- Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes
The order of succession was established by Congress January 19, 1886. It makes no mention of the secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce and Labor whose offices had not been created at that time.
Meanwhile, the job of presiding over the Senate, customarily held by the Vice President, falls to Sen. Kenneth McKellar (D-Tennessee) at 76. He is the oldest member in point of service and has been serving as President Pro Tempore since January 6.
The post of President of the Senate carries with it the important function of deciding to which committees bills should be sent. Since the makeup of a committee sometimes plays an important part in the treatment a measure will receive, this is an important function in determining the fate of legislation.
Mr. McKellar, who retains his status as senior senator from Tennessee, gets a salary boost from the Congressional $10,000 a year to $15,000 the vice-presidential allotment.
As a senator, he will still be entitled to a vote in all matters before the Senate. A Vice President can vote only in case of a tie.
Mr. McKellar will have only his one vote as a senator, however and will not be entitled to cast a second deciding vote in case of a tie.
Early carries ball to the end
Roosevelt’s closest friend calm in crisis
WASHINGTON (UP) – Probably no one will ever know what it cost Stephen T. Early to pick up the telephone and say, “Flash: The President is dead.”
The 56-year-old Steve, the oldest and closest friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt, hadn’t expected he would ever have to handle this story.
In 12 years at the White House, he had done a lot for the Chief. For 24 hours a day through most of those years, he had been on call to reporters. Almost daily he met with them in person at regularly scheduled press conferences and fielded their questions expertly and honestly.
Steve had been the buffer between the administration and a news-hungry public. Often the questions he got were put with hostile intent. Steve always gave the best answer he could.
But he had reason to hope there was one story he would not have to cover. For the time finally came when Steve decided to return to private life. The years were passing, and he was staying at the White House at a considerable financial sacrifice.
Howe, McIntyre die
Only he and the Chief were left of the quartet of friends who moved into the executive mansion offices when Mr. Roosevelt became President in 1933. Lewis McHenry Howe was the first White House secretary to go. Marvin McIntyre was next. Their deaths left Mr. Early the only one left of the original group of secretaries.
Last month, the President said regretfully that Steve could go – if he would stay on until a successor could be found to Maj. Gen. “Pa” Watson, Mr. Roosevelt’s military aide and secretary who died January 20. They agreed that Steve would leave his post early in June.
That was why Steve never thought he would have to handle the story which hit him between the eyes yesterday.
Shocking personal loss
But he was wrong, and when the time came Steve performed like the veteran newspaperman he is. The President’s death was a shocking personal loss to him; it also was the biggest news story of his career, bigger than the death of President Harding which he covered as a newspaperman.
Before telling the story to the newspapers, however, there were other unhappy tasks which Steve had to perform first. It was Steve who, with Vice Adm. Ross T. McIntire, broke the news to Mrs. Roosevelt. It was he who called the soon-to-be President Truman to the White House.
This took time, and it was already late afternoon. So, Steve didn’t waste any precious moments summoning reporters to his office. Instead, he got on the phone to the three press associations for a “conference call” and made his report.
Give all details
Later, he received reporters in his office, as he had so often before. He told them everything that had happened that tragic afternoon in the White House – down to the last detail.
But it was the telephone call that revealed Steve at his crisp, efficient best. Everyone knew how deeply he loved the Chief. It would have been understandable if his voice had trembled a little.
But it didn’t. It was an apparently calm Early, who picked up the telephone and said, “Flash: The President is dead.”
President kept going at top speed despite signs of failing health
Had planned full day’s schedule yesterday – stayed at desk until sudden collapse at 1 p.m.
By Merriman Smith
The writer of the following article has been chief of the White House staff of the United Press since before Pearl Harbor. He accompanied the late President on all of his domestic inspection trips, his visits to Quebec and Hawaii, all of his fourth-term campaign tours, and met him in North Africa after Yalta.
WARM SPRINGS, Georgia – Did President Roosevelt know that he was an ill man and that the time had come to husband his strength?
Many of us who saw him often and traveled with him believe he did.
There was nothing wrong with him organically. But the tremendous pressure of the toughest job on earth had begun to take its toll in nervous energy.
This was first noticeable last year after the Tehran Conference. For two months, he suffered from sinus trouble and bronchitis, and it was then that he decided to go to Bernard M. Baruch’s estate near Georgetown, South Carolina, and fight it out for himself.
Thought he had won
He was fighting more than bronchitis. He was, I think, trying to decide whether he was able to go through the rigors of another presidential campaign. He thought he had won. He took it easy in South Carolina for a month and came back to Washington, confident that he was in tiptop shape.
But he did not snap back as he used to do. His voice was weaker, his tan faded faster and he began spending almost every weekend in the restful atmosphere of Hyde Park.
Then came the fourth-term campaign, a terrific physical beating. He spent hours touring cities in an open car, often in miserable weather. He delivered a speech at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn standing bareheaded in a cold, driving rain. Next day at Hyde Park he laughed at those in his party who had the sniffles and told them he felt fine.
Drain on vitality
But the Yalta Conference was ahead of him and that trip, I think, was a serious drain on his vitality. It was probably the hardest 10 days he went through in his life.
On the ship coming back I saw more of him than I had ever seen in the same length of time. It seemed he had aged ten years in ten days. He sat all day in the sun on the boat trip back. He had lost weight, but he refused to take it seriously, said he would gain it back at Warm Springs.
On March 1, he made this report on his own health in his speech to Congress on the Yalta Conference:
I hope you will pardon me for the unusual posture of sitting down during the presentation of what I wish to say, but I know you will realize that it makes it a lot easier for me not having to carry about 10 pounds of steel around the bottom of my legs and also because of the fact that I have just completed a 14,000-mile trip.
…I am returning from this trip that took me so far, refreshed and inspired. I was well the entire time. I was not ill for a second until I arrived back in Washington and here I heard all the rumors which had occurred in my absence. Yes, I returned from the trip refreshed and inspired. The Roosevelts are not, as you may suspect, averse to travel. We seem to thrive on it.
That was the first time he had referred publicly to his affliction of infantile paralysis. It was also the first time he had taken official notice of rumors that swept the country occasionally – especially when he was running for reelection – that he was seriously ill, or. in extreme cases, that he had died.
Health radiantly good
In the light of his physical infirmity, the “killing pace” of the presidency was spoken of frequently during Mr. Roosevelt’s first campaign. There were those who believed that the polio attack in the early twenties had left more than its obvious mark.
But the President’s buoyant spirit and tremendous physical energy soon overcame all doubt about his fitness to carry the burdens of the presidency. In those early days of the New Deal’s historic fight for national economic recovery, Mr. Roosevelt’s health was radiantly good. The theory was advanced that his inability to walk actually conserved his energies and that he probably was much more vigorous than most men of his age.
Makes big concession
Last fall, some of the people around him became concerned about his loss of weight and his slowness in snapping back from periods of fatigue. One of the jobs assigned to his daughter, Mrs. Anna Boettinger, was to see that he was protected as much as possible from persons who placed a drain upon his time and energy.
Vice Adm. Ross T. McIntire, his physician, ordered Mr. Roosevelt to quit holding conferences at luncheon. That lasted for about three months and then the President went back to his practice of discussing affairs of state while he ate from a tray at his desk.
However, he did agree to take a nap afterwards – a big concession from a man who liked to work at top speed all day.
Reporters who attended his press conferences noticed a change. His voice used to boom through the office as he answered our questions. Toward the end his voice was low, at times almost inaudible to those far back in the room.
Hearing becomes impaired
His hearing had become impaired by sinus trouble and after many days of hard work, his hands had a tendency to tremble.
Perhaps he noticed these things himself, for he began to get away from Washington at more frequent intervals. Just before coming here, Mr. Roosevelt had been to Hyde Park where he always seemed able to relax. And yesterday, sitting in a little room overlooking a green Georgia valley, he apparently was in the best of spirits. He had planned a full day’s work.
Early in the morning Mr. Roosevelt was ready to go to work on official papers, but the plane bringing the documents here was delayed by weather. When they did arrive, William Hassett, one of the White House secretaries, asked the President if he would like to wait until after lunch before starting work. Mr. Roosevelt shook his head. They started working immediately.
The President signed several State Department appointments, some citations for the Legion of Merit for war heroes and a lengthy list of postmaster nominations for small towns. Then he put his signature on legislation to extend the life of the Commodity Credit Corporation, remarking to Mr. Hassett: “Here’s where I make a law.”
Mr. Hassett then left the Little White House. Mr. Roosevelt still had a stack of papers before him. His next visitor was Nicholas Robbins, who took pictures of the President while he continued to examine the papers Hassett had left.
‘I have a terrific headache’
Suddenly – around 1 p.m. – the President put his hand to the back of his head and said, “I have a terrific headache.”
Those were his last words.
About 1:15 p.m., he slumped over unconscious.
Arthur Prettyman, Mr. Roosevelt’s Negro valet, picked him up and carried him into a small bedroom just to the left of the entrance to the Little White House.
Call McIntire
In another part of the building were two of the President’s cousins – Miss Margaret Suckley and Miss Laura Lelano – and his private secretary, Miss Grace Tully. Miss Delano called Dr. Bruenn who arrived at once with another physician, Lt. Cmdr. George Fox. They took off Mr. Roosevelt’s dark blue suit and put on his pajamas.
Dr. Bruenn telephoned Vice Adm. McIntire, who was in Washington. Adm. McIntire, in turn, phoned Atlanta and asked Dr. James P. Paullin, a specialist in internal medicine, to hurry to Warm Springs.
Dr. Paullin arrived while the President was still alive but unconscious. He was in the bedroom with Drs. Bruenn and Fox when Mr. Roosevelt died at 3:35 p.m. CWT.
At 4:30 p.m., Mr. Roosevelt was to have gone to the mountainside cottage of Mayor Frank Allcorn of Warm Springs to attend a barbecue. At the moment he died, fiddlers outside the Allcorn cottage were tuning their violins and talking about the songs they were going to play.
Later, he was to have attended a minstrel show by the youthful patients of Warm Springs Foundation.
Roosevelt aims to be realized, leaders state
Death called loss for world freedom
By the United Press
The world’s and the nation’s leaders mourned today the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt but voiced confidence that his aims – complete victory over the Axis and a just and lasting peace – will be achieved.
Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister, in a message to Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt:
I send my most profound sympathy in your grievous loss. It is also the loss of the British nation and the cause of freedom in every land.
Soviet Marshal Joseph Stalin:
The government of the Soviet Union expresses its sincere sympathy to the American people in their great loss and their conviction that the policy of friendship between the great powers who have shouldered the main burden of war against a common enemy will continue to develop in the future.
Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek:
I am convinced the American people and Roosevelt’s successor will finish his uncompleted task.
Thomas E. Dewey, Governor of New York:
In building boldly for the future peace of the world, even as the war progressed, Franklin Roosevelt made his final and perhaps his greatest contribution… All people of good will, with equal determination, will do their part in bringing to final success the work of the United Nations in establishing the foundation for a just and lasting peace.
Herbert Hoover, former President:
The nation sorrows at the passing of its President. Whatever differences there may have been, they end in regrets of death. It is fortunate that in this great crisis of war our armies and navies are under such magnificent leadership that we shall not hesitate. While we mourn Mr. Roosevelt’s death, we shall march forward.
James F. Byrnes, former director of the Office of War Mobilization:
I am sure that the sacrifice of his life will prove an inspiration to the statesmen of all nations to bring about the fulfillment of his dream that the mothers of this world should never again be called upon to offer up their sons as sacrifices to the god of war.
Harry Hopkins, former Secretary of Commerce and close friend of Mr. Roosevelt:
The people all over the country and indeed all over the world will mourn with you [Mrs. Roosevelt] tonight He was so gallant and brave.
Gen. Charles de Gaulle, Provisional President of France:
At least the decisive successes to which he so powerfully contributed will have given him the certainty of victory before he succumbed at his post. He leaves to the world an undying example and an essential message. This message will be heard.
Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr.:
He, more than any one person, is responsible, in my opinion, for the successful conduct of this terrible war against the aggressor nations.
Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes:
President Roosevelt has died for us.
Sen. Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-Michigan), an outstanding critic of Mr. Roosevelt’s domestic policies:
A successful peace must be his monument.
Edward Martin, Governor of Pennsylvania:
All of us must give to Vice President Truman every ounce of strength and energy which we possess to assist in carrying on the great task which is yet unfinished.
Methodist Bishop G. Bromley, president of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America:
The world is now Ready, if it follows on in his spirit and wisdom, to possess the promised land of the Four Freedoms.
Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein, president of the Synagogue Council of America:
In the death of President Roosevelt, the world lost its first citizen, the United States its greatest American and Jewry one of its staunchest friends.
Earl Browder, president of the Communist Political Association:
We must complete his task as he would have it done.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Felix de Laquerica:
All Spain senses the deepest possible sorrow at the death of a man whose disappearance is an irreparable loss, not only for his own country but for the entire world.
Frank Hague, Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey:
The President, by ceaseless work, gave his life for his country as surely as though he died on the battlefield.
Edward J. Kelly, Mayor of Chicago:
I am sure that our Commander-in-Chief would want every American citizen to continue in the great fight to preserve civilization which he has waged with our allies during these war years.
Winthrop W. Aldrich, chairman of the Chase National Bank:
It is doubly tragic at this time because of the overwhelming influence his leadership would have exercised in the post-war world.
Most Rev. Francis J. Spellman, Catholic archbishop of New York:
Our President has taken his place among the gallant dead who have made our nation consecrate and it falls upon us, the living, to preserve this nation in fulfillment of our sacred debt to all our martyred dead.
Former Secretary of State Cordell Hull:
No greater tragedy could have befallen our country and the world at this time.
Fleet Adm. Ernest J. King:
The U.S. Navy mourns the loss of a great, good and gifted leader.
Gen. George C. Marshall:
His far-seeing vision in military counsel has been a constant source of courage to all of us who have worked side by side with him from the dark days of war’s beginning.
Sen. Robert A. Taft (R-Ohio):
He dies a hero of the war.
Associate Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy:
When tyranny stalked the civilized world, he challenged it with imagination and matchless vigor.
James A. Farley, former Postmaster General:
Words are inadequate… to properly express my sorrow.
The U.S. delegates –
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By Ruth Finney, Scripps-Howard staff writer
…
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By Ned Brooks, Scripps-Howard staff writer
…
Nazis continue vilification of Roosevelt even in death
Abusive Berlin tirade shocks even the Japs, who concede President was ‘great man’
LONDON (UP) – The Nazis burst the last bounds of decency today and continued a vilification of President Roosevelt – even in death.
German propagandists gloated openly over the President’s death. They poured out an abusive tirade that shocked the rest of the world, perhaps even Japan.
While the Japs joined with the Germans in accusing Mr. Roosevelt of causing the present war, Tokyo conceded at least the President was a “great man.”
But Berlin’s commentaries heaped abuse upon the President’s memory.
Called war’s ‘inventor’
One commentator, in a speech which was apparently written by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, said that the miracle which had saved Adolf Hitler had killed the “inventor of this war.”
The commentator was Wilfred von Ofen, one of Berlin’s best. But expert listeners said his remarks did not follow his usual tone and that they were termed much after the way Goebbels writes.
The broadcast was unusual in that Von Ofen spoke in the first person. It broke all rules and it appeared obvious that Goebbels was directing the “hate” program against Mr. Roosevelt’s name.
‘Deep satisfaction’
“It is for me, who believes in justice of fate, a deep satisfaction to witness the fact that this man, himself chiefly responsible for this second World War, does not himself survive it,” Von Ofen said. “I have never more firmly than at this moment believed in Divine justice.”
He added that a Divine miracle saved Hitler during the July 20 attempt on his life “but it struck down the other mercilessly and justly by sudden, unexpected death.”
The Jap admission was in direct contrast to the reaction in Berlin, where the news of the President’s death reached the German capital while it was undergoing an Allied air raid.
Lack official comment
While official German quarters declined to comment, one Berlin radio commentator said Mr. Roosevelt would go down in history “as the man on whose drive the present war has expanded to a second World War.”
“He was the most expensive President of the United States who above all achieved one thing – to lift in his own camp the strongest competitor into saddle: The Bolshevist Soviet Union,” the German commentator said.
Japs pay tribute
The Japs paid tribute to Mr. Roosevelt’s position in world affairs and his place in history. When news of the death reached the Jap capital, Tokyo radio interrupted a program of prisoner of war messages and announced: “We now introduce a few minutes of special music to honor the passing of this great man.”
A Jap commentator later described Mr. Roosevelt as “the symbol of American imperialism, a mixed phenomenon of the contemporary type.”