The death of President Franklin Roosevelt (4-12-45)

26

Editorial: Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The nation has lost its leader. It had honored him with its highest office beyond the tenure of any other President. He responded with the best that was in him. Through depression and war, the people looked to him. And in his courage the nation found greater strength to surmount the crises that beset it.

The finest tribute to the qualities of President Roosevelt – and to the American people – was the national unity achieved after the last election. As a fighter he had made enemies. He had made mistakes, as all men do. There was bitterness in the campaign. But when America had preserved the electoral process in the midst of war, the entire nation regardless of party rallied for victory behind the chosen leader.

In that spirit all Americans grieve for him today. In every home, and on all the seas and in the foxholes of every fighting front, his fellow citizens pay homage to their fallen Commander-in-Chief.

Their grief is personal. People felt they knew him. As no other man of his generation, and few of any age, he inspired a highly individual regard. “My friends,” he would say. And somehow that commonplace address, infused with the warmth of his personality, carried over the air and through the printed word into the hearts of ordinary folks who felt that the President was just that – their friend.

There was a gay gallantry about him that none will forget. In little things, the jaunty angle of his cigarette-holder the humorous turn of a phrase, the flashing smile. And in deeper things as well, for his poise and cheer had overcome long suffering and physical handicap. The public sensed this. It strengthened the human bond.

History will rate him high. He was not all things to all men, and no man could have been equal to al the burdens he carried. But this can be said of him that, not once but twice, he led this nation through perils in which it might have perished.

When he took office in 1933, he brought lift to people in despair, he stopped panic, he set the wheels going again. He did not have all the answers, he moved by trial and error, and the price was often great. But he saw us through. In after years, many who disagreed with his policies remembered that – and kept him in office.

Again, when war came, he rose to that supreme emergency. Under our Constitution, which so carefully counterbalances the executive authority in peacetime, he became the most powerful chief of state in all the world. Then in a unique sense he was our leader. As such, his was the fearful responsibility for our record in this war – for the blunders and inadequacies and for the efficiency and the successes, the bad and the good.

The net is victory. That is the epitaph of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

He lived to see that victory was certain. He died at his work. And all the United Nations of the world join his countrymen in blessing the fruits of his labor.

To our new President, America will give loyal cooperation in the unfinished task. As Mr. Roosevelt 12 years ago received the prayerful best wishes of the nation, so they go out to Mr. Truman in this emergency.

Our enemies abroad will hope that this people in arms will fall out of step, if only for a little while during the change in leadership. Those hopes are vain.

The abiding strength of democracy is that in time of need it produces men equal to the demand. Always in our history this has been so. More than once humble men have been lifted to our highest office, and served the best.

There will be no change in military policy. That will to victory springs from the souls of 135 million Americans.

There will be no change in foreign policy. The determination to make this a just peace, and the commitment to American participation in an international security organization, have been confirmed by both parties in a national election and by Congress.

There will be no change in the desire to make this a better country in which to live, especially for those who have risked their all to save it. That policy is nationwide.

There will be no change in the sanity and decency and courage of the people, which brought forth this Republic, which sustained it through a century and a half, and which remain the promise of its future.

27

Editorial: The greatest memorial

The world will plan and erect many memorials to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

But the greatest of all would be for the United Nations to carry into practical execution the Atlantic Charter – the first product of his many meetings with the leaders of this war, and the statement so intimately connected with his name.

The Atlantic Charter was drafted in a meeting between the President and Prime Minister Churchill on a warship in the ocean which gave the charter its name, in early August 1941. It was announced in Washington and London of August 14, 1941 – less than four months before Pearl Harbor.

On this day when our nation and the world are mourning the passing of one of the two authors, there could be no better tribute to Franklin D. Roosevelt than to review the Atlantic Charter, with a solemn determination to help carry its provision into actuality.

Here are the things the Atlantic Charter promises:

  • No aggrandizement.

  • No territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned.

  • Respect for the rights of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live.

  • Enjoyment by all states, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access on equal terms to the trade and to the raw materials of the world.

  • Fullest collaboration of all nations toward improved labor conditions, economic adjustment and social security…

  • Peace and safety for all nations within their boundaries and freedom for all men from fear and want.

  • Traversal by all men of the high seas and oceans without hindrance.

  • Abandonment of the use of force.

Twenty-six countries then at war with the Axis on January 2, 1942, formally pledged themselves to the Charter.

Today, in the midst of our mourning, there could be no greater tribute at home or abroad than a sincere determination to carry out the brave words adopted before we entered the war and reaffirmed by all the United Nations afterward

28

Editorial: The new President

Harry S. Truman takes office as President of the United States under circumstances more difficult than any to face a Vice President elevated to the presidency since Andrew Johnson.

Like President Johnson, the new Chief Executive succeeds in the White House a statesman of world eminence devoutly admired by millions and millions of his countrymen, a man whose place in history inevitably will loom large.

Like Andrew Johnson, President Truman had been Vice President only a few weeks when he was summoned to the White House by the death of his chief.

He, too, becomes the leader of his country on the brink of a period of reconstruction after the ravages of a great war. He, too, assumes office with many in the nation frankly apprehensive of his stature.

There, let us pray, may the parallel end. In the trying years that face him, may President Truman gain the fullest cooperation from all his countrymen. May he be endowed with the strength and the perseverance and the patience which he will need in fullest measure in the severest job mankind can bestow on a human being. May he enjoy the guidance of the Almighty and the faith and loyalty of all Americans.

29

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

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.

31

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.

32

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.

33

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.”

34

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.

35

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.

36

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.

37

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.

38

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.”

39

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.”

40

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.

41

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.

42

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.

43

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.

44

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.

45

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.”