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.