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You had learned from experience.

Oh, yes.

I got him on the phone and he said, “Well, you've given me a fine job, haven't you?” I said, “What's that?” He replied, “The President has dumped all that stuff you brought him yesterday on my desk, and I'm to take up the matter with the Budget boys.” Graham went on, “Actually, I'm not such a good one to do this, as I've already gotten after them too much on things I'm interested in.”

This was a tip-off that it was all in Graham's hands. Graham was a charming man but a surgeon not at all involved in medical research ideas. We could see that fate was in his hands, however. He said, “Who can I discuss these figures with?” We said that we would arrange for him to see Sheely, the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, as Sheely was really the greatest authority on the whole subject of the Institutes' budgets. However, we feared that Sheely would not go down the line for the citizen groups' figures, because he would be afraid to be caught by the Budget in advocating figures so much above what the Budget was likely to allow. So, we were always being caught on these dilemmas.

As I was going to Europe for a change and rest, nothing much else could be done. Luke Quinn, who was working for us part of the time, saw Graham and Sheely and met with Graham during July. While I was in Europe I realized that I must come home and