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Shortly after these Council meetings, I left for California, and early in March at La Cinta I went to see Floyd Odlum at his ranch in Indio. Anna Rosenberg was with me and he had as his guest Sid Richardson, the fabulous oil man from Fort Worth. Clark Clifford was there, a great surprise, who was Truman's counsel and our friend; and George Allen, who had been a great friend of both Truman and Eisenhower.

Was Jacqueline there also?

I don't remember; I think so.

I told Odhim that we needed his help to get more funds for the Arthritis Institute, in which he was especially interested, and he asked me to see him the next day. I told him the situation, sitting next to his hot-water pool overlooking a beautiful landscape, and he said he would wire Eisenhower, and attached is the wire.

You see, I had only met Eisenhower a few times. I was a strong Democrat and I was afraid to approach him directly, as I felt that I had no real connection with him at all, except through Anna Rosenberg, who was also a Democrat and who didn't feel terribly in sympathy with him at the time.

At this point in time and at these Council meetings, was there any optimism that this program would go forward?