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This was unusual for him. “A report,” he said, “had come in during the morning that 30 foreign planes were located over Maine and that all our planes and facilities were turned out in alarm.” It turned out later, he said, that this was a false alarm due to some special kind of cloud formation, which sometimes confuses our radar system of detection, and so by the time he came to lunch all had been explained. But, he said, it was really a terrible morning. By this time, he was very affable and pleasant. Strangely enough, this was the day that he wrote the irate letter to the Washington music critic who had reviewed Margaret's last night's concert unfavorably.

Paul Hume.

Yes. The evening papers that night were full of the letter but we had no hint of his displeasure that noon. The Lyonses and the Sarnoffs were present and we had a very pleasant lunch.

What was David Stowe able to do for you there in the White House?

Well, you know, if we said, “The Budget doesn't do this, or they don't do that,” or “The President said so-and-so, but they don't do it,” Stowe was supposed to tell them that the President meant it, you know, instead of our having to go to the President