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I said, “The program is the President's any time he wants it.”

“That's all right,” she said, “but nobody else will carry it out. Nobody else will do it. It's all very well to give him a program, but he can't make a Secretary of Labor carry out your program. The program will spring from the Secretary of Labor. You know what ought to be done. We've talked about it.”

She was strong, and I think I said finally, with a groan, “Well, all right, I guess, only I don't think the President will do it. I still think he won't do it.” Of course, I had been searching my soul all the time. When I said yes to her, I didn't mean as firm an answer as she thought I meant, but I was predicting which way I'd probably go. I was convinced by her arguments that I ought not to stand out like a superior person and say, “I won't do such a thing.”

I did still count upon the fact that Roosevelt wouldn't do it. Whether that was wishful thinking, or whether I had reason to believe it, I don't, at this moment, know or recall. But I had it pretty well figured out to myself that he wouldn't. I thought he might pick any one of a great number of people. There were a great many people who would have been delighted to be Secretary of Labor.