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him. I hadn't heard that Roosevelt was dead. I remember I got a telephone message at my desk that there was sudden emergency meeting of the Cabinet and do please be at the Cabinet room at six o'clock. It was almost six then—about ten of six. So I got up, put on my hat and went. Nobody spoke to me in the corridors of the White House except the man at the door who said, “Good afternoon”. Nothing particular was said. It was just like always. I remember seeing Anna Roosevelt Boettiger moving through one of the corridors to an office, and I waved my hand at her. But that was not unusual. Anna was frequently there on brief visits. She frequently visited the white House, and she might very well be down seeing one of the secretaries like Grace Tully. I didn't give that any thought. I walked into the Cabinet room, and there were Vinson and Truman standing. I said to them cheerfully, “what's this all about? what's the Cabinet meeting for at this strange hour?” They both turned and looked at me with this extraordinarily solemn look. Mr. Truman said, “The President is dead.” Just like that. Mr. Vinson looked at me with that hound dog look of sympathy. He realized that I hadn't heard it and was getting the shock then. Soon the others. Came in.

However, why Vinson was there at that time, I'm not quite sure, but I think he had acted in the capacity of Assistant to