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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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don't want do. If you have something you want to say to them...”

“Oh mercy, no! Do you really think so? You relieve me greatly, because I just thought I was going to be forced into this.” We talked about it for a while, and she said, “I have nothing to say. It terrifies me. I don't even think about public affairs. I never have. I don't know what I'll do. I couldn't do it.”

I realized that she couldn't, that if she began to talk about such things, of course she would make mistakes and that she'd be dreadfully unhappy and be half sick from the terrific pressure that even “the girls” can put on her.

Well, Mr. Truman came back into the compartment then, and she said to him, “Now, about this press conference...”

He said again, “Mrs. Roosevelt just tells me that she'll sit with you or introduce you to a press conference on Tuesday if you wish.”

She said, “Well, I just asked Miss Perkins about it, and Miss Perkins thinks it's not necessary.”

He said, “Well, I don't know.” He asked me to say what I had told her again. I did, and he said, “Well, I think she's right. There's no reason why you should do it, Bess.”





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