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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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Senators, you know. He'd say, “Now, Senator, I'm sorry to tell you, I got just ten minute laid out for you,” looking at his watch - “I got just ten minutes laid out for you. You know how things are, you know, Senator. I'll be awfully obliged to you if you'll pull yourself out.”

You know, he'd move them along. He got the President through his routine engagements very nicely. Very diplomatically.

Q:

He did a little more than that. I know Wickard many, many times failed to get appointments with the President which he desperately needed - one, because Wickard was too - not go-at-it enough to get his own appointments, and two, because Pa Watson was smooth enough to put him off.

Perkins:

Yes. I must say Pa Watson's philosophy was to put off everybody that could be put off - knowing that here's a person that has prior work to do, and that he'd better be doing his work.” Pa Watson had a sense of the relative importance of the pieces of work that he had to do. I always got appointments through Pa Watson when I wanted them - I think- but of course I always went through Missy LeHand if that failed. But you didn't tell that.

Q:

Is that the way it worked? Wickard didn't know about Missy.





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