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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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He would laugh about other things, but he never laughed about that. That was a grave matter and he was serious about it, and he used it for whatever it was worth.

I tell you that to indicate that curious dramatic sense, and, when you think of it, a very practical sense of what would please the public, what would bring about a result, and what would get you what you want in the end. He, of course, could be equally dramatic in other ways.

You know, when he was testifying before Congress, he once rose and just bellowed at them, before a Committee-- just bellowed what he would do, and how he would retaliate. Terrible threats he made. Afterwards I said to him, “Why in the world do you shout like that and scowl like that, and denounce like that? If you'd just take that scowl off your face when you say things. What you said wasn't bad, but you scowl so and you shout it so that you terrify the Committee, and they put you down as a ranting, raving, radical revolutionary--which I know you're not, but the members of Congress thought you were. And the public!”

This went all over the radio, you see. “The general public of the United States just comes to think of you as a dreadful demon--I mean a dreadful creature. And it's that scowl and that bellowing voice. Why do you do that? you're capable of speaking to me in a calm, polite





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