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Notable New     Yorkers
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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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Bank? There were so many committees during the war that I nearly went out of my mind keeping up with the committees I had to sit on, but there was one that met over in the Federal Reserve Bank. Wallace used to come to that. He really was representing the point of view of the best type of American businessman, and he conducted himself, and he conducted the Department of Commerce, in that spirit, you see, of bringing out from them the best ideas which they, in their capacity as handling production, could contribute. He worked along peacefully, and I saw no problems or troubles ahead. He seemed to be doing well, in the thing that he'd laid out as his purpose, which was to become acquainted with the business community and make a good impression on them. I heard no rumpuses or backfires during all that period

Then, when the President died, and Mr. Truman came in, Henry at once began, of course, to see Mr. Truman in a very constructive way, and I think he saw him perhaps more than most people did. He'd only recently been appointed, but Truman liked him. There's no question about it, Truman liked him and got his ideas, and thought they were good, and, as you know, asked him to continue in his office after the first of July (1945) when the rest of us all got through. He asked Henry to continue on as Secretary of Commerce. He'd only been appointed in March, and Truman wanted him to continue. He was very pleased. He was on excellent terms with Truman--





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