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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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me and buried his face on my shoulder, and there's a picture of me existing that shows me patting his back, patting him on the back. The caption under it is, “Secretary Perkins gives way to grief.”

As a matter of fact, it was Lubin weeping on my shoulder. But of course the lady is the one who gives way to grief in public, you know.

Interviewer:

Do you have any memory of what you were thinking then?

Perkins:

Oh, no, no, certainly not. You don't think on an occasion like that. You don't think. You think, “By gosh, it's over. That's over. That's over.” And you're probably saying your prayers for the repose of his soul, you know. “Oh Lord, receive your servant Franklin and do unto him according to thy great mercy.”

Interviewer:

You seem to be looking more or less--the President sat right here, didn't he?

Perkins:

Oh, I wasn't looking at his chair, no. I was just looking down, and probably saying a prayer, both for Harry Truman who had to do this dreadful job, and for Franklin Roosevelt who had gone, and it was a dreadful thing to face, you know. It was so poignant. It was so sad, that he had to go





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