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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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about it, come and do it any time.”

And she said, “The thing to do is to do it now. Now I have people to help me. Now there are plenty of people. There are carpenters, there are people who box things up and send them. But that will be over soon, and I can't impose on people after the moment of doing it is passed.”

Well, that was that. We came back to our jobs, and of course the Trumans came back to assume the load. They didn't go to live in the White House until after Mrs. Roosevelt had left, which was about two weeks later

Interviewer:

Do you remember any reflections on the way down on the train, or subsequently, about what this meant in terms of your own job as Secretary of Labor?

Perkins:

No. I don't think I had any reflections. Of course, I knew it was a difference. I mean, I was going to work for Mr. Truman, and I knew Mr. Truman and liked him.

I remember Admiral Leahy talking with me. I had a long talk with Admiral Leahy on the way down. I've known him pretty well. He was very, very sad and very depressed, and he said to me this, which I've often thought of since: “This is the most terrible thing that could have happened from the point of view of the peace of the world, and I don't see the end yet.” Then he said, “If only he could have been spared





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