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hasn't even been on the second floor of the White House. They've just cut him out completely.” And, he wasn't a very fashionable person. The Eastern establishment in the Democratic party just didn't embrace Harry Truman. Nor did I. Not that I was negative. I was focused on Byrnes. I wasn't close to Roosevelt, but I did a lot of work for Byrnes. Leonard said would I come down and see him? I said, “Oh, sure, I'll do it, but I'm awfully busy.” I was trying to put the company together again after the war. It was a very hectic time. I was going to do the vice president a favor, that's all there was to it, because my friend had asked me to do it. Leonard said, “Just let me know when. He'll clear his calendar and spend an evening with you, etc.” So, I said, “I'll call you in a week.” Leonard said, “No, you've got to do it right this week.” I said, “Leonard, I just haven't got the time. I can't do it.”

“Well, this is important.” So I said okay. “I promise you before the week is out I will have set the date.” That was on Sunday morning, and Leonard was going back to Atlanta sometime Monday or Tuesday. On Monday of that week I had had a very difficult meeting with Archie [Archibald] MacLeish, who was, I guess, maybe Librarian of Congress at that time, and developed something unusual for me. I think I didn't remember ever having one before, but I think I had a very painful headache, and at about 5:15, I decided to call it quits, and went home. I lived at 83rd and Madison, so it wasn't any big deal. I went in, and my wife was so surprised that I was home, she knew something was wrong. I told her I had this excruciating pain and I thought the best thing to do was to come home. She said, “Why don't you stretch out?” I said, “I don't even want to take my clothes off, I feel so terrible.” I just flopped on the bed. But, as I always did, I leaned over and flipped on the radio, to hear that Roosevelt had died. I picked up my briefcase and hotfooted it back to the office, because I knew there would be all kinds of demands on the network.