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have priorities and there wasn't time to get that. But, there was a night train from Penn Station that left at 1:00 something, and you got off of it at 6:00-something in Washington. So, Leonard had said, “Where will you be?” I said I'd be at the Carlton House. He said, “We'll have a car pick you up at 7:30.”

So, I hotfooted it right to Penn Station to the Carlton House, got cleaned up, and sure enough, at 7:30 a great big limousine pulled up. It's only two blocks, but the limousine pulled up. I got in it, and they went down, right to the White House. I was ushered in, Truman was there with Leonard. The President got up and said, “Leonard tells me that you can be helpful to me.” I said, “Yes, Mr. President, what can I do?” There was some small talk. He said, “The main thing you can do is go in that next room and start thinking about two speeches I've got to make, one to the armed forces and one to a Joint Session of Congress. I'll come in and talk with you, but just think of the things that you think would be important for me to cover. There will be others joining us, but as the day goes on, I'd like you to work on it.”

So, the next room was the Cabinet Room. Three or four of us, very shortly, were there.

[Interruption]

Steve [Stephen] Early, President Roosevelt's press secretary joined the group, and other White House staff people came in, who had worked on speeches for Roosevelt. Truman wanted his own team, unlike an experience I had with Lyndon Johnson, almost under the same circumstances. But, at any rate, I spent the day, I spent the night at the White House. I spent the next day doing all kinds of things, and that's how I got to know