The President is Dead!
April 12 is a day I will not soon forget. White House Secretary Steve Early called and told Wallace to come to the White House immediately. Wallace didn’t know what was happening, but the urgency in Early’s voice made Wallace uneasy. We ran through the Capitol and jumped into a waiting car. At the White House, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt gave H.A. the news, “Henry, the President’s dead.” Wallace immediately asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?” Eleanor kindly replied, “Is there anything we can do for you, Henry? For you are the one in trouble now?” I love Eleanor. Through her grief, Eleanor realized the daunting task ahead for H.A. – taking on the responsibility for the war and having to replace the most revered president since Lincoln – and she immediately offered her support to the new president. Eleanor is an American treasure.
Although I knew FDR was ill, I had hoped he would recover and see our nation through to end of the war and help establish a just peace. He deserved to see our victory. H.A. had only met with FDR two or three times since the inaugural and did not realize this health was in such a serious state. I don’t even think FDR knew, or at least he didn’t want to know, he was that close to death. If he did know I would hope that he would have taken the time to brief his Vice President for a smooth transition, but as we saw at the convention FDR had his peculiarities.
I know that I should not be critical of FDR so soon after this death, but he did make some bad decisions and succumb to cruder political influences: the internment of Japanese Americans, turning away the Jewish refugee ship the St. Louis, supporting excluding my people from New Deal programs, and refusing to provide aid to the Spanish Republic. Even with these harmful and deadly actions, FDR was a great man and the man we needed to lead us out of the economic depression and to end the regimes of the evil axis fascists Mussilini, Hilter, and Tojo.
But FDR is dead and I’m very glad that H.A. is here to lead our nation. In the early evening, the cabinet, the chief justice, the Speaker of the House, and H.A.’s wife and children were all assembled in the Cabinet Room at the White House. H.A. received the oath of office from Chief Justice Harlan Stone. My boss, the odd duck from Iowa, was president. I can hardly believe it.
Two days later, H.A. met Eleanor Roosevelt at Union Station. Mrs. Roosevelt had flown to Georgia to accompany the body of her husband back to Washington. Over 350,000 people lined Pennsylvania Avenue to watch FDR’s flag-draped coffin pass on a caisson drawn by six white horses. The funeral service was held in the East Room of the White House. That evening FDR’s body was taken by train to its final resting place in Hyde Park, New York.
Two days after the funeral, H.A. gave his first national speech as President. He knew he needed to build confidence in his ability to lead and complete FDR’s goals for his fourth term, so he gave a national radio address before a joint session of Congress. H.A. reassured the nation of his determination to fulfill FDR’s war-time and post war goals including the unconditional surrender of the axis powers and the founding conference for the new United Nation’s organization in San Francisco. The UN’s goal is to prevent future wars and build peaceful relationships among nations. The grieving nation welcomed the speech and embraced H.A. as the appropriate successor to FDR.
H.A.’s life has become a continuous series of meetings. As his aide I’m always there. The majority of his visitors ignore me as one of the invisible help – don’t forget, Washington is a southern city. This infuriates me, but I learned to deal with it a long time ago. I enjoy the fact that being seen as a servant allows many people talk more freely in front of me than they would with other staff members. I’ll accept the slight to gain the access to information.
Two meeting stood out for me. H.A. had the Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov over to the White House to discuss Soviet assistance in the war with Japan, free elections in occupied nations, and the voting structure of the UN Security Council. The meeting had tense moments, but H.A. is committed to keeping good relations with our Soviet ally. The other memorable meeting was form Secretary of War Henry Stimson. Although H.A. had been briefed on the Manhattan Project as Vice President, Stimson gave H.A. a full briefing. Advances on creating a wonder weapon had advanced dramatically. I am amazed at the expected power of this thing. I don’t think our civilization is ready for this much power. From his presentation, I think Henry Stimson agrees.
© 2012 Ron Millar
© 2012 Ron Millar
