I Am Cyrus: Harry S. Truman and the Rebirth of Israel by Craig von Buseck

Author:Craig von Buseck [Buseck, Craig von]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Straight Street Books
Published: 2019-04-21T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT AND KING SAUD

JANUARY 20, 1945—WASHINGTON, DC

President Roosevelt’s unprecedented fourth inaugural took place just before the Yalta Conference and his meeting with Ibn Saud. In a break with precedent, and at President Roosevelt’s insistence, the inauguration ceremony was not held at the Capitol but on the South Portico of the White House on a bitterly cold January day. According to tradition, Henry Wallace administered the vice-presidential oath to Harry S. Truman, who wore a wool coat and scarf.

Just inside the French doors that led inside the White House, President Roosevelt arrived in a wheelchair, pushed by his son James. The president looked exhausted. His face was pale, with dark circles under his eyes. Out on the portico, James Roosevelt and a Secret Service man lifted the president to his feet, and he took hold of the speaker’s lectern. He turned and shook hands with the new vice president, then turned back to take his oath.711 Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone administered the oath of office to FDR, who refused to wear a hat or coat. His inaugural address to the relatively small crowd gathered on the slush-covered lawn lasted only five minutes. At its conclusion, Roosevelt flashed his famous grin at Truman and shook his hand again.

The president waved to the crowd, then returned inside the White House and quickly hid away in the Oval Office. Harry and Bess Truman joined Eleanor Roosevelt in greeting the 1,800 visitors at an official White House luncheon. During a break in the handshaking, Eleanor leaned over and whispered to Truman, “I can’t get my husband to eat. He just won’t eat.”

After the reception, Bess and Margaret returned home. Vice President Truman bummed a ride back to the Capitol, where he telephoned his mother from his old Senate office. “Did you hear it on the radio?” he asked.

“Yes, I heard it all,” she said. “Now you behave yourself up there, Harry. Now you behave yourself!”

“I will, Mamma,” he promised, hanging up the phone with a satisfied grin.712

Truman had been vice president for only six days when he received news that Tom Pendergast had died on January 26. Truman ignored advice from political advisers to skip the funeral. He commandeered an army bomber and made his way to Kansas City to pay his respects. Just before he boarded the plane, he told reporters, “I’m as sorry as I can be. He was always my friend, and I have always been his.”713 Truman’s presence at the funeral meant a great deal to Pendergast’s family, which was all Harry cared about.

Returning to Washington after the funeral, Truman’s main job was presiding over the Senate. Anticipating struggles between the legislative and executive branches after the war, he did what he could to set the stage for smooth postwar governance. Truman lamented to a friend, “I am trying to make a job out of the vice presidency and it’s quite a chore. The Vice President is a political eunuch.”

He presided over the Senate, writing letters home during the long debates, then dropping by for a late afternoon drink with his old friends in Congress.

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