SIXTH YEAR AS PRESIDENT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 151, 12 April 1950, Page 5

SIXTH YEAR AS PRESIDENT

TRUMAN’S CAREER STRENUOUS TERM OF OFFICE Mr Harry S. Truman begins his sixth year as President of the United States to-day. On May 6 he will be 66 years old. Few presidents in American history have had a more strenuous five years in office. Few have been called upon for more complex and far-reaching decisions. Yet persons who see "Mr Truman daily agree that he appears as serene, as fit, and as alert to-day as he was when he served with distinction in the far less exacting role of United States Senator. His complexion is ruddy and clear. He weighs 12st 71b, which is within the weight range prescribed by his physician. He continues to arise between 5.30 and 6.30 a.m. On his early morning walks through the streets of Washington he strides along at the infantry pace of' 120 steps a minute. Aides who follow him puff and perspire, and shake their heads in admiration. Ten hours iater at the end of a hard day’s work, the President appears fresher and more vigorous than many persons half his age. How does he do it 1 His attitude toward himself and his work offers a partial explanation.

“The job of President can break your back if you let it,” he told a friend recently. “I do not let it. Ido my best and refuse to worry.” He has a rare capacity for applying his mind and his energies to problems that are rightfully his and eliminating from his mind any problem over which he has no i control. The result is that nothing makes him nervous or upset. Recently he was addressing a gathering in Washington whes a resounding crash echoed through an adjacent hall. The audience turned to see what had happened. Mr Truman continued his talk without hesitation. His immediate job was making a speech. There was nothing h'e could do about the noise in the. hall (a glass lamp had fallen on the floor), and so he did not let it disturb him. Pays Unexpected Visits 1 The President delights in visiting his friends unexpectedly. When General George C. Marshall, the distinguished soldier and former Secretary of State, was recuperating from an operation at a mountain resort in the State of North Carolina last year, Mr Truman paid a surprise visit to the man he consideYs the “greatest living American.” On his vacation trips to Key West, a tiny island off the southern tip of Florida, Mr Truman frequently drops into the quarters used by newspapermen to chat and see that they are well cared for. If one of the reporters becomes sick away from home he can expect a personal .visit from. the President.

Instead of receiving ambassadors and ministers formally, flanked by his military and diplomatic aides, Mr Truman invites them into his office, where they sit down and chat in the manner of old. friends*; These diplomats are often surprised to, find how much the President, khows about their countries. . i

His other important hobby,, reading, accounts for this wide knowledge. Mr Truman has.-always been an ardent reader. As n boy in the mid-western town of Independence, in the State of Missouri where the covered wagon trains once took off for the long trek across the great American, plains—Harry Truman found that eye glasses handicapped him in playing' football and other sports. He began reading. By the time he was graduated from high (secondary - ) school he had read several-thousand books, including an entire encyclopaedia. Following graduation he had a variety of jobs. He worked in a drug store, as a timekeeper for a railroad, in a newspaper office, as a bank clerk, and for 10 years as a farmer. During that period he continued to be an avid reader. Deeply Religious Two other qualities help the President to keep his responsibilities in perspective: religion and a sense of humour. • • Mr Truman is a deeply religious man. At every important crisis in his life, lie has asked for divine guidance. He keeps a Bible in his office and refers to the Scriptures often. There has seldom been an occasion when the President could not find something to laugh at or to make others laugh. Last year, on a vacation trip to Key West, the President’s plane landed in advance of the plane carrying the newspaper reporters who accompanied him. With a pad and pencil in hand, Mr Truman walked up to the second plane as it landed and, pretending to be a reporter, he began asking the newspapermen questions. Everyone present enjoyed the President’s joke. A Government official who calls regularly at the White House remarked recently that he had learned to arrive for appointments with the President at least 10 minutes ahead of time. Though he never rushes a caller or gives any hint of hurry, the President frequently gets ahead of his schedule. Mr Truman usually has his first appointment of the day at 10 o’clock in the morning; others follow at 15 or 30-minute intervals. They may range from a conference with Secretary of State (Mr Dean Acheson) on a vital decision in international affairs to posing for pictures with the winner of an apple-growing contest. On a typical day recently the President received Congressional leaders at 10 a.m.; Dr. Serge Koussevitzky, the famous symphony conductor, at 11.30; railroad union officials at 11.45; Oscar Ewing, who directs the Federal Goverment’s vast social welfare programme, at noon; Angus Ward, former Consul-General at Mukden, Manchuria, at 12.15; Secretary of State at 12.30; John L. McCloy, United States High Comissioner for Germany, at 3.00; and Department of Defence officials at 3.30.

The President usually lunches at Blair House, a temporary home near his office for him and his family while the White House is undergoing, repairs. When the President returns to his desk, the chief Clerk, Mr William J. Hopkins, who has an office near Mr Truman’s, watches the door to the President’s office. Whenever Mr Trurnan has a free moment Mr Hopkins comes in with a batch of papers for the Chief Executive’s signature. Mr Truman signs his name an average of COO times a day.

At the end of the day Mr Truman often goes for a swim. Although the President is free to spend his evenings as he pleases, he attends dinners or receptions about three nights a week and thoroughly enjoys them. Even at large receptions, where he sometimes shakes hands at the rate of 800 times an hour, the President appears genuinely interested in the person behind each handshake. He grips each hand, smiles squarely at the person, and acknowledges the introduction by repeating the name. Whether the early part of his evening is given to social occasions or spent quietly with his family, Mr Truman usually has some work to do before he goes to bed. When he leaves the office each day, a large brief case of papers accompanies him. He often spends an hour or two going over them in preparation for conferences or staff assignments the next day. Occasionally, Mr Truman relaxes with a detective or mystery story before retiring, but he has no trouble in going to sleep'. Arthur Krock, veteran correspondent of the “New York Times,” after a recent exclusive interview with the President, described him as a “serene President, with undiminished confidence in the triumph of humanity’s better nature and the progress of his own efforts to achieve abiding peace.”

“Those who have the privilege,” Krock wrote, “of searching the mind and purpose of Harry S. Truman usually come away with faith in his honesty and courage.” ,