At the behest of party leaders, Roosevelt agreed to run with Truman, who was acceptable to all factions of the party, and Truman was nominated for vice president at the 1944 Democratic National Convention.Democrats retained control of Congress and the presidency in the 1944 elections, and Truman took office as vice president in January 1945. On the night of April 12, 1945, Truman was urgently summoned to the White House, where he was met by Eleanor Roosevelt, who informed him that President Roosevelt was dead. Truman took the presidential oath of office shortly after learning of Roosevelt's death. The day after assuming office Truman spoke to reporters: 'Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. I don't know if you fellas ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me what happened yesterday, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.'
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