The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-09-21
A TALK WITH
The PRESIDENT
HOW THE MAN MPRESsEs A
VISITOR TO HIS OFFICE.
Mr.. Rooseyelt,s Nerves Are Steady and
He Is Quiet-Cartoonists and Para
graphers Have Given Us Wrong
Idea Of the Nations Chief Execu-
tive.

tive.
This is what happens when you meet
the president, according to Day. Alien
Wiley, who publishes his impressions In
the Independent:
preceded by the secretary, you Walk
into big square room, In which man
Is sitting behind a fiat-top desk, which
looks as If it might be mahogany. You
have no time to decide, for as the name
is pronounced the man rises with out
stretched hand, which grips, not grasps, l
yours. 1t is the sort of a handshake that |
makes you feel the owner meant it by its |
heartiness. 5.'
| ''Then he resumes his seat, turns SO he |
can look you squarely in the face, and Is
ready to hear what you have to say. If
you are puzzled how to begin-perhaps
are a tritle nervous-he may surprise
you by putting a question or two which
strikes right at the point of what you
ought to tell, for the secretary has given
! him hint in advance to why you have
come, and perhaps an idea of the actual
Importance of your visit. ''- -..
y ''Thus prompted, you begin to talk So
long as the subject Is confined to the thing
in hand the president may say nothing,
but If it slips away he may ask a ques-
ton which brings you back into the right
track again, and, unconsciously, the Wis
itor forgets personality in the theme of
which he is talking, and after it Is all
over he may be surprised at how much
} he has said, considering the time in which
he said it.
Calm and Steady.
"Perhaps you have entered the room
J expecting to see a human illustration Of
perpetual motion-runnirlg his fingers thru
his hair pacing the floor with his hands
in his pockets, shifting from side to side
in his chair, lingering the ink bottle or
drumming with his pencil. The para
graphers and cartoonists may have led
you to believe that the president tries to
do all at once, Judging by some of the
accounts of his activity. Not a bit Of it.
His nerves so steady that he
J doesn't even twirl his fingers, and If you
note close, you will see that not a muscle
Of his features witches. 1t Is just the
activity Of which SO much has been said
the welding Of the ak, the swinging of
the clubs the bouts with the single stick,
I the mile after mile Of trudging thru the
I woods or on the back Of the surefooted
) 'Blestein' have given him a steadiness Of
nerve that many man would covet more
than his fortune-the nerve that comes
from good digestion, sound sleep and
plenty of red blood
Resting himself comfortably against
the back Of his chair, with hands quietly
Z folded, or one stretched carelessly on the
desk, his attitude is anything but rest
less When he joins in the conversation
Z the words are uttered slowly distinctly,
unless the theme especially interests him.
) Then he may put an emphasis to them
7 which tells you more plainly than the Ian
{ guage that he means what he says. If
! 1t Is worth while, he takes a heart in
) terest in the talk. r
IF an idea especially pleases him, per-
( haps the visitor will hear something like
! this think that is admirable, or That
} Is certainly encouraging But he is not
! q fatterer. If he does not agree with YOU
he tells you SO pointed1y.5 If he does not
( care to hear more Of a subject, he gives
5 the thread of the conversation sudden
: twist, and you understand
= Surprising Voice. T
GAS you glance at the features, Drowned,
Q not bronzed by exposure, and the sturdy,
= almost massive physique, the softly modu-
y lated tones surprise you. 1t is the sort OF
y a voice to attract wornan-such as one
y might expect to hear in the drawingroom
Y but hardly in a public office. There is nc
y infection Of authority, no brusqueness in
v 1t which one accustomed to talking tc
IT prominent men SO often notes. Yet it is
y not the suave tone Of the politician, mol
is it effeminate. ..ss ..E %.r
POSSIBLY the president believes that thu
1T etiquette which should be observed in the
is society of ladies should be followed in hi
relations with his visitors and official fam
- lily. Probably no one has ever heard hin
xu order anyone even a messenger, In tn
. ordinary sense of the word His orders ar
in the form Of requests. The inter
\ view may be interrupted while he sum
mons the secretary. Mr.. Loeb I shal
be obliged to have you attend to this or
Mr.. Loeb, must get you to do that i
the way be puts it. 1t is any wonder tina
the secretary's nerves are constantly
4 strained for fear something may happe
4 that may cause the president a. little dis
0n Nfnnf-
4 of the White House business mechanism
4 No Indication of Business
4 Anyone who never heard of Mr. Roose
i welt might think hessdesk was merel
B ornamental. In fact, the office contain
4 no indication Of business and It's onl
4 regular occupant is the man In the chair
4 The head Of seventy million people ha
4 not even a stenographer in attendance
but, as already stated, the interview ma
be interrupted. There Is a paper whic
1t may save a, life, it may end a life, br
\ the signature is placed there firmly witt
4 out hesitation, for the signer knows tt
4 contents Of every document which his pc
touches, and its strokes are not mao
B thoughtlessly. -
But you can talk to him while he dir
4 his pen in the ink. If you stop, he tel
I you to go on; and there is an interestir
fact about the signature. Look at
!: 4 thru a microscope and you could not d.
LOCI any ulueIeHCe Ill the shape OF II
\ letters from the way he formed the
; 4 when merely assistant secretary of tt
4 navy. The lines do not follow the artist
curves Of the Spencerian system, and tt
\ writer does not hesitate to use plenty
4 ink, but the handwriting expert says tt
EuS signature indicates character. Apparent
lit is written slowly, but Its appearance
deceptive, for the president is a rap
penman. y
Absence Of Pomp. Ut
Another impression is made upon 70
but this may not be recalled until wit
another handshake and bow the man b.
hind the desk ends the interview ar
turns to greet the next caller Perha,
you have read Of the audiences at Win,
sor or Buckingham, or in the Eiyse