Evening star., 1945-08-26
Conferences Reflect
Truman News Tempo
Frank Discussion With Press
Tends to Enlighten Public.
BIZ J. A. For

Frank Discussion With Press
Tends to Enlishten Public.
/ By J. A. For.
The brisk businesslike tempo Of the
brief Truman administration has been
as strongly in evidence in White House
| news conferences as 1t has elsewhere
within the orbit of presidential activities.
with consequent benefit to all concerned.
The semiweekly gatherings of press
and radio frequently were something
less than satisfactory in the closing years
of President Roosevelt's life. There has
been marked improvement under his
successor
Several factors contributed to the Sit
uation that developed in the Roosevelt
regime. Probably the most important
and least recognized at the time-was
the extreme weariness that had over
taken the President. There must have
been occasions when mere attendance at
one of the regularly scheduled confer
ences was severe physical strain.
Again. as the war progressed, Mr.
Roosevelt became so preoccupied in
watching each move on the two fronts
that everything else was dwarfed In his
calculations.
Finally, bitter attacks from minor
ity had served to color the Presidents
views on the press in its entirety. Recur-
rently this feeling was reflected in his
attitude, and then newsmen were apt
to find themselves cast in the role of
backward children for asking questions.
Against this background once-ex-
cellent working relationship that Mr..
Roosevelt had gone to great pains to
foster in the early days of the New
Deal, deteriorated to the point where
the periodic conferences were likely at
any given time to accomplish no more
than waste everybody's time the in
formation they produced being neg
ligible because the President was not
in communicative mood.
One Of the little ironies of this sit
uation was that the Capital press corps
probably got its best insight into the
war views of the Allied high command
from visitor-former Prime Minister
Churchill-who underwent a revealing
cross-examination from several hun
dred reporters at a luncheon in the
fall of 1943, and left his hearers free
to print whatever they had heard, SO
long as it was not attributed directly
to him. This anonymity detracted
somewhat from the value of the news
stories written out of that conference,
but there still was enough meat in
them to make the telling decidedly
worth while, when they were attributed
simply to high authority"
Parenthetically. 1t is hardly breach
OF the amenities at this late date to
recount two Of the amazingly accurate
predictions made that day by Mr..
Churchill. who was engaged in one of
his customary meetings with Mr.. Roose-
welt.
The British leader said that the Allies
would have to figure on the war with
Germany lasting through 1914, with the
probability that at the end OF that year
the Nazis still would have enough
strength for q tremendous counterof-
fensive, which Mr.. Churchill likened to
the last. maddened leap of a wounded
tiger. That would be curtains, he said.
AS for the Japanese, Mr.. Churchill
said he was not among those ws1o-
thought they would fight to the last
man. Once the pressure really was ap-
/ piled, he added, collapse would not be
surprising.
The record shows how right he was.
President Truman uses this same
open discussion technique In all his
meetings with the press. which under
ordinary circumstances are called when
ever he decides the news justifies Natur-
ally, he doesn't spout everying he
knows, or thinks, from the housetops,
but he does make studied effort to
make clear his stand on all subjects that
pop up, assuming that some segment of
the public has a legitimate interest in
any query propounded.
This desire to keep the public informed
on day-to-day happenings was illustrat-
ed strikingly right after the japanese
surrender when the President called a
news conference. He didn't have any
thing Of startling Importance to disclose,
he said, but simply wanted to give the
reporters he had not seen since prior to
the Potsdam meeting an opportunity to
ask some impertinent questions If they
had any in mind.
He didn't lack for takers.
Impertinent or otherwise, however, the
President doesn't hedge. Sometimes the
questioning reaches such an advanced
'iffy" stage-as President Roosevelt used
to put it-that the President throws I'D
his hands and says wait and see what
happens. But about 80 per cent of the
time his conferences are yes-and-no
affairs. The mere fact that subject
may be controversial does not prevent
his making his attitude known. If he
has an opinion, he says so. If not, he
says that, too. Most of the time, though
Mr.. Truman's views have "jelled." Once
in a while he'll be working on something
that has not reached the discussion
stage when question is raised about it.
He explains then that it must wait for
another day, and gives the reason. And
he knows how to head OF the curve
ball" queries that seek to probe further
in these instances.
There is one field in which the Presi-
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