Evening star., 1945-04-16


welt was aging very fast. No one
close to him could help knowing
this. Members of his family had
spoken of it. His White House aides
were fully aware of it. The several
hundred men who a month ago
saw him at his last public appear
ance - the White House CORE
spondents' dinner-could not help
but realize that he was rapidly
failing man.
Had he lived another year there
was a strong probability that we
would have had another President
like Woodrow Wilson, unable to
function or resign. That would
have been a more terrible tragedy
for him and for the Nation than
the one that has occurred. AS it
was, Mr.. Roosevelt died at the
height of nis prestige and power
undoubtedly died as he would have
wished
1t is possible to live too long in
this world. Many public men have
done So That might easily have
been the case with Mr.. Roosevelt.
That it was not should be a COnSO-
lation to his friends and family.
Great National Gamble.
AS to his successor. President Tru-
man. who can say? Whenever a
Vice President succeeds a President
in our country it is great national
gamble as to how he will turn out.
For one thing. usually our vice pres
idential nominees have not been
carefully selected and have not
seemed from the front rank. Yet
some have become strong, able, sat-
isfactory Presidents.
No one can tell what effect the
Job will have upon the man, exactly
how he will develop under 1t, wheth-
er he will grow or Shrivel. There
Is no sense here in trying TO analyze
Mr.. Trumans character or define
his qualities. A genuinely modest
man. an appalling responsibility has
been thrust upon him. Every one
viii! want him to succeed. EyeIy
one will want to help. No one can
forecast to what degree he will
measure up.
There is. though. this to be said
those who judged the new Presi
dent by the not inspiring manner
of his nomination for Vice President
and were disturbed by his Missouri
political background and affiliations,
without exception have been agree
ably surprised when they met him
personally. The almost invarIa bic
comment has been:
We'll. he is lot better than l
thought"
After the convention last summer,
there were plenty who predicted
that he would become President
through the death of Mr.. Roosevelt
The odds favored it, The thought
was in most minds. Yet, the vivid
personality Of Mr.. Roosevelt and his
extraordinary buoyancy kept it from
being as generally and seriously
taken as the facts warranted.
Now that Mr.. Truman has sue
ceeded, the question of whether he
will be an adequate or an made
quste President will be answered in
time. At the moment, it. of course,
is uncertain. However, there is one
certain thing-from now on, only
those really of the White House
inner circle will see Mr.. Truman
clearly.
Glamour of White House.
The glamour of the White House
is so great; the power of the presi-
dental Office so immense; the
propaganda which flows from and
envelops it so extraordinary; the
personal perfection given the in
cumbent OF such a nature, that
once man enters the White House
as President. thereafter the public
views him through a haze.
Unavoidably. he is remote and
withdrawn. He never again wholly
relaXes where he can be seen Leg
ends are built up and draped about
him. Qualities are attributed to
him of which often he has only a
trace The enormous publicity ad-
vantages of the White House are
used to create pleasant public
illusions.
Some times. under all this, the
real man is completely hidden.
Sometimes he is developed by his
own publicity. Sometimes the re-
suits are good; sometimes poor. It
will be interesting to observe the
effect of all this upon the new
President, who, naturally enough is
now somewhat overwhelmed by the
magnitude of the role he is called
upon to play.
However, it will not be long be-
fore his balance will be restored
and in a short while evidences of
the type of administration we are
to have will be given.
AS was to have been expected,
Mr.. Truman has declared his de-