Evening star., 1945-04-13
Truman Goes Home
And Bars Visitors
rss-
After Taking Oath

81 President Truman, if he slept last
night under the tremendous bur-
, dens he was suddenly called on to
assume, awakened today in a five
room, $120-a-month apartment with
one bath which has been the Tru-
man home in Washington. 1t is at
{ 470l Connecticut avenue.
s,e Home was the first thing Mr.
Truman thought of after he took the
~ oath of Office last night. He shook
hands with the members of the
5 cabinet and his face did not carry
= its usually pleasant smile; it was
grim. He said he thought he would
60 home.
!. At home he denied himself to all
visitors and also refused to take any
( telephone calls-with one exception.
:. That exception was the call which
b he had placed for his mother, Mrs.
Martha Truman, who lives at
= .Grandview, Mo. That call was COM
r. pleted and the President spoke to
: her.
1t was the final act Of a feverish
evening.
, Early Calls Truman's Office.
! When word of the President S
death came Mr.. Truman was on his
way from his Office at the far end
of the Senate Office Building to the
Office of House Speaker Sam Ray
burn across the Capitol.
io1 CoProf O Stpnhpn
Early called Mr.. Truman's office.
The call was switched to Speaker
Rayburn's office, and Mr.. Early told
the Vice President:
Harry, you'd better get to the
White House just as quickly as you
can"
At the White House Mr.. Truman
went to Mrs. Roosevelt's sitting
room on the second floor, next to
the Presidents bedroom.
The President has just passed
away" Mrs. Roosevelt told him.
Truman Asks to Help.
What can I do?" Mr.. Truman
asked.
Mrs. Roosevelt's reply revealed
her realization of the burdens that
lay before the then Vice President
Tell us what we can do; is there
any way we can help you?' she
asked. In the office wing OF the
White House the hastily summoned
cabinet was assembling.
The machinery to assure the Ma
ton would not be without Presi-
dent was moving inexorably. 1t
brought the Vice President to the
cabinet room and Chief Justice Har-
Ian F. Stone.
In front of the marble mantlepiece
Mr.. Truman faced the group Of
Government leaders. He wore, as
usual, a gray suit. polkadot tie. A
blue and white handkerchief was in
his breast pocket. He was erect and
grave.
Mrs. Truman and their daughter,
Margaret, had been summoned. Mrs.
Truman dabbed frequently at her
eyes with a handkerchief. Mr.. Tru-
man patted the hand Of his daugh-
ter several times, reassuringly.
A Bible was brought from Presi-
dent Roosevelt's office, one bound in
black, with red-edged leaves. Mr..
Truman held it in his left hand and
raised his right hand as the Chief
Justice repeated the oath from mem
ory. Mr.. Truman read it from a
slip of paper. The Nations 32d
President has taken office.
The Trumans went to the living
quarters of the White House for a
Commute stay. Then they left
quietly by the rear entrance.
Surrounded by Secret Service.
AS Vice President, Mr.. Truman
didn't like even one Secret Service
man about. Now he was surrounded
by them as was the Connecticut ave-
nue. apartment house.
That the apartment was now
the home of the President of the
United States appeared to make
little difference in the neighborhood
last night. Most of those passing
along the sidewalk did not even turn
their heads as they passed.
There was a group OF reporters
and photographers in the lobby. 1t
is not large lobby. A stone fire.
place, fanked by couches, is oppo-
site the entrance. In an alcove there
is the switchboard and the mail
boxes.
Box No. 209 has an engraved card
which says: Mr.. and Mrs. Harry S..
Truman" Written below in ink is
Margaret Truman"
The switchboard operator said
the apartment house was some
what upset by the events Of the
evening. She was regretful that
the Trumans would be leaving.
Such lovely people," she said.
A man came in and made tenta-
tive queries about renting the Tru-
man apartment. He was given a
polite but indefinite answer.
Other residents of the apartment
house. leaving or coming in, some
with dogs on leashes, looked sur
prised at the reporters in the lobby
and the Secret Service men who
passed in and out.
A message came down from
apartment 209 that Mr.. Truman
would see no one, that he was tired.
The knot of reporters melted away,
A resident who might not have
heard the news could have gone to
his own apartment without realiz-
ing that the President Of the
United States was under the same
roof.
Outside a special police detail
had joined the Secret Service de-
tail, but the guards we're incon-
spicuous.
Spain's Break With Japan