Deep Thoughts

Some of President Truman's thoughts ran deep last week. He sat in the glaring Arlington Memorial Amphitheater on a broiling (temperature: 94DEG) Washington afternoon for the funeral of his chief of naval operations, Forrest Sherman. Though other civilians sat with their heads bared, the President at first kept his hat on. So did Old Soldier George Marshall, sitting nearby--perhaps unconsciously following the custom of men in uniform. After ten minutes, the President suddenly removed his hat and so did Secretary Marshall. Later, Harry Truman confided to some of the honorary pallbearers that he would like to go as Sherman had gone--presumably the President meant suddenly, on the job, and at the summit of his career.

The President's week had a lighter side, too. He pored over the famed McGuffey Readers, of which he had read only the first in school. An admirer had sent him a set of the six readers as a gift. He would find that the hero in a number of the old favorites is named Harry.*

Last week the President also: P: Heard, from a source that he does not usually credit, that his popularity is on the upswing again. After hitting a new low in June, he started a comeback with the Korean peace talks, the Gallup poll reported. But it still found only 29% of the people approving him. P: Succeeded in his first effort to end a strike through the Wage Stabilization Board. Nine hundred members of the United Steel Workers ( C.I.O.) voted to go back to work at the Garfield, Utah plant of the American Smelting and Refining Co., after the President said defense production was threatened.

* Sample: Poor Harry felt his blood run cold, At what before him stood; But then, thought he, no harm, I'm sure Can happen to the good.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.