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all these emergency agencies all down through the war. It was a mistake to set up so much emergency activity, although I think perhaps that through this immediate earlier period it wasn't so bad. It spared us lots of headaches.

At any rate, my talk with the President was only a day or two before the bill went through. It was on the verge of going through. We were going to a Cabinet meeting on Friday and the bill went through the day before. (Later the war Cabinet meetings were on Thursday for the big Cabinet and Friday for the regular Cabinet meetings. Nothing was done at the big Cabinet meetings. They should never really have been called together, because he had to call the little Cabinet together anyhow. The little group was the real Cabinet.)

He sent word for me to come over on Friday before the meeting, I think, for lunch. I talked with him for an hour of more. He said, “I've decided that you're right. I will not appoint Hugh Johnson to be the head of Title II. I will appoint him to be the head of NRA. I think he's gone so far now that it would be a mistake not to.”

I said, “I do too.”

“He'll do that all right,” he said, “but I think you're right about the public works. I'm going to appoint Ickes.”