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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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to Homer Cummings innumerable times, “How is your plan coming along, Homer?” I had no idea what plan he was referring to, but I knew that Homer was doing something that wasn't on the board, because Homer would say, “Very well, I think, Mr. President. I have some new, interesting information. I'll get it together for you.” Then he would raise another question that had to do with something in the Department of Justice. After this happened twice I said to myself, “What's Homer up to? He's doing something.” I think I asked Henry Wallace or Ickes - I think of them always because one sat on one side and the other on the other and I was therefore more likely to have a whispered or in-between conversation with them than with anybody else - “What's Cummings up to?”

“I don't know what he's doing,” said Wallace. “It's some new bill probably.”

This happened several times, quite a good many times. I had the feeling that the President didn't know specifically what was going on either. That's just intuitive judgment. I had the feeling that Cummings was determined to keep it up close and that the President, naively, at that moment, would anticipate its being spread on the table. Certainly Cummings was determined to keep it up close and that the President, naively, at that moment, would anticipate its being spread on the table. Certainly Cummings was





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