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One of these conversations took place when Roosevelt over the telephone to me in Chicago told me that he wanted Wallace run for Vice President. He said, “You better go over and tell Harry Hopkins this.” That wasn't what he told Harry.
It's almost caprice when you're trying to deal with it, but it isn't caprice. He hadn't told Harry specifically anything contrary to that. By this time Harry had become accustomed to him and wasn't just bowled over when I went and saw him and told him this. I knew Harry very well and he said, “You'll excuse me, Frances, if I check this myself?”
I said, “Yes, Harry, I will excuse you if you've got a privatewire to Washington, but he was very anxious that nobody should hear of this. He warned me to come over and tell you and not to speak to your room from my room, because he thought your wire was mounted somehow by people who were trying to find out what was going on.”
He said, “Yes, I've got an absolutely fool-proof wire right to the White House.”
I thought to myself then, “Why didn't the President call up Harry and tell him this instead of telling me to tell him?”
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