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When Wickard became under secretary, I don't remember any fuss about it. I don't remember anything much being said about that. I think it had probably been agreed upon between the President and Wallace. I do remember Wallace saying in Cabinet meeting on one occasion, “The new man that we're going to make under secretary, Mr. President, and (speaking in a tone that indicated that the President knew about it) is a very good man about —-- (some political question that was up). He understands that political question very well indeed. We'll get some real information about it out of him.”

I didn't know Wickard well enough to know that it was important that he should be under secretary. Anybody might be Under Secretary of Agriculture so far as I was concerned. This was in connection with some kind of political knowledge. It was some political matter that was under discussion in the Cabinet. I know that I'm not confusing this with the time that Wickard was appointed secretary in September 1940, because recently (1953) I was talking to Wickard about going back to Indiana. I said, “You can do something in the political situation out there. You know that political situation very well and you're close to it.”