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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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Part:         Session:         Page of 915

I said, “Well, Dan would do it.”

He said, “Oh, I couldn't say anything with Dan sitting there. You know I couldn't.”

I had to laugh because I knew exactly what he meant. He had come to have confidence in me. It was a very personal relationship. That was all there was to it. He knew that I had no personally important reason for getting out. It wasn't a question of my own welfare. I never could plead illness, because everybody knows I don't have a trace of it. I've always been a healthy person. If I started saying that I didn't feel well enough and my health demanded attention, the room would have burst out laughing, FDR particularly, because I've always had this extraordinarily good health. I was tired of it, but so was everybody. You had to do your duty. There were no overwhelming personal reasons for getting out. There was nothing I couldn't handle in my personal situation. My personal and private situation was no worse than it had been for eight years. As a matter of fact, I don't believe I ever would have made out a case pleading personal hardship that would have put him on the spot. I would think it awfully ignoble to put your personal welfare as a reason for not doing something that somebody who had heavy responsibilities required. I think it's better to drop dead in your traces. After all, this wasn't a normal time.





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