U.S. At War: Easing Up

After a ten-day bout with flu, complicated by two messages to Congress and a fireside chat, Franklin Roosevelt was warned by his doctor to "ease up." Shunning his office, the President:

¶ Called off his regular Cabinet meeting and press conferences. Reporters went away grumbling that the Chief Executive grows more & more inaccessible. (Presidential press conferences—there were 83 in 1933, 96 in 1940, 91 in 1941—dwindled to a new low of 59 in 1943.)

¶ Welcomed his good friend Leighton McCarthy, ex-Canadian Minister to the U.S.—now promoted to Ambassador as a symbol of...

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