As the senior wire-service correspondent at the White House, United Pressman Merriman Smith, 37, has enjoyed the affection of President Truman, the esteem of his colleagues and a time-honored privilege: he closes the presidential press conferences with his "Thank you, Mr. President." But at last week's conference (which Smith skipped), the President had no thanks for Mr. Smith. Harry Truman, notably in a touchy mood (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS), tartly remarked that one news service at least had been something less than objective in its coverage of the Truman-MacArthur meeting on Wake Island. What galled the President was Smith's dispatches on the...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
