On the night of May 5, with Democrats across the country preparing to gather in observation of ex-President Harry S. Truman's 75th birthday, a dozen national figures met for a pre-birthday dinner in the home of Oklahoma's Senator Mike Monroney on Washington's 32nd Street. It was an amiable, comfortable evening, with little serious political shop talk. But as it neared an end, one Democratic patriarch turned to the patriarchal guest of honor. Said House Speaker Sam Rayburn, 77, to Harry Truman: "Let me drop you downtown." From that offer came a political...
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