Dr. Wallace H. Graham Oral History Interview, January 10, 1976

Notice
This interview was conducted by William D. Stilley and Jerald L. Hill as part of a intern and independent study project at William Jewell College in March 1976, under the direction of the Political Science Department of William Jewell College. The reader should remember that this is essentially a transcript of the spoken, rather than the written word.

Numbers appearing in square brackets (ex. [45]) within the transcript indicate the pagination in the original, hardcopy version of the oral history interview.

RESTRICTIONS
This transcript may be read, quoted from, cited, and reproduced for purposes of research. It may not be published in full except by permission of William D. Stilley and Jerald L. Hill.

Opened October, 1985
Harry S. Truman Library
Independence, Missouri

[1]

STILLEY: Dr. Graham, what were the circumstances, or what led President Truman to choose you as his personal physician?

GRAHAM: That is something difficult to answer because of the fact that I like to think that because of my acumen and ability as a doctor, naturally. I knew nothing was going on from that standpoint, as I was in service in Europe; primarily had been in England, and then on D-Day we were out in the Channel. My particular unit then went in deep

[2]

ruts, too, and into Omaha Beach. Then to Lacom, and then into various battle zones throughout the entire time in Europe. Then I was chief of surgery in an evacuation hospital all throughout combat, and then attached to the 101st Airborne troops with the British First Armoured then in Rijmegen, Holland.

The first time that I knew, actually, what was taking place was after the war was finished in Germany. We were sent down to Stuttgart, Germany where I was awaiting plans to materialize to go to Japan. I had put in for Japan; then to go down to Marseilles and then on over from that standpoint. We were all working quite diligently trying to get the wounded and the men who had been operated for shell wounds and all these casualties of war, to get them back into the States as soon as possible, or send them to England and get them evacuated out of the dangerous war zones.

So, we were in Stuttgart, and one day while I was doing physical examinations and overseeing the patients, a group of officers came to me at the bedside and they addressed themselves, and I met

[3]

them. They said that I had a plane awaiting me with A 1 priority to fly to Potsdam immediately.

Well, I hadn't really kept track of the President of the United States or anything. When you are busy and you have duties to perform, a job to do, you keep after it, and you don't really pay too much attention to what the papers say. We would get the Stars and Stripes--that was our paper of the combat zone and I just hadn't been aware of the fact any more than I heard the President was up there for a conference in Potsdam. So I negated that. I said, "I'm afraid you have the wrong man, because I'm sure that he would want an internist and an older man than I am at the present time." They looked a bit and they said, "Well, yes, we probably have." So they took off and they left and saluted, and that was it.

They came back about three days later, the lads did, and there was one of higher rank than any of them, a general officer, and so we went through the same formality again. They said, "No, you're the right one." So I knew that they had

[4]

made a mistake, or I thought they had. I asked them what kind of a plane they had and how many seats it had in it, because, see, we had been in Magdeburg north of Berlin. I had been in Berlin before the war. You see, I was there as a resident surgeon after graduating here, and going through my internship and some residency here. Then I was sent over there and I took advantage of a scholarship then in Vienna, Austria, in pathology and surgery. Naturally, I having been in Berlin and lived there for some time, I wanted to show the men around who were in our unit, and let them enjoy the sights. So, we were anxious to get in there. I wanted to know how many seats there were in this plane, because everybody that was available I would fill the thing up, and if they made a mistake, they were really going to make a big one.

We got ready--I think we took off the next morning early--and had the plane pretty well filled up. We flew over the Tempelhof Airdrome. It was just out of Berlin; it's in Potsdam. I looked down there on the airfield and I said, "My goodness,

[5]

what in the world are all these officers doing? What's all that affair down there?"

And the man looked up to me and he said, "Colonel Graham, that's for you."

"Oh, my land." I was really shook then, that's the first time it really got to me, because I wasn't dressed for anything like that. I mean you're in your jump boots and your trousers that you pressed between boards and things like that, you know. I was really shook then. I said, "Well, I hope he has the right one, whoever you're looking fox," because I looked down there and the French had these big gold braids on their hats, the red hats, and the Foreign Legion was out there. The Russians were out there in their white gloves and they looked spic and span, and our troops were terrific, and they had a great, long, red carpet. Oh, my goodness gracious, I just couldn't really believe it.

Well, anyway, we rolled up and the door opened right at the red carpet and so we went out according to protocol. I went to the head of the line and

[6]

the officer then up there kept looking around and looking around and, "Let's see. Let's see, can you tell me . . ."

"Are you looking for Colonel Graham?"

"Oh yes, yes indeed."

"Well, I'm Colonel Graham."

"0h, yes, yes indeed, that's fine. That's fine. Well, who are these gentlemen, who are these soldiers and officers with you?"

I said, "Well, they are my guests." So I guess he was pretty well shook. I introduced myself and showed him my ID card. You know they had the general's car and all, and he assured himself that I was the right one, and the Secret Service stepped up and they asked me what I'd like to have. Well, frankly, when you're in the Army they don't ask you what you want or what you would like to have, and I wasn't exactly used to it. I said, "pertaining to what?"

He said, "'0h, transportation."

I said, "Well, fine, give us a jeep, anything you can get."

[7]

"You can certainly have better than a jeep."

"Fine, give me a command car." You know, when you're in that year after year, been here in maneuvers for a year or so, two years, and over there throughout the whole thing.

He said, "Well, no," he said, "would you like to have a Packard car?"

"Well, I'll take anything I can get, anything is splendid, just fine."

So that was about it. We exchanged amenities there, and got in the car and we rolled up to our two places where we were to stay there in Potsdam. They had taken over several homes there in the sector. They said, "This will be your place to stay," and so that was fine. That was about the end of it and I didn't hear anything more. I think it was the following day, they said, "You can do anything you wish, go anyplace you want to go and we will contact you."

Well, that's quite a bit of latitude. So the next day then I had the group and I said, "Let's go on up to Berlin; that's the reason we

[8]

came up here, we wanted to see this place." We went on up into Berlin, and I was showing them the various places all around there. It was pretty well battered, though, Berlin was just nothing but rubble almost then. Then we went over and saw the place where [Adolph] Hitler had met his end. As a matter of fact, I had seen Hitler many times prior to this. I mean I had actually seen him. I was at the plebiscite anschluss in Vienna when Germany took over Austria as Niederdeutschland. That was on the 10th of April, 1938. It was then that I saw [Herman Wilhelm] Goering, and [Joseph Paul] Goebbels, and Hitler when they all came down there then; and I had seen him prior to that time in Berlin. He was there on the opera ring when all these German troops were rolling in from Deutschland down into Austria.

My sergeant went down into the bunker; found a book down there. He brought this book out, and the book happened to be the last will and testimony of Hitler. It's a large book, rather interesting to look at, that's all. This is a photostatic copy

[9]

of it. We've had I think five--either four or five--photostats made of it; the President has one, I had one, General [Harry] Vaughan had one, and the Secretary of War; and the original went to the archives of Congress. Then anyway, we had that, and that was just about it.

From Berlin, then, we went up to the Brandenburg Tor, which is on Unter den Linden Strasse the great street in Berlin where the horsemen were pretty well shod; these iron horses you know. I think they were brought up there by Frederick de Grossa, Frederick the Great. I think they made the trip twice for some reason or other, I'm not sure of the history, I'm a little foggy on that. I was explaining it there at the Brandenburg Tor and all of a sudden a few jeeps rolled up, the Military Police came up and "Colonel Graham?"

"Yes."

"You are wanted back at the Little White House immediately."

"Fine. Okay." I just checked out and

[10]

left the group there in the car, and we went back into Potsdam. I went into this large house and there I met some other doctors from Missouri--also surprised. I knew Howard Rusk, who was Colonel Rusk, and we met, we exchanged greetings, and there was another doctor there, a Dr. Alphonse McMann. Howard Rusk was on the faculty at the University of St. Louis; real fine men, excellent doctors. I asked them what it was all about, and they acted like they didn't know too much about it. We were all up there together; so, that was about it.

Then after a while they called me and I went into this large room. The general officer was sitting at the desk. I saluted and introduced myself, and who I was, reporting; and what it was for. So he tried to make me feel at ease. "Here. have a cigar."

"Well, I don't smoke cigars."

"Well, here have a cigarette."

"Well, I don't smoke anything."

He said, "What will you have?" "Okay, sit

[11]

at ease." So I sat at ease. He said, "How would you like to be the medical advisor and the personal physician to the President of the United States?"

Well, if I had had false teeth I would have dropped them all out. It just shook me, it was just like, "How would you like to be Chiang Kai-shek," you know. I was really taken aback, because I hadn't anticipated that at all. So I said, "Well, naturally I follow orders, and if the command is that, and the orders are that, that I will be, and that is all there is to it. If you ask me how I would like it, I don't think I would like it."

Well, bang, that really shook him then. So he banged his fist down and he said, "All right, that's it."

So I saluted and about-faced and walked out. I told the doctors about it, outside, and, "Oh, my goodness," and they just about flipped, too. So that was just about it.

I went over then to where we were staying

[12]

and I went on back up in Berlin and we saw the sights. Then the next day we went back up again and saw other parts of Berlin. The next day, then this same group of MP's, Military Police, came up and rolled up there, "Colonel Graham?"

"Yes."

"You're wanted back at the little White House immediately, back at Potsdam."

"Well, fine, that's all right then." So I took off and went back with them. We went into the house and it was just exactly like I had left off the day before. I saluted and all, and stood
at ease. "Why wouldn't you like it?"

I said, "Well, it isn't a matter of like or dislike, it's a matter, I think, he should have an older man take care of him, and I think that he should have one that's retired and in internal medicine. I'm a surgeon by profession."

He said, "Yes, I know all about you, you've had your internal medicine, too, though, and you've done this, and you've done that."

I said, "Yes, sir, I have sir."

[13]

He said, "Well, we know more about you than you think. We've followed you all the way through from the day you were born."

So, I said, "That's fine if you know what you're getting. But on the other hand," I said, "that isn't the only reason. The other reason is I would like to get out of the service whenever I can, whenever the war is over, and get back to treating many people. I just can't see just treating one man in particular. Would I be stationed in a hospital or something like that?"

"Well, absolutely. There are hospitals there, and," he said, "we can take care of that." That's all there was to it.

I said, "Well, you can t really take care of it, if they accept me then that's fine, with my credentials; and if they don't, well then I'11 have to abide by their decision accordingly."

So, we talked a little while and just about things in general, about the war. I found out that he was General Vaughan, Harry Vaughan, a splendid man I thought; and then after we talked

[14]

for some time we got a buzz, and he said, "Well, that will be all, Colonel Graham."

I about faced and saluted and came out in the foyer, and as I came out President Truman was coming down the steps there, and I recognized him from his pictures and everything. I saluted and told him who I was, and he said, "Yes, sir, I'm happy to see you. I understand, Colonel Graham, that you're to be my personal physician."

I said, "Well, that will be splendid Mr. President, but I hope you know what you have, because you don't know if I'm a Democrat or a Republican, an anarchist or Communist, or who I am. "

"Well, I'll tell you, Dr. Graham, I don't give a so and so what you are. " He said, "I know all about you and I've known you from cradle up to the present time, every day. As a matter of fact, we haven't missed anything." He said, "What made you so derned obstinate in coming up here?"

I said, "Well, in the first place, Mr. President, I really thought they had the wrong man,

[15]

I was so took back. Then I got to thinking that maybe you were just having a conclave or a gathering of all the Missourians up there. So, I thought well, they had made a mistake, so that's about it."

We laughed and said, "Well, now, you'd be going back on the Augusta with me won't you?"

"No, sir, I can't go back on the Augusta with you."

"Colonel Graham, do you know to whom you are speaking?"

"Mr. President, Colonel Graham will be very happy to accompany the President of the United States back on the Augusta.."

He laughed and said, "Well, why did you come back so fast and say you couldn't go back with me?"

I said, "Because, Mr. President, I left the hospital relatively uncovered from the standpoint of chief of surgery, and I have certain duties and certain functions to perform. I have to get an officer to take my place, and make certain

[16]

arrangements in my orders to break the ties." I said, " I've put in for Japan, so we have to nullify those orders through SHAEF headquarters and through command functions, et cetera."

"0h, we'll take care of that."

"Fine."

He said, "Well, how long will it take to get those men out of there, back here to the States. Those wounded?"

I said, "It depends when I"--one reason, because I'm not a very good sailor and I didn't want to come back home on his ship, you know. I said, "Well, it will take about ten to fourteen days, " I don't know how long he was going to be over there, see. "But I could sure fly over there just as soon as I get finished."

"Well, that would be just fine, that would be just fine." He said, "You stay around here for a few days until the conference is over, and then you just get a plane, just get one of our Air Force men and fly right on over there. That will be just splendid." He said, "You meet me

[17]

at the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington the 15th of September, how's that?"

I said, "Sir, that will be splendid." So I saluted, about-faced, and that was it.

Then we went to some of the conferences there, and met some of the people such as Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and met Generalissimo [Joseph] Stalin, and met the interpreter, and I met the Russian group, and then some of the French group, and the various dignitaries and men there. I thought it was very interesting. Then that was about it.

Returned to my place down at Stuttgart after a few days, and I think two or three days was all, and I came back and met him in Washington then on the 15th of September, 1945 it was. I'm pretty sure that was the date.

So then I got acquainted with my duties, and also arranged to continue my professional work at Walter Reed Hospital where I was placed on a duty status, and later made my attachments to the university there where I taught. I would take

[18]

care of the President anytime that he demanded--I mean he didn't demand anything actually--anytime it was necessary, but at least every day, usually in the morning, always in the evenings, or both. I arranged my staff accordingly. I had a good sergeant there who arranged for his physical exercise, and all like that; had a good program going. Then I took care of a few there in the White House, also; and some of the President's friends, people who would come to visit him occasionally, little things. My day was filled from 8 o'clock until 5 o'clock as a rule everyday at Walter Reed Army Hospital. Then getting back down there every evening, and I would stay there until sometimes 8, 9, 10 o'clock everyday, and maybe come back on duty doing little things at Walter Reed or go home, maybe both.

Now, ,there was, of course, the cessation of hostilities with Japan. Following that there was the various treaties, et cetera, that were signed. Prior to that, of course, there was the atomic bomb factor. I noticed physiologically--I mean

[19]

in examining the President, at certain times he would have considerable pulmonary congestion and it wasn't true asthma, but it was asthma-like congestion. He would breathe just a little more short, but believe me, the President at all times was calm, and he kept his decorum absolutely ,just superbly. He never had a cross word with me at any time, in all of our dealings, and under all circumstances. I rather resent the press really for seeming to dote upon the, should I say the Anglo Saxon vocabulary, which was really not manifest. I mean he did not, he never cussed like they had in this play.

In talking to Cdr. [Sam] Gallu about this recent play "Give'em Hell Harry" he said, "Well, it's the best way to get it across to the public. The President had a manner in which he could speak, that it came out that way, but not with the cusswords." And that is very true, you know exactly what he meant, there was no question about it.. He was not only quite audible, but everybody understood exactly how he stood on

[20]

matters and when he made his decision that was it. But with me, he was just a real gentleman at all times.

When I would listen to his chest and I would do something every night, I would go over every evening, and in tunes of tension I noticed that he would have this clouding up. So, I talked with Admiral,--oh, who was the Admiral now, the doctor of the Senate? I forget who it was; I keep thinking Admiral Foskett. But he said, "I feel sorry for you, young man, because the President's chest is not good. I mean you will find it going into decompensation and such things as that."

Well, anyway, I acquainted the President with that, and his retort was, "Well, you and I are going to live to bury that old boy at that." Well, we did at that. He said, "We're just going to fool him." But I did acquaint him with the psychology of tensions and how it did affect him, and he realized that and he said--his attitude then was, "Well, just the old age in me flying up." Well, very little actual treatment, or

[21]

actual therapy, but it cleared right up from that standpoint, and the physiological standpoint. He progressed well then, and he didn't show these manifestations later when he realized what was going on. But I could see when these tensions came on. But he wouldn't worry about things, not ostensibly. He knew his problems, and as he stated, "I do the very best I can. I use the best mental version that I know of. I know my history, I think about those things, and I think about what is best for the United States, and our people, and I act accordingly. I know that I've done everything and I talk to the good Lord, and that's all there is to it. I've done everything that I can do, so there isn't anything more to do, so I don't worry about it. I just shut it off." That just about takes care of that situation.

Now, ,there were many things that came up. I do recall quite well, in my sequence of events, I am at a loss now as far as dates, but I remember the election came along, and one, they were quite upset with him because of his rather adamant stand on

[22]

the establishment of Israel. I remember Clark Clifford came in and said, "Mr. President," and Bob Hannegan happened to mention the same thing one time also. Bob Hannegan was the Democratic National Committeeman at the time and the President and I were there. It was on the train, as a matter of fact. They said, "Mr. President, if you keep the sane stand that you keep on this matter of Israel, this could cost you the election."

President Truman said, "Well, if the election depends upon this factor alone, that's it, it'll have to go down the drain because I'm standing pat on it, I believe in it and that's it." He said, "We're going to have an Israel for these Jews, and that's the end of it." So, they talked to him a while and he said, "There's no use talking about it, it's the only right thing to do, it's the correct thing to do, and we'll do it." So that ended that from that standpoint.

I think they were quite dismayed about it, because they thought they would really lose the election because of that factor.

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I know election night I was with him, in the evening, he said, "Doctor, let's take off."

"Fine, let's go, Mr. President, where are we going?"

He said, "There's a little old place up here at Excelsior Springs called the Elms Hotel., why don't we just go on up there?" So, he and I were the only ones, along with the Secret Service men, and we went up there to the Elms Hotel, nobody else with us at all. We didn't talk any about the
election. He wasn't concerned one iota, not a bit. We talked fairly late that evening and went to bed, and that's all there was to it. I don't recall whether I woke him up the next day, or he came around and woke me up, but that was it. We found out that he won, and then we came back to the Muehlebach in Kansas City.

Now, about the Korean affair, there seems to be so much time differentials that I read about, where he made decisions of one thing or another, but I know that we were in the war with Korea. I know we were in Kansas City visiting his mother at the time, and he said, "Doctor, let's get on

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this plane and get out of here." He said, "I've got a problem."

So we both got on the plane at the same time along with the other members of the group, and he said, "Doctor, I've got to make a terrible, terrible, terrible decision." He said, "I've got to figure out whether to drop a devastating mechanism or not." He said, "If we don't we're going to lose thousands of our own good troops." He said, "The Japanese are natural fighters, and, believe you me, when they're fighting for their homeland that's all there is to it, they will fight to the end, regardless of how it comes out. It means that there is going to be thousands of our people killed, of our men killed." He said, "There's no getting out of it. They have told me the calibrated losses, and," he said, "every time that we may have an invasion, they can tell almost it's amazing how close they come to it. I've got to make a decision on how we're going to handle this situation." And he said, "That has me very, very seriously concerned."

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I didn't actually know what he was talking about, so I said, "Well, I know that you will come to a correct decision, regardless of what it is, I know perfectly well." I said, "I wish I could help you out on such a matter, but that's about it."

That was the end of that, and we flew back to Washington and it was soon after that he made the official announcement that they dropped the bomb. So I know that his first information, the first warning, when he was actually told$ when he made his decision was on the way back to Washington from Kansas City.

Now soon after that came the termination of Japanese hostilities and the war's end.

Then, of course, he made several trips and they were all very interesting--Key West and the various other places. I was sent out of the country on several occasions because foreign heads of Government would request certain medical help, or if they were ill maybe he offered my services. That I'm not actually sure of and I would never

[26]

ask him. I had the order and that was all there was to it. I mean, he would have me meet with General Vaughan and the gentlemen from the State Department and they would make arrangements. But several of the trips were very, very interesting. Some of the trips were made to Saudi Arabia where I cared for His Majesty King Ibn Saud. He was the father of Faisal and Saud-el-Saud--King Faisal--later and I took care of him over there in Riyadh at one time and another time in Ta'if, which was the summer palace just out of Mecca. I'd go over there with a group, an internist, anesthetist, and whoever I thought we needed, an x ray man, and all that. That's a separate story. I mean that's a big story, a very interesting one actually, of His Majesty King Ibn Saud. That's where I met His Majesty--later His Majesty--King Faisal--it was a dual kingship after King Ibn Saud died. And I took care of many others. They were very, very fine, very sensitive people.

[27]

I like the Arabs very much, frankly. I mean just in meeting them man for man. I would always be one to place myself in the category of the individual, or common Mr. Man, what would I do if I were to drop by parachute there on that desert. Well, believe you me, I think that they've done quite well. You know you look down your nose at certain things, why don't they have cities, this, that and the other thing? Well, they just don't have anything to do with but a desert there. Our deserts are beautiful compared to what they've got there. I mean we have mesquite trees, and a few little signs of life. There is nothing there. Well, every once in a while you'll see a mirage, the Persian Gulf, or something like that, and you think you're getting someplace, but you're not. It is really a real desert. But I enjoyed every minute that I was there. I enjoyed knowing the people and working with them and doing everything that I possibly could for them, and obtaining my objectives. I was there for several reasons; I mean I was there for many reasons, as a matter of

[28]

fact. It wasn't only medical and surgical, but other factors, too. That's when we were trying
to get a longer term for the Dhahran Air Base, and that's when the royal negotiations were going
on, pretty well at that time, also. I was sent back there almost every year for a while, as a
matter of fact. I enjoyed every time I was there. We had our duties to perform, in trying to treat
the various members of the royal family; but I won't go into that now anymore.

Now, back to the United States. My duties were fulfilled in Walter Reed Hospital and there at the White House, and was fulltime duty; but I've always had two or three jobs all my life and am the type of individual, that has to work hard, and I enjoy it. It makes me get along well. Now, I don't know of any other particular facets that you want me to cover.

STILLEY: Was the President pretty stubborn--to get him to take some of the medication you were handing him?

[29]

GRAHAM: Never. Never at any time. Not one single, solitary time, because he knew that I didn't care about taking medicine myself, and I told him so. I was reluctant about giving any to him unless it was absolutely necessary. There was never a question. I would always explain what it was, why I was giving it, when I expected it to work, and how I expected it to react, and what it would do; and how long I expected him to feel badly, whatever it was. And he knew that I had gone into that, there was never a question at any moment. "Yes, doctor, that's fine," and that's it. There was never anything, I mean really, it was just positively amazing. I guess really, and it's not because he is who he is, or he was who he was, or in what position, he was the finest patient I've ever had in my life, really. And the kindest. He was really very, very kind, genteel, and in spite of the directness, I should say soft spoken, man of decision that I've ever known or been around.

Now I enjoyed His Majesty King Ibn Saud very,

[30]

very much, too; and I've enjoyed many other dignitaries who have been there. But stormy weather, good weather, politically and otherwise, he was just solid at all times, absolutely.

And he was very genteel. A peculiar thing, he was very, very modest. He was ultra modest as a matter of fact, and one reason why he never wanted to go to the hospital was because his modesty sort of overwhelmed him, and he'd just as soon have the Navy corpsmen take care of him, and me, rather than nurses for sometime, you know, unless he was really sick. He and I felt about the same way about it. I knew how he felt and I appreciated and honored him for it. I treated him accordingly. But he was just splendid at all times.

HILL: Was he a pretty healthy individual most of the time?

GRAHAM: Oh, yes. Yes, he was quite healthy. Now he did have one bout of pneumonia that was quite striking at one time, and then he'd get little upper respiratory colds. He had more difficulty with his eyes. It seems like, as he states, the

[31]

axis would shift and he'd have to carry two pairs of glasses at all times. Then if one didn't just fit the occasion, he would put on the other pair. That was the one crutch that he did have. But as far as his health, yes, he was in relatively good health all the time. I gave him little things to augment the situation and to keep his chest in good condition, and we'd check on his heart and see that he didn't overdo himself. He was naturally a very healthy man by inheritance also. I mean, really, his father and mother were both quite healthy, and that means a lot. The fact that he could get around some people at times, too, with colds, I'd move him out away from them. That was one of my prime functions, to keep him protected. He'd catch on quite well, and he'd always do what I suggested, always. That was gratifying, also; but he knew that I wouldn't ask him if I wasn't really very, very concerned.

Mrs. Truman was also very kind at all times, very obliging. Her mother was there for a while and she wasn't feeling too well either, and I took

[32]

care of Mrs. Wallace, Mrs. Truman, and the President, and that was about it.

Anything, any particular facets you want to cover?

The President knew at all times about every single one of us, regardless of where we were, what we were doing, or anything; and he kept a constant tag on us. He would never allow any form of immorality. He was a great family man himself and he expected every body around him to be the same way, 100 percent, all the way. And there was no two ways about it; because I happen to know of one individual there who deviated from the so called "social norm," and he found out about it. He said, "Well, I'm sorry, but this man has Potomac fever, and I'm afraid his hat isn't quite big enough to fit him, so we had better arrange that he goes home. He's a very valuable man, but it's unfortunate. General, will you take care of that please?"

"Yes, Mr. President." And that was it. He was a Cabinet member at the time and he was gone

[33]

just like that. He didn't waste time with individuals who couldn't, as he said, "captain their own ship." They had command of their own ship or that was it. If they couldn't manage their emotions, their tensions, and all, that was it.

Now, another very interesting factor that's brought up I never cared to play poker. The fact is, I mean in all due respects, I mean Baptists, or anything else, I mean that has nothing to do with it, believe me. Which harks back on your schooling up here. You play cards off campus but if you get on the campus, you're thrown out of school. Well, that's one part I could never see one way or the other. Now, we'll deviate from that now. But I never cared for the game at a11. It's a waste of my time.

We'd go down to Key West and to pass the time away, we'd play poker in the evenings only when there were visiting dignitaries there, or people who he had in mind that would come into the group or be taken for certain offices. But I didn't catch the gist of the situation at all,

[34]

and he used to annoy me so when he would always want me in on the games, sitting right next to him. But I had had my various medical and surgical magazines piled up here and I would put in what I had to put in, and then I'd read, read, read and they'd shake me up, and it used to aggravate General Vaughan something terrific. He'd say, "All right, old Iodine, get off of it and give me that so and so book." And he'd rip a book or two up you know, So I'd sit there and play for a while and then I'd reach down and get another magazine. "Come on, Iodine, get off of your . . ." And so the President and I, then, after I'd gone along this way for oh, one or two trips, it was very interesting. One time when we were kibitzing along, should I say, talking along, which we did many, many times in the evenings, he said, "I don't know if you've thought anything about these poker games or not, doctor."

I said, "Well, I hadn't thought much about them. I enjoy the comradery and the horseplay that goes on, and listening to General Vaughan's

[35]

wild remarks," and I said, "we get a jolt out of that, or listening to Admiral Dennison or Admiral Foskett, or whoever it was at the time, General Landry, and just the bantering, and the ribbing that goes on."

But he said, "No," he said, "I've always talked to you after the poker games, if you'll note."

I said, "Well, no, I hadn't paid much attention to it really, Mr. President, I'm sorry to say."

He said, "Don't you know that I ask you about so and so and so?"

"Yes, that's very true."

And he said, "I'11 tell you," he said, "the reason is because we have these visiting individuals, and they're there for a purpose." He said, "We're studying them. I want to know--you're not a psychiatrist, I know that, but you have a tremendous grip on the psychoanalytical manifestations, or the shortcomings of men and how they will react under certain situations. If they imbibe in spiritis fermenti, that's

[36]

fine, just let them imbibe, because," he said, 'they sometimes get glib of tongue and they get agitated and we'll just try them out a little." He said, "Now this isn't for publication by any means, but, I want to know exactly what you think the man is worth, from your standpoint, and how he would be under fire, because this is the only time that we could probably get him under fire." One of those loose ends, too. So, they would always ply him with a bit of one thing or another you know, and General Vaughan would dig him, and oh, sometimes he would get them real fired up. General Vaughan really was a very honorable man. And I'11 preface what I'm going to say by this--Drew Pearson and all would talk about General Vaughan being a two-fisted drinker, and how he would throw the bourbon down and this, that, and the other thing. General Vaughan never took a drink. General Vaughan was an elder in his church, he was a pillar in his church. He was a little earthy, I might say, but he was very direct; you knew exactly how he stood, too. But he was

[37]

not a two-fisted drinker. The fact is, I don't know that I ever saw him take a drink. He would drink tea or things like that, and the orange juice and the whole bit, you know, and they might think he was, but he was not.

Now, back to the other. And then he did not cheat at cards, or anything like that either. But you'd put him up to things, see, and he'd act like he was stealing from the pot and some of the other fellows would see it, or cheating a little bit here, there, you know, just to see, get the reaction of the other man, of the new man, like one I have in mind. And he would really get agitated, he'd call him on it right now, "Oh, is that right?" Well, I just must have slipped. I must have forgotten." The situation was that we were trying this man every way possible, and if he wanted to ply himself with alcohol, that was his business, see. But the President did not, absolutely did not, and General Vaughan did not at all. The fact is, there was nobody there that really would do any real drinking as far as--never, never, never, and I've never

[38]

seen any of them drunk.

Clark Clifford would play, whoever the Naval Aide was, whether it was Admiral Foskett or Admiral Dennison. The Military Aide was General Vaughan, Harry Vaughan, and I had the greatest respect for him, too. And the Air Aide, General Landry, Robert Landry. That was the President's way to watch very closely, the psychoanalytical reactions and analyze anybody that he was going to hire. He'd have Vaughan dig this fellow, just get very pointed remarks at times. They'd get mad at General Vaughan. See you could snap at him, because they didn't care who he was.. But all that was added up, you know. So those so-called "poker games," were not just games per se, but was one way to get to know the individual under various circumstances that were a little unusual. See anybody when the going is good and the going is fine, you know, whether they are going to be yes men, or stand up on their own two feet or what.

I'll tell you one man who would always stand up on his own two feet, and was very respectful too, that was Bob Hannegan. He was a strong man in my

[39]

estimation. He was later Postmaster General. A very strong man, a very splendid man, too. Very high tension though, terrific tension. Like Senator [Stuart] Symington, very, very fine, outstanding man. The fact is, President Truman really had splendid men around him in spite of what some of the newspapers and all would say and report. They liked to have General Vaughan as sort of a whipping boy, but General Vaughan just sat back and didn't have any rebuttal at all. But, you know, after the end of time, I mean when the President was out, General Vaughan then sued one newspaper after another, one magazine after another, and won every single solitary suit, ever single one. They even had his picture put in with spurious characters, you know, cut the pictures out, they thought he wouldn't pay any attention to it. They said he'd never been in any war of any kind. Well, a machinegun hit him and tore the top of his knee off, hit the top of his ear on this side, clipped his hair on that side. He'd been right through the battle,

[40]

the First World War. The Second World War, he was badly injured also, had part of his heel torn off. He was right there, he wasn't any play soldier. He was the real McCoy.

He took the psychoanalytical, the psychology of the individual, the reaction of an individual when he was under stress, or losing money, you know; or how he would lose and how he planned to manage a certain game and all like that. Under stress of almost winning and then having General Vaughan rib him, you know, dig him, or make caustic remarks, and see how they reacted to that.

Some just couldn't take it at all, and some never did get over Vaughan's ribbing and all, to get the reactions of the individuals. After all was said and done I thought it was very excellent because they really came to a conclusion about many men.

Chief Justice Vinson, a very splendid man, terrific. He went with us on many occasions. Practically all members of the Cabinet have been with us one time or another. They were excellent.

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I've talked a lot about General Vaughan, but actually this was the President's--he would just sit there and he paid more attention to the bantering that went on at the table by far than he did cards; he didn't pay any attention to them at a11. You see, you couldn't lose much, you'd get up so far and then you'd take out of the kitty, take $30 out of the kitty. No one could lose more than say $30 or something like that at any one time, and whenever you did, then you'd take it out of the kitty, see. Do you follow me there? I don't know if you know how to play poker or not. I haven't played since then, as a matter of fact. I just don't do it. It's a waste of time to me.

We've covered General Vaughan, and after the general election, the primary election. What part should I cover now?

STILLEY: Matt [Matthew] Connelly.

GRAHAM: Yes. Now, you referred to Matt Connelly, the Appointment's Secretary to the President. He was a typical New Yorker--thin, Irishman, sharp, very

[42]

direct. He was quick to analyze the situation. He would protect the President from many, many, many people who just really don't have anything but an axe to grind; and he was sharp, he was good. He knew what he was doing; he was clever. He was a very alert reactor, typical Irish, but I should say American Irish. Quick of wit, and I thought that--from my standpoint, though, I liked all of them really, and I saw them for what they did and their job that they were performing, and they were for the President, naturally. I think anyhow those little animosities and maybe little trifle, oh, I won't say jealousies, or envies either, I don't mean that, because they'd just think that individual overstepped his bounds a little bit, all trying to protect the President per se. That's the whole thing of it.

Charlie Ross. Splendid. Just an old bloodhound for news and he was the Press Secretary--drawn. He was just a splendid, kind man, he really was. He was racked with arthritis, had a bad heart, too; but he did a splendid job.

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Bill Hassett. Letter writer--formerly for President Roosevelt. Kind, good, very, very highly intelligent man. Graduate of Clark University, I believe it was--up in Vermont. Typical northeastern man, from Vermont; but a very, very fine gentleman; very good man.

Judge Rosenman was one of the President's advisors.

He had real fine men, really. They didn't impress you as being, well, in the vernacular, so called big shots, they just weren't. They were just very regular men.

The impressive thing to me was, the President admired and followed the little letters, the letters that he would get from a farmer. I remember there was a farmer down by Appleton City, Missouri it seems like, or Farmington. I forget which it was. He used to like to get his letters. They weren't the King's English at all times, by any means, and they were misspelled a few things, but the President really enjoyed those letters. He said, "Believe you me, I get more out of how people think and

[44]

what they want just by getting these letters." And he'd go through every one of them. They let him know what the tenor of the country felt. The man who did the work, the working man. He'd get those letters and then he'd read them; and he would answer them himself. That's how he kept attuned to the country at all times. He really did. He would take their advice many times over the advice of many of our high authorities. I am sure he was a party man all the way along, but he certainly did equate that with the goodness of the country, and then not exactly always with what he would personally do.

Actually, the President was really a Southerner at heart, very definitely, because his mother, you know would always keep acquainting us with the fact that those good for nothing Northern soldiers came over and tore up their hogs, and just cut the hams off and let the hogs lie around the barn. I know one day I was out there treating her, for her final illness, and General Vaughan came up to Mrs. Truman, and he said, "Mother Truman, I think I'm going up to Lawrence today."

[45]

She looked at him sharp, a mean look, "What are you going up there for?"

"Well, I've got to do some business."

"You'll never get any good business done up there," she said. "But if you have to go up there then," she said, "you look around for our silverware, because some of those thieves stole it over there in Kansas. Some of those guerrillas that came through here, stole our family silver."

So, you know with a background like that, his heart was always with the South. But he didn't allow that to enter into any of his judgments. In fact, he would tell me about the same things, the way he might feel personally, himself. But he didn't let that rub off on what he knew was for the good of the country, and he would so state, I mean with me there in the evening. Every evening I was always with him, barring none, getting his rubdown, and taking his swim, and we would talk about just everything in general, the things of the day and some of his decisions and all. And just about things in general, and that's about it.

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STILLEY: Do you think that a President, such as Harry Truman, who answered so much of his mail like that, that in 1976 the President could handle that much, and be that close, and free in access to the people as in 1940?

GRAHAM: I certainly do. Now, you say, no, he's so busy he can't do anything else. Well, the President was not a great athlete, he didn't ski, instead he would pay attention to other affairs. He enjoyed reading, he was a prodigious reader. Oh my, he was a real student of history; and he knew the Bible, believe you me, and he could quote it too, and it was correct, because I checked up on him, because I didn't know myself. For instance, Romans 5:15, and by George, he was right. I mean I'd want to know it, and didn't know it, and I'd go back to my room and get that thing. He really knew. And he would tell about the war of the Philistines, and how so many of our battles here in the Civil War were patterned after the old, old wars. Let's see, I think there was one war in

[47]

Mexico, but one that the Philistines--there was some general that he thought was very, very excellent. He knew his history just tremendously. He'd go through a stack of books in no time. He knew his history; there wasn't any use in trying to foul him up on that because he did know, and he kept his finger on all facets quite well.

No, he didn't spend all his time reading letters, no, but enough to keep his ear to the ground. What do our farmers want? What do our farmers need? What does this man up in Iowa want? Why is he satisfied with what [Charles] Brannan is doing as Secretary of Interior? Well, let's see. Secretary Brannan was a splendid man, I remember, just splendid. Then later I believe the Senator from New Mexico--Clinton Anderson, he was later Secretary of Agriculture, did a fine job, too. But he kept on top of it. He talked to them regularly. He was a busy President. Then when he went to Key West he wasn't just playing off. No sir, he would get out in the sunshine once a day, but he was calling, he was talking, he was figuring out, he was planning things; he really

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was dictating right along. He'd get his mind off of it with one thing or another, and we'd take our walks and we'd go one place or another, go to the stores, and he was never a--you'd never, ever think that he had any ego. I mean he expected you to respect the office, but as an individual he was Mr. Man, and that was it. But he commanded respect by the way he acted and it wasn't a command performance; but he earned it, and you know it.

HILL: What do you recall about the firing of [General Douglas] MacArthur and the Wake Island incident?

GRAHAM: Well, yes, I was sitting right with the President on the plane, right next to him as a matter of fact. General Vaughan was right across from us. The main thing that I do recall--see, of course, I don't know the intricacies of the machinations of the politics, the warfare, and things of that type. I may have heard them, but I deleted them because it wasn't my business and I had no comment to make one way or the other. My comment wasn't asked for. If it was nothing medical, I had no advice to give, but just knew

[49]

of the situation, just the tensions and all. remember--I recall very, very vividly, we were in the air--and our Air Aide came back to the President and he said, "Mr. President, it seems as if General MacArthur's plane is having a little difficulty, and he wants you to land first."

So the President said, "Well, you find out what the difficulty is."

So, he found out and he came back, and then the President said, "We'll wait for him. Tell him to land."

So we stayed in the air for some time later, oh, it was several minutes, then he said, "I've got another radio, we're having a little difficulty and we're so and so, but we want you to land first, because we're having a little problem up here."

The President was very direct then. "You tell him to get the so and so out of the air and get down there on the ground, right novel" And they did.

But see, you could tell the tenor of the

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thing. I mean to me it meant this--and this may not be true and I'm reading into lines what was an absolute feeling. Here is the General and he is--a general officer oftentimes in his position, he is a brilliant man, he is a great man. He was looked up to, almost deified by the Asians and those in the Near East, 'in the Asian countries, and he was carrying out this deification and you always have the stage there. But he can see himself down here and looking up to the general officer who was coming in, you know, and greeting him, as such. It was just one more little facet in the stage handling. Or should I say like Shakespeare said, "We're all actors," you know, and there was such a dramatization of that, and he carried out every bit of it. But when the President told him to get out of the air right now, he said, "Yes, sir," and he came right on down first.

The President was a little heated about that; he let him know it in no uncertain terms. He said, "I don't care what you think of Harry S. Truman, but believe me,"--and he told him that, too--when it comes to the Commander in Chief,

[51]

your Commander in Chief is the President of the United States, that's the man you're going to respect, you're going to respect that office." Oh, he didn't take a back seat to anybody. He could be as tough as nails, and really straightforward and you knew exactly what he meant at all times. He earned respect.

And now about the meeting. First the President paraded the so-called "walk the line," you know, where the troops are all here and you shook hands with them and greeted them and all, appreciated them being there, except they were there by command naturally. Then he talked with General MacArthur, his G-2, that is his intelligence officer, a man with a German name, changed his name to Willoughby--no, it was another name. Anyway, they walked along. Then the President and General Vaughan and myself walked to the quonset hut, then the President and General MacArthur went in for the conference. No one else was in there, and that's where there was a pretty direct meeting.

Then they came out, and then amenities, and

[52]

we went around the island. I remember there was still some smashed up Jap planes there, and other planes. I remember at that time he asked me, he said, "Would you like to be an Ambassador, Dr. Graham."

"No, sir."

"Well, I just wanted to say if you wanted to be Ambassador, I would make you Ambassador to Wake Island." Wake Island is about as big as this house.

"No, thank you."

Then we talked about the ecology of nature. About if they kill too many ducks, well then the rats would overrun their island, because the ducks ate rats before, but this particular kind of duck did. So they stopped shooting the ducks.

Anyway, we stayed there for a fairly short time and then flew back. Very interesting, they undoubtedly accomplished what he went for. I know perfectly well he told General MacArthur what he expected, and it was certainly not for him to commit himself or transgress on the Chinese territory, because the Chinese are the

[53]

type of people who lose face and we weren't in any position to go in for an all-out war with China, It's just exactly like the President said, things he explained to us on the plane. He said, "There we had been at war with China and they would be committed, if we bombed on the other side of the Yalu River." He said, "I realize that may be where the planes are coming from, but it makes no difference, we cannot bomb the Chinese troops. There are three full divisions over there, there are over 300,000 men over there waiting to come over on this side, and if we bomb them, that's all they need. Now, all they have to do really is withdraw all the way to Peking." He said, " We haven't got the Air Force or anything else to expend the atomic bombs on supply lines, and we can't draw our supply lines from here." And he said, "Oh, yes, and you know our planes, or General MacArthur's planes hit Vladivostok, you know, Russia," and that was, oh, the President went right through the sky with that.

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[55]

the most outstanding men, and that's what caused the controversy with General [Dwight D.] Eisenhower and also with [Richard Milhous] Nixon. Nixon called Marshall a traitor, you know. Oh, boy, that ended that. We knew Nixon for what he was.

I can remember very, very vividly too, I was there at the time, in the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. George Allen was there, and Clark Clifford, General Vaughan, myself, President Truman, General Eisenhower, and I think Admiral Dennison, I'm not sure, was there. I remember on the davenport, General Eisenhower was sitting right there, and I was sitting right here, and the President over here, and we were all talking. They said, "How would you like to be President, General Eisenhower?" Just kibitzing you know.

"Oh brother, that's not for me. No, indeed," he said, "I wouldn't,"--you know, he really backed down off of it. And then President Truman--I don't know what they were sparring for really at the time, maybe to find out what he really was. Was he a Democrat or Republican, or what party he was.

[56]

because in the Army you can't be partisan one way or the other, it's not allowed. So, they had a little sparring match on that. By sparring match I don't mean vicious, but I mean a little like chess playing, and innuendos, you know, questioning this, questioning that, and then getting the meaning between the lines. Follow me there? It was interesting. General Eisenhower personally is a real fine gentleman, or was a very fine gentleman, really, I enjoyed knowing him. But as a President, that's something else, we won't go into that.

Now, anything else you have in mind?

STILLEY: In the President's memoirs, he states about going to Wake Island. He says that the reason they arrived early, or at such and such a time, was that there were crosswinds or something, and that they arrived at the island early before the prearranged time, so they waited until that time and then landed. And when they landed there was MacArthur and he greeted the plane and then they

[57]

went on. This is what he explains in his memoirs. Can you explain, or was this the story that was told at that time?

GRAHAM: I don't recall that, but I know we had crosswinds, but the crosswinds that we had were just out of Honolulu. They weren't immediately coming into Wake Island. No, that was the first story that General MacArthur's plane came up with. And now the second reason I do not know, but it varied from the first explanation and that's the reason that President Truman then gave him a direct order, "Get that thing out of the air." But that's a good explanation as far as that's concerned, but it wasn't that simple. It wasn't crosswinds that held us up.

STILLEY: You know, when I read that last week, and when you told me, I just couldn't understand why he would put this in his memoirs and six years later when he was talking to Merle Miller he repeated exactly the same thing that you did.

GRAHAM: Actually though, there's something in this book

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of Merle Miller's--I haven’t read this whole book--but there is a certain thing that I've been asked about. That's one thing in Merle Miller's book--now as a man of 80 years of age, he was not the man, he did not have the same sharp intellect and celerity that he had when he was in office. There are no two ways about that, and you cannot in any way take out of context, I mean certain reactions here that he had as a President of the United States. I have been with him on many, many, many occasions and never, ever have I ever heard him say really a derogatory thing, I mean like in Merle Miller's book he said, "General MacArthur is a dumb so and so." He always said and maintained he was a brilliant man. He had the highest grades at West Point, he was an outstanding student, he was an outstanding officer, he was an outstanding cadet, and he has done a job in Asia like no one else could do, in his estimation; and he praised him for it, absolutely. But he said, "He has to learn to follow orders just like anybody else does."

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No, I never, ever heard him say a derogatory thing like, "He is a dumb so and so," like he's quoted in the book. Now, what he would have said as a man of 80 years of age, versus that, I cannot testify to, because I was not there at the recording of Merle Miller's book.

Later in life, you know, as a man of near 90, you're not so sharp, your celerity of thought and sharpness of wit is not, although he was always good-natured, believe me right up to the last end. I remember there in bed he looked up and said, "Doctor, we're going to have one heck of a fight, aren't we?" He said, "You'll do your best I know that." But he was clear of mind, but still his mind was not sharp, not at all, and he was wandering in those days, too. That's when I saw the tensions of his past office and the weight of the tremendous taxation of his past duties that was weighing on him, what he thought then.

STILLEY: In 1953 when he was ready to leave the White House, in his book Mr. Citizen he mentions a certain exercise and taking care of himself, and he said,

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Graham has promised me to live 20 more years," and he said, "at that time I was 68." Do you think that you had any ESP or--because he did live to be 88, twenty years after that time.

GRAHAM: Oh, I shan't comment on my ESP, but I had full confidence in him living. The same as I had confidence in my father's living.

HILL: What changes did you notice just before--not when he was 80 years of age--but when he came back to Independence from living at the White House? What changes were made let's say in the fifties, when he was once again a citizen?

GRAHAM': Well, in the fifties he was still sharp. It began more generally in his seventies. The reflections, the thoughts, and the decisions, I note many, many things there I won't comment on at this particular time. But it was very definite, although he would read voraciously, I mean just read tremendously even at that time. He still enjoyed reading, but you could tell the way that is often said, and he didn't want to really retire, as far as retirement. We've often said, "It's too

[61]

bad you cant be used in Senatorial fashion or something, some way," and that is the reasons, too, he'd be in his office there taking care of the business of the day. He'd take off, he'd see a group of school kids, he'd get up and take them through the Library himself, and explain things to them.

I know I came in there one day when he had a group of Boy Scouts and he was saying, "See that beautiful sword there with all those diamonds in it?" He said, "I don't know, my wife, Bess, will probably use those some of these days." He said, "You know, my doctor brought those over here for me from Arabia. All the way from Arabia." And I did. King Saud gave them to him. But oh, there are so many facets of that.

See, I haven't cared to write anything, or write any books because personal things, personal matters, the illnesses and idiosyncrasies of man I don't think should be delved into to a good extent from the physician's standpoint. I can say that I honored him, I revered him. He was a great

[62]

man, and kind, genteel; and he was one of the most stubborn men I have ever known, morally, spiritually, everyway, and believe you me. He said, "I'm not one to wear my religion on my cuff either." And that was true too, he practiced it; and he practiced it a lot better than some of those that preach it.

STILLEY: Do you recall the assassination attempt on the President?

GRAHAM: Yes, very, very vividly. I had been down to the White House that morning and he was staying at the Blair House at the time because the White House was being repaired. You know, the time when he thought the bathtub was going to fall through the ceiling most any time and he said, "If it ever does fall with me in it I hope it's in the middle of a DAR meeting." But he was living at the Blair House at the time, and I left there early morning to get out to Walter Reed by 8 o'clock, and then suddenly I got the call. You see, I had a buzzer on at all times, "Come down to the Blair House immediately."

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So I dashed down there, and there I found one policeman who was killed. He was a policeman, incidentally, whom I had operated on at one time there in Washington, a real fine young man; and another policeman that was shot and maimed for life. I mean he had some paralysis. Our great Secret Service did a splendid job, as far as that's concerned; but the President was not perturbed at all. I mean he was hurt because men had been killed over him, or over his office. But disturbed? Upset? Frightened? No, not a bit. That's all there is to it. He said, "There's no fuss as far as I'm concerned, but these other men, it's a shame." Boring was there -Boring hit this one man I know. Boring was a Secret Service agent, Dorsey was there, and two others I recall, but as far as the shooting is concerned, the President was perfectly calm at all times. Does that cover that adequately?

I remember very well, it was right there on 16th Street, or right off 16th Street It was on Pennsylvania Avenue, really, and the Secret Service

[64]

had a little outpost there, right in front of the Blair House.

HILL: Was the President pretty well satisfied with his administration, or were there things that he would like to have done that he hadn't got done?

GRAHAM: Absolutely, he was satisfied at all times. Now, it was asked of him once, "Mr. President, haven't you ever made a bad decision?"

He said, "I certainly have."

"What do you do about it?"

He said, "Well, I think it over, I back up and I make another one." That's it. I thought that was the cleverest answer that I heard him make. Sure, he made mistakes, and then he corrected it. He admitted it, he made another decision to cover for it.

HILL: Was there any great thing that he wanted to get done that he didn't get done as President? Like was there something he wanted to initiate that he didn't?

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GRAHAM: He was quite proud of the Truman Doctrine, I know that. I mean he was very enthusiastic about that, and they went over that time and time again. The Atlantic Treaty. Now, any one program that he hadn't accomplished, no, I don't think so.

Now about the matter of health insurance. That was the first time when it became obvious to me that the American Medical Association, or the doctors as a whole, were not active as a group. If they were active they were diametrical opposites, they couldn't come to a conclusion, and just as President Truman said, "They are more obstinate than the farmers." He said, "Believe you me, I guess they are all busy taking care of the sick people the way they should, but," he said, "we must have some type of national coverage, or national insurance." So he asked the medical profession and the president of the American Medical Association at the time, to come out with a program, or a doctrine, or something that he could follow, and he asked them that repeatedly. I was one of his emissaries. Now after we had

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already made a stand, and after he had made a stand towards national security for say such as national insurance or social security and all, then it was too late. The doctors came out then with a fourteen point program, so-called. But the water was already over the dam then, and they should have come out with that a long time before they did; but he could not get the American Medical Association to act, act in any way or manner for what the people were demanding at the time.

STILLEY: Did he ever ask you for advice on the medical insurance aspect?

GRAHAM: Not for advice, I won't say, no. He just would ask me what I thought of it and certain suggestions. I was certainly opposed to Governmental interference per se in a socialistic form of medicine, but--and he knew how I felt there--but he didn't consider it socialism per se either, but he said, "There are too many individuals, poor people who are yet uncovered." He said, "Our older people, our insurance companies can shut them off

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like that when they get to be 75 years of age, and when they got to be 80 years of age and they have lost their fighting power, and they've lost their power to rebut or to fight against an in justice."' He said, "We must have something to protect these people with, medically, and hospitalizations and all. But," he said, we do not want it to be a bureaucracy."

Allen, George, 55
American Medical Association, 65-66
Anderson, Clinton P., 47
Atomic bomb, Hiroshima, 24-25
Augusta, U.S.S., 15
Austria, German annexation of, 8

Berlin, Germany, 4, 7-9
Blair House, 62-64
Boring, Floyd, 63
Bradley, Omar N., 54
Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany, 9
Brannan, Charles, 47

China, participation of in Korean War, 52-54
Churchill, Winston, 17
Clifford, Clark M., 22, 38
Connelly, Matthew J., 41-42

D-Day, World War II, 1-2
Dennison, Robert L., 35, 38, 55
Dhahran Air Base, Saudi Arabia, 28

Eisenhower, Dwight D., 55-56
Elms Hotel, Excelsior Springs, Missouri, 23

Faisal, King of Saudi Arabia, 26
Foskett, James K., 35, 38
Frederick the Great, 9

Gallu, Sam, 19
Goebbels, Joseph, 8
Goering, Herman, 8
Graham, Wallace H, background, 1-2, 4

Hannegan, Robert E., 22, 38-39
Hassett, William D., 43
Hitler, Adolf, 8

Ibn Saud, King of Saudi Arabia, 26, 29-30, 61

Japan, atomic bombing of, 24-25

Key West, Florida, 33, 47
Korean War, 52-53

Landry, Robert B., 35, 38, 49
Little White House, Potsdam, Germany, 9

MacArthur, Douglas, 48-52, 54, 56-58
McMann, Alphonse, 10
Marshall, George C., 54-55
Miller, Merle, 57-58, 59

National health insurance, 65-67
Nixon, Richard M., 55

Pearson, Drew, 36
Potsdam Conference, 3, 9, 17
Presidential campaign, 1948, 21-23

Rosenman, Samuel I., 43
Ross, Charles G., 42
Rusk, Howard A., 10

Saudi Arabia, 26-28, 61
Secret Service, U.S., 6, 23, 63
Stalin, Joseph V., 17
Stuttgart, Germany, 2, 17
Symington, Stuart, 39

Tempelhof Airfield, Potsdam, Germany, 4-5
Truman, Bess Wallace, 31-32
Truman Doctrine, 65
Truman, Harry S.:

• • assassination attempt on, 62-63
    Eisenhower, Dwight D., and, 55-56
    evaluation of as President, 64-65
    Graham, Wallace, doctor patient relationship, 19-21, 29-31, 45
    Graham, Wallace, selects as personal physician, 1, 3, 11-16
    health and activities after retirement, 59-61
    high moral standards of, 32-33
    history, knowledge of, 46-47
    Israel, support for Statehood of, 22
    Japan, decision to drop atomic bomb on, 24-25
    Korean War, concern over Chinese intervention in, 52-54
    MacArthur, Douglas, and, 49-52, 56-59
    mail from the public, attentive to, 43-44
    national health insurance, in favor of, 65-67
    poker player, as a, 33-34, 37-38, 41
    Presidential campaign of, 1948, and, 21-23
    profanity, use of, 19
    Wake Island Conference, attends, 48-53, 56-57
• Truman Library, 61
  Truman, Martha Ellen, 44-45

  Vaughan, Harry H., 9, 13, 26, 34, 36-40, 41, 44, 48, 51, 55
  Vinson, Fred M., 40

  Wake Island Conference, 1950, 48-52, 56-57
  Wallace, Madge Gates, 31-32
  Walter Reed Hospital, 7, 18
  Willoughby, Charles, 51

  Yalu River, Korean War, 53, 54

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