The New York Times Book of World War II, 1939-1945

by The New York Times

  By The Associated Press.

  WARM SPRINGS, Ga., April 12—President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s last words were:

  “I have a terrific headache.”

  He spoke them to Comdr. Howard G. Bruenn, naval physician.

  Mr. Roosevelt was sitting in front of a fireplace in the Little White House here atop Pine Mountain when what was described as a massive cerebral hemorrhage struck him.

  The President’s Negro valet, Arthur Prettyman, and a Filipino messboy carried him to his bedroom. He was unconscious at the end. It came without pain.

  Dr. Bruenn said that he saw the President this morning and he was in excellent spirits at 9:30 A.M.

  “At 1 o’clock,” Dr. Bruenn added, “he was sitting in a chair while sketches were being made of him by an artist. He suddenly complained of a very severe occipital headache (back of the head).

  “Within a very few minutes he lost consciousness. He was seen by me at 1:30 P.M. fifteen minutes after the episode had started.

  “He did not regain consciousness, and he died at 3:35 P. M. (Georgia time).”

  NEEDED MORE WEIGHT

  Mr. Roosevelt arrived at Warm Springs March 30. He had been underweight and his doctors wanted him to take it easy to see if he could regain the poundage at which he felt comfortable.

  Rumors had been heard the last few days that the President was not picking up as much as his doctors would have liked.

  He received reporters last Thursday and, in the presence of Sergio Osmena, president of the Philippine Commonwealth, told of his desire to grant full independence to the islands by autumn.

  Mr. Roosevelt also outlined ambitious post-war plans for American participation in the Western Pacific to prevent further Japanese aggression.

  He said that the United States and the other United Nations must accept trusteeships over Japanese-mandated islands, build new naval and air bases and help the Philippines rebuild, economically, after the commonwealth becomes a self-governing nation.

  REPORT WAS TO BE HELD UP

  Reports of this news conference were to have been withheld for security reasons until Mr. Roosevelt returned to Washington.

  The President had planned to stay here another week, then he was to return to the Capital and spend one day before taking a train to San Francisco to open the United Nations Conference on International Organization.

  This was Mr. Roosevelt’s second stay here in four months. He spent nineteen days here only last November–December.

  White House reporters had recently noticed his gray pallor, and it had caused considerable comment among them.

  Mr. Roosevelt’s voice also had become weak in recent months, and he frequently asked reporters to repeat their questions.

  This was attributable, according to those close to him, to a sinus leakage into the throat which caused slight constrictions.

  The death announcement was made in the center of the 2,000-acre foundation for polio treatment which the President helped found more than twenty years ago. That was before he began serving his first term as Governor of New York.

  APRIL 13, 1945

  Franklin Delano Roosevelt

  END COMES SUDDENLY AT WARM SPRINGS

  By ARTHUR KROCK

  Special to The New York Times

  WASHINGTON, April 12—Franklin Delano Roosevelt, War President of the United States and the only Chief Executive in history who was chosen for more than two terms, died suddenly and unexpectedly at 4:35 P.M. today at Warm Springs, Ga. and the White House announced his death at 5:48 o’clock. He was 63.

  The President, stricken by a cerebral hemorrhage, passed from unconsciousness to death on the eighty-third day of his fourth term and in an hour of high triumph. The armies and fleets under his direction as Commander in Chief were at the gates of Berlin and the shores of Japan’s home islands as Mr. Roosevelt died, and the cause he represented and led was nearing the conclusive phase of success.

  Less than two hours after the official announcement, Harry S. Truman of Missouri, the Vice President, took the oath as the thirty-second President. The oath was administered by the Chief Justice of the United States, Harlan F.

  Stone, in a one-minute ceremony at the White House. Mr. Truman immediately let it be known that Mr. Roosevelt’s Cabinet is remaining in office at his request, and that he had authorized Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius Jr. to proceed with plans for the United Nations Conference on international organization at San Francisco, scheduled to begin April 25. A report was circulated that he leans somewhat to the idea of a coalition Cabinet, but this is unsubstantiated.

  FUNERAL TOMORROW AFTERNOON

  It was disclosed by the White House that funeral services for Mr. Roosevelt would take place at 4 P.M. (E.W.T.) Saturday in the East Room of the Executive Mansion. The Rev. Angus Dun, Episcopal Bishop of Washington; the Rev. Howard S. Wilkinson of St. Thomas’s Church in Washington and the Rev. John G. McGee of St. John’s in Washington will conduct the services.

  The body will be interred at Hyde Park, N.Y., Sunday, with the Rev. George W. Anthony of St. James Church officiating. The time has not yet been fixed.

  Jonathan Daniels, White House secretary, said Mr. Roosevelt’s body would not lie in state. He added that, in view of the limited size of the East Room, which holds only about 200 persons, the list of those attending the funeral services would be limited to high Government officials, representatives of the membership of both houses of Congress, heads of foreign missions, and friends of the family.

  President Truman, in his first official pronouncement, pledged prosecution of the war to a successful conclusion. His statement, issued for him at the White House by press secretary Jonathan Daniels, said:

  “The world may be sure that we will prosecute the war on both fronts, East and West, with all the vigor we possess to a successful conclusion.”

  NEWS OF DEATH STUNS CAPITAL

  The impact of the news of the President’s death on the capital was tremendous. Although rumor and a marked change in Mr. Roosevelt’s appearance and manner had brought anxiety to many regarding his health, and there had been increasing speculation as to the effects his death would have on the national and world situation, the fact stunned the Government and the citizens of the capital.

  It was not long, however, before the wheels of Government began once more to turn. Mr. Stettinius, the first of the late President’s Ministers to arrive at the White House, summoned the Cabinet to meet at once. Mr. Truman, his face gray and drawn, responded to the first summons given to any outside Mr. Roosevelt’s family and official intimates by rushing from the Capitol.

  Harry S. Truman being sworn in as president of the United States by Supreme Court Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone less than two hours after President Roosevelt’s death.

  Mrs. Roosevelt had immediately given voice to the spirit that animated the entire Government, once the first shock of the news had passed. She cabled to her four sons, all on active service:

  “He did his job to the end as he would want you to do. Bless you all and all our love. Mother.”

  Those who have served with the late President in peace and in war accepted that as their obligation. The comment of members of Congress unanimously reflected this spirit. Those who supported or opposed Mr. Roosevelt during his long and controversial years as President did not deviate in this. And all hailed him as the greatest leader of his time.

  FLAG AT CAPITOL LOWERED

  As soon as the news became a certainty the White House flag was lowered to half-staff—the first time marking the death of an occupant since Warren G. Harding died at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, Aug. 2, 1923, following a heart attack that succeeded pneumonia. The flag over the Capitol was lowered at 6:30 P.M. Between these two manifestations of the blow that had befallen the nation and the world, the news had spread throughout the city and respectful crowds gathered on the Lafayette Square pavement across from the executive mansion. They made no demonstration. But the men’s hats were off, a
nd the tears that were shed were not to be seen only on the cheeks of women. Some Presidents have been held in lukewarm esteem here, and some have been disliked by the local population, but Mr. Roosevelt held a high place in the rare affections of the capital.

  The spoken tributes paid by members of Congress, a body with which the late President had many encounters, also testified to the extraordinary impression Mr. Roosevelt made on his times and the unparalleled position in the world he had attained. The comment of Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, a constant adversary on policy, was typical. “The greatest figure of our time,” he called him, who had been removed “at the very climax of his career,” who died “a hero of the war, for he literally worked himself to death in the service of the American people.” And Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan, another Republican and frequent critic, said that the late President has “left an imperishable imprint on the history of America and of the world.”

  MORE THAN MERE WORDS

  These were not mere words, uttered in conformity to the rule of “nil nisi bonum.” Mr. Roosevelt’s political opponents did what they could to retire him to private life, and their concern over his long tenure was real and grew as the tenure increased. But ever since his fourth-term victory in 1944 they have felt sincerely that it would be best for the country if he were spared to finish the great enterprises of war and peace which the country had commissioned him to carry through. And when they called his death a national and international tragedy they meant it.

  But this tribute paid, this anxiety expressed, they and the late President’s political supporters and official aides turned their hearts and minds again to the tasks before the nation. No one said “On to Berlin and Tokyo!” For Americans do not speak dramatically. But that is what everyone meant, and it was the gist of what President Truman said and did after the homely ceremony that made him the head of the State.

  When the dignitaries were assembled with Mr. Truman for this solemn purpose, there was a slight delay until his wife and daughter should arrive. Then the Chief Justice, using a Bible borrowed from Mr. Roosevelt’s office and speaking from memory, read the oath and the new President repeated it after him. Then he and Mrs. Truman called on Mrs. Roosevelt and, as the President said, went “home to bed.”

  He wore a gray suit, a white shirt and a polka-dot tie. His face was grave but his lips were firm and his voice was strong. He said through Mr. Early that his effort will be “to carry on as he believed the President would have done.” And he arranged to meet with the Army and Navy chiefs tomorrow, to assure them as tonight he did the people that his purpose is to continue the conduct of the war with the utmost vigor and to the earliest possible and successful conclusion.

  APRIL 13, 1945

  BRITAIN MOURNS AS FOR HER OWN

  People Feel They Have Lost A Personal Friend

  By CLIFTON DANIEL

  Special to The New York Times.

  LONDON, April 13—Great Britain mourned for President Roosevelt today as deeply as if he had been one of her own great sons.

  Shock, sorrow and fear were mingled in the faces of those who heard the news at midnight and afterward.

  With Prime Minister Churchill, who was deeply affected, the people of Britain felt that they had lost a gallant personal friend. In the coming days this country will do honor to his memory in a way that will leave no doubt of her gratitude. It is the gratitude of a people who feel that the President was, in spirit and in fact, one of their saviors.

  A great measure of the glory that Britain has felt in recent weeks in the triumph of Allied arms died with Mr. Roosevelt. No event since the military reverses of the summer of 1942 has left such a deep mark of depression on this country.

  FAITH PUT IN TRIUMVIRATE

  Ever since the catastrophe of Pearl Harbor, which caused scarcely more pain in London than the news of the President’s death, the British masses have put their faith and trust in the Allied triumvirate in which he was a partner.

  By contrast with the high hopes raised by Yalta, doubts have been assailing people and politicians of Britain in the past few weeks—doubts especially about the ability of the United Nations to insure future peace.

  As always, the people were beginning to turn again toward the “Big Three” to guide them out of their bewilderment. The loss of Mr. Roosevelt can, for the moment at least, only increase their concern.

  It had been hoped by many in this country that Mr. Roosevelt, in his projected address to the San Francisco World Conference would have breathed inspiration into an assembly the value of which is now questioned by many.

  Prime Minister Churchill had not retired when the news reached London just before last midnight. He had returned to No. 10 Downing Street only a short while earlier from a dinner party with British and Commonwealth delegates to the San Francisco conference.

  There was no immediate statement from No. 10 Downing Street. It was explained that the Prime Minister, as was customary, would speak from the Commons and that, moreover, Mr. Roosevelt was his personal friend.

  There was no doubt of the sadness which had fallen on the Prime Minister’s residence.

  HIS POPULARITY WAS WIDE

  His popularity as a war leader and statesman was second only to that of Mr. Churchill. His speeches were read and heard here with profound interest. The British people had faith in him as a defender of the oppressed, the inspiration of American military prowess, and the architect of the future.

  There was a genuine and widespread wish in this country to see the President here at the end of the war. There is no doubt that he would have received a public ovation the like of which no other man before him had ever received.

  Although the British have had their tiffs with their American Allies throughout the war, they never doubted that the President personally was their friend.

  They remembered tonight that it was he who sent British soldiers and Home Guards rifles with which to defend these islands in the grim hour when Britain stood unarmed against Germany in the summer of 1940.

  They felt that to him, as much as to any man, they owed such measures as the Lend-Lease Act which kept Britain from going hungry and unprotected in the direst period of her struggle to regain her strength.

  VICTORY SPIRIT DAMPENED

  Not only was Britain’s victory spirit dampened by the news of the President’s death, but also its hopes for the future were affected. Great reliance had been placed in Mr. Roosevelt, and his skill as an international negotiator as demonstrated so often in his meetings with Mr. Churchill and Marshal Stalin to help bring the world through the agony of reconstruction.

  Recalling the miracle whereby a peaceful nation was turned almost overnight into a great “arsenal for democracy,” the British had been hoping that the same genius would help bring order and assurance of future peace out of the chaos of a war-rent world.

  The British people do not know President Truman. They not only knew Mr. Roosevelt but felt that through Mr. Churchill, who called Mr. Roosevelt by his first name, they shared a personal friendship.

  APRIL 13, 1945

  Men at the Front Are Shocked by News

  By RICHARD J. H. JOHNSTON

  By Wireless to The New York Times.

  WITH THE SEVENTH ARMY, April 13—Profound shock and deep concern for the strength of the United States position at the peace table were expressed by our troops along this front in the early hours this morning when the news of President Roosevelt’s death was brought to them. It was with disbelief that many received the shocking report which was picked up on the radios and relayed by word of mouth from unit to unit up and down this front.

  “This is a great tragedy and it will put a new slant on the peace conference,” said Sgt. George Markel of Santa Ana, Calif.

  Expressing disbelief, Corp. Israel Goldberg of St. Louis declared:

  “I can’t believe it. Were people at home prepared for this or told about it?”

  “We are so close to victory it is a terrible time for
this to happen,” said Corp. Robert E. Viedt of South Dakota.

  Pfc. John Lynch, Brooklyn, declared:

  “I couldn’t believe such a thing could happen.

  “President Roosevelt was so important to us I can hardly believe he is gone.”

  American Soldiers in London read about the death of President Roosevelt.

  By Wireless to The New York Times

  GUAM, April 13—The deepest gloom settled over this advance headquarters of the Pacific Fleet as the word spread among Navy men that President Roosevelt had died suddenly at Warm Springs.

  The men of the fleet knew that they had lost not only their Commander in Chief but a good friend—because the Navy always was close to Franklin Roosevelt’s heart from his earliest years.

  Officers who heard the news from correspondents who had received the Army news flash by radio could scarcely believe it.

  “My God!” was the immediate and almost universal reaction, and most of them could say no more.

  The President had been expected to come to the Pacific war theatre next summer on one of his periodic war inspection visits.

  APRIL 14, 1945

  ORDERS ‘NO CHANGE’ IN FOREIGN POLICY

  President Promises There Will ‘Be No Break Of Continuity’

  By JAMES B. RESTON

  Special to The New York Times.

  WASHINGTON, April 13—President Truman authorized Secretary of State Stettinius to say today that there would “be no change of purpose or break of continuity in the foreign policy of the United States Government.”

  In a statement issued at the State Department less than twenty-four hours after the death of Mr. Roosevelt, and only a few hours after reports from Europe had indicated some anxiety over the future course of American foreign policy, Secretary Stettinius declared: