THE PRESIDENCY: Tenth of June

The Presidential train raced south through the rich red -amp; green foothills of Virginia. Inside, President Roosevelt made the last few changes in the speech of a day that sped into history. One hour before his train left Washington, Benito Mussolini declared war on Great Britain and France.

A light rain began as the train neared Charlottesville. The President relaxed; grave and pale when he entered the train, the decision that he had made seemed to strengthen him. It had been a week of swift decision: he announced the release by executive order of Navy planes which, to be resold to the Allies, were flown at once to Buffalo, en route to Canada; by the same device he had made available more than 500,000 Lee-Enfield rifles, machine guns, ammunition, 755. But the great strain of the week had been his last-minute efforts to prevent Mussolini's attack. He smiled and waved when the crowd at the Charlottesville station hailed his arrival. Then, through the streets of quiet Charlottesville, he drove to the Memorial Gymnasium of the University of Virginia, to don his cap amp; gown and face the graduating class to deliver his speech of the tenth day of June.