THE PRESIDENCY: Fanatics' Errand

No dictator in his right mind would live in Washington's historic Blair-Lee House for a minute. Its severe, four-story facade rises almost flush with the sidewalk on broad, busy Pennsylvania Avenue. Its two entrances are only ten steps above street level. Unless the blinds are drawn, passers-by can peer up into its shutter-framed, white-curtained windows. But if Harry Truman had any misgivings for his safety when he moved into the old residence two years ago while the White House was being made over, he gave no sign of it. Only the Secret...