HISTORICAL NOTES: Nuff Said

(3 of 3)

The most unforgettable portrait in the diary, however, is that of the Roosevelt Cabinet in session. Wrote Ickes: "Perkins was at her worst on Friday at Cabinet meeting, and that can be pretty bad indeed. When her turn came, she took a long breath and started out on a 20-or 25-minute discourse. And, as usual, only the President listened to her. Harry Hopkins wrote me a note something to this effect: 'Elementary course in Government from four to five by Professor Frances Perkins.' Later, he passed this to Jesse Jones, who was sitting next to Perkins. I looked at Jim Farley on one occasion and discovered him with his eyes closed. Bob Jackson was nodding from time to time, and, at intervals, he and Morgenthau were joking about something. Hull sat with the air of an early Christian martyr, with his hands folded, looking at the edge of the table without seeing it or anything else. I think that he was totally oblivious as to what was going on. As usual. I studiously avoided being caught by Perkins' basilisk eye. Henry Wallace was contemplating the ceiling." The date was May 24, 1940. The Germans had burst through the Maginot line and were heading for Paris.