Either/Or

THE PRESIDENCY Either/Or

Sometimes it was hard to tell which Harry Truman to believe.

"The threat of aggression casts its shadow upon every quarter of the globe," he soberly reported to Congress last week. "The Soviet Union has dedicated itself to the destruction of democracy and everything which it represents, and is waging a grim struggle to make the entire free world slave . . . Moreover, her success in producing an atomic explosion has given [Soviet actions] new and frightening overtones that free nations cannot ignore."

These grave words accompanied a message to Congress asking for another $1.2 billion as the second-year installment on the military arms program for Europe and Asia. Two hours later Harry Truman faced his weekly press conference. Reporters found him all relaxed about foreign affairs. The world, he said chipperly, seemed closer to peace than at any time in the last five years.

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