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Tongue in cheek, the President asked his press conference: Had anything happened at home while he was away? The answer was a roar of laughter.

The Homecoming. That morning the President had returned to Washington from Cairo and Teheran. Tanned and refreshed, he came back dressed in the most informal attire he has yet worn in the White House--a loud blue plaid shirt, loud blue-striped necktie, tan pullover sweater, and grey sharkskin suit.

One & all, Democrats & Republicans, had been glad to see him. In effect, Washington had been without a leader for 36 days--and the Government bigwigs were like old harness horses suddenly free in a pasture. They didn't know what to do.

Answers & Question. The press conference that afternoon was jammed; reporters waited 45 minutes for the President. As newsmen stood with pencils poised, the President casually announced that he did not have much news, that he was saving most of his report on his travels for a Christmas Eve broadcast to the Armed Forces. Anything left over he might tell Congress in his January state-of-the-union speech. At this point the disgusted Washington reporters, who had been scooped about Teheran and Cairo until they were raw, almost threw away their pencils. The President then, almost too casually, announced the so-called "plot" to assassinate the Big III at Teheran. This made satisfactory headlines for a few editions.

Then he emphasized his firmest intention: that the U.S. can, will and must do business with Russia. He was asked: What was Stalin like? The reply: Something like me--a realist.

The Grind Begins. Next day Franklin Roosevelt got a quick fill-in from his Democratic leaders in Congress. Presumably they told him of the series of defeats the Administration had suffered, of Congress' angry mood, of the almost secessionist temper of Southern Democrats (TIME, Dec. 20). Now he knew he was back in Washington.

The threatened railroad strike got AA priority (see p. 18).

But this was only the first of many serious problems. He must forthwith come to grips with Congress on subsidies, on taxation. He must devise a new strategy on the inflation line, and submit his 1944 budget. He must soothe ruffled feelings in WMC and WPB, and--eventually--venture into the hot race-relations fight between his Fair Employment Practice Committee and Southern railroads (see p. 18). He must also, incidentally, save his own party from breaking in two. And on the hottest of all issues, the soldiers' vote bill, he must work out some fruitful settlement with Congress as soon as possible.

But if the President felt that his schedule was overwhelming, he did not show it.

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