That Smile

On his first night in Canada, Harry Truman was guest of honor at a state dinner given by Governor General Alexander at Rideau Hall. All the Cabinet members (and their wives) were there except Health Minister Paul Martin. As Prime Minister Mackenzie King introduced the absent member's handsome wife to the President, he elaborately explained that Mr. Martin, as the youngest Cabineteer, had been delegated to keep the Government represented in the House of Commons. Said Harry Truman to Mrs. Martin: "No minister could be better represented."

By morning the President's gallant remark was all over Ottawa. With six little words, Harry Truman had taken the starchy formality out of an occasion which had been forbiddingly billed as the first state visit by a U.S. President to Canada.*

The Red Carpet. From the start, the President had been as informal as he could. For his red-carpet reception at a railway siding on the outskirts of the city, he wore striped pants with a grey, double-breasted jacket which contrasted with the heavy morning coats of his greeters. On the seven-mile drive to Government House he waved his black Homburg and flashed easy smiles for the thousands of Ottawans lining the streets. There was no fiesta air. Ottawans are many emotional miles distant from Mexico City. There was not even as much enthusiasm as there had been for Champion Figure Skater Barbara Ann Scott (TIME, March 17). But there were subdued cheers and polite handclapping.

Next morning, after an early walk in the grounds of Rideau Hall (bright with tulips and lilacs), the President ran through the ceremonial part of his visit. At the U.S. Embassy he received staff members and their families. Then, as the carillon clanged out The Missouri Waltz, the President, now in frock coat and silk hat, walked across the street to the Parliament Building with Mackenzie King. The House of Commons chamber was full. Bess Truman, in the Speaker's Gallery, smiled down from under a huge white hat.*

Truman Doctrine (II). Harry Truman was a little hoarse from a cold picked up in Kansas City. But he had warm words for his audience, for the French in Canada, for Canada as a whole and for U.S.-Canadian relations. Time & again he was interrupted by the desk-thumping of M.P.s and handclaps from the deskless Senators.

Then the U.S. President spoke, out to the world, restating and clarifying U.S. foreign policy. Said he: "We seek a peaceful world, a prosperous world, a free world, a world of good neighbors, living on terms of equality and mutual respect. . . . We intend to support those who are determined to govern themselves in their own way, and who honor the right of others to do likewise. We intend to aid those who seek to live at peace with their neighbors, without coercing or being coerced, without intimidating or being intimidated. We intend to uphold those who respect the dignity of the individual. . . ."

The President had been interrupted 37 times by increasing applause before he reached his punch line: "We count Canada in the forefront of those who share these objectives and ideals. With such friends we face the future unafraid." The speech over, Prime Minister King rose to lead the assembly in "Three cheers and a tiger." The members were so excited, they gave four and a half cheers, and forgot the tiger.

Toast to Themselves. At a parliamentary lunch at Chateau Laurier, Harry Truman rose for an impromptu speech. He thanked his hosts for his red-carpet welcome and tigerish ovation. Then he raised his glass of port in a toast: "The Parliament of Canada." The M.P.s broke into 0 Canada, and followed it with five verses of Alouette, while Harry Truman beat out the rhythm on the table.

Officially, that was all there was to the state visit. The Trumans had dinner quietly that night with Mackenzie King, while daughter Margaret sang solos for the 24 guests at an Embassy party and chimed in as the group sang Down by the Old Mill Stream. About 11 o'clock, Harry Truman joined the party. The President played a polka, Paderewski's Minuet in G, part of a Mozart sonata and some waltzes.

Can't Take Them with You. The last day of the visit had been set aside, at the President's specific request, for whatever he wanted to do. It turned out to be a 45-mile drive downriver to the swank Seigniory Club, where he had lunch and held a greensward press conference. Perhaps his speech the day before had seemed too obviously aimed at Russia. So he broadened the appeal: the U.S. wants friendship with every nation, he said, emphasizing the word every.

Scarlet-coated Mounties had taken over the President's protection from the U.S. Secret Service. As they clustered around, and Staff Sergeant C. W. Graham asked for the Truman autograph, it looked like a scene from Rose Marie. Before he got on the train that night, Harry Truman thanked the Mounties with an expansive: "I'd like to take them with me."

In his three days across the border the President had conducted no state business, but had done much to foster good-neighborly relations--just what he wanted. In his quiet way, the President had scored a big hit. Said a telegraph clerk: "That smile kind of gets you. He ought to come back often." clanged out The Missouri Waltz, the President, now in frock coat and silk hat, walked across the street to the Parliament Building with Mackenzie King. The House of Commons chamber was full. Bess Truman, in the Speaker's Gallery, smiled down from under a huge white hat.-

Truman Doctrine (II). Harry Truman was a little hoarse from a cold picked up in Kansas City. But he had warm words for his audience, for the French in Canada, for Canada as a whole and for U.S.Canadian relations. Time & again he was interrupted by the desk-thumping of M.P.s and handclaps from the deskless Senators.

Then the U.S. President spoke, out to the world, restating and clarifying U.S. foreign policy. Said he: "We seek a peaceful world, a prosperous world, a free

* It had the dignity of a state visit because Prime Minister King had invited the President in the name of the Governor General (one chief of state to another). Franklin Roosevelt made official (but not state) visits to Kingston in 1938 and Quebec in 1943.

* One notable absentee: the President's host, Viscount Alexander. Not even for such an occasion as this could the House of Commons allow a king or his viceroy in its hall.

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