Almost every book written on the presidency of Harry S. Truman includes, if indeed it does not begin with, an account of that afternoon of 12 April 1945, when the vice-president, having just left the Senate chamber, where he had been presiding, headed for the Capitol Hill office of House Speaker Sam Rayburn to join a small group of Democratic leaders who met there regularly to open a bottle and “strike a blow for liberty.” “Before I could even begin a conversation with the half a dozen fellows that were there,” Truman later recalled, “Sam told me that [White House aide] Stephen Early had called and wanted me to call right back. I did, and Early said to come right over to the White House.” Minutes later, at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, Truman was taken directly to Eleanor Roosevelt's study. “Harry,” Mrs. Roosevelt said, “the president is dead.” There was a long pause as Truman struggled to collect himself. Then he asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?” Mrs. Roosevelt gently replied, “Is there anything we can do for you? For you are the one in trouble now.”