THE PRESIDENCY: For Bruises: Sunshine

Still bruised from his recent rows with Congress, Harry Truman last week turned his attention toward the next session of Congress. Between now and the middle of January, he said, at his week’s press conference, it is necessary for him to prepare three terrific messages, the State of the Union, the Budget and the Economic Report. And that would take every minute of his time.

After that it would be a busy year for Harry Truman, especially if he runs for re-election and sets off on whistle-stop campaign tours. This week White House staffers were abustle with preparations for a move to the Little White House at Key West, where, Harry Truman hoped, sun, sand and surf would provide both a message-writing mood and enough rest to prime him for whatever demands the next year might impose on his energies.

The presidential yacht Williamsburg would soon sail for Key West, and Truman expects to follow by air on Nov. 8. It will be the President’s first real vacation in almost eight months, and, if he sticks to the present plan for a five-week stay, the longest since he took office.

Last week the President:

¶ Presented George Marshall with the black leather chair he had used as Secretary of both State and Defense, and, Harry Truman hinted, might have to use again.

¶tjf Signed the $56.9 billion Defense Department appropriations bill, which was $700million short of the amount requested, if Signed a congressional resolution ending the state of war with Germany.

¶ Vetoed a bill to pay for cars for disabled veterans and was promptly overridden by the Senate.

¶Told the American Dental Association: “I still have . . . more teeth than most any other 67-year-old man,” and put in a plug for his compulsory health-insurance program.