Hold That Waistline

Before he became President, Harry Truman indulged in many a window-shopping ramble through Washington's streets. Confined to the White House, he soon developed jowls and trouble buttoning his suits. At 179 Ibs., he was 12 Ibs. over his best fighting weight.

Ever since the President returned from Christmas in Missouri, his personal physician, Colonel Wallace Graham of Kansas City, has kept him on a rigid reducing program. As soon after 5 p.m. as possible, the President pops into a sweatbox beside the White House pool, stews for a few minutes. Then he is let out to face a long, canvas-covered board, slanted at a 45DEG angle.

The President climbs obediently onto this contraption, puts his feet into straps, and, grunting as loudly as any man, bends down twelve times to touch his toes. This done, he splashes up & down the pool with his friends, comes out puffing, catches his breath while sitting under a sun lamp.

A rubdown ends the session, but the grim shadow of Dr. Graham lingers on through dinner. Noticeably smaller on Harry Truman's plate are the once-hearty portions of his favorites--steak, ham, fried chicken, and custard pie.

As companions in this minor misery, the President has Adviser George Allen (219 Ibs.) and Military Aide Harry H. Vaughan (228 Ibs.) Heavyweights Allen and Vaughan began their own reducing race Jan. 1, will end it on Valentine's Day, with the champion receiving $1 for every pound of his winning margin. Their referee is Harry Truman, whom they call their "fact-finding committee." The President was mercifully excused from the race, it was explained, because "he didn't have the ammunition"--i.e., pounds.

Latest bulletin from the Truman reducing studios: after labor and abstinence, the President discovered at week's end that he had gained two more pounds.

Last week the President also:

P: Added two Oak Leaf Clusters to Air Forces General Henry H. Arnold's Distinguished Service Medal--for creating and expanding the air corps program.

P: Prepared his annual State of the Union and budget messages to Congress, which went back to work this week.

P: Conferred with U.S. Steel President Benjamin F. Fairless and C.I.O. President Philip Murray in an attempt to break the Nation's strike jam (see Labor).

P: Nominated Rear Admiral Earle W. Mills, 49, assistant chief of the Navy's Bureau of Ships, to succeed retiring Vice Admiral Emory S. Land as chairman of the U.S. Maritime Commission.

P: Squired his wife and daughter to an American Newspaper Women's Club party, gave photographers a rare opportunity to show the nation how he looks in white tie & tails (see cut).

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