Interwoven

The stage was the nation. Just before the President stepped to the foreground, there was a commotion in the wings. But John L. Lewis, even with a well-timed gesture of patriotism, did not detract from the fundamental importance of what the President had to say. Although speaking directly to the miners, the President addressed himself in a broader sense not to individuals or to groups but to the nation.

He said that the American people have accomplished a "miracle of production" but that the war is not over, and that every ounce of production pressure must be continuously exerted to win it. He said that "interrupted effort" gambles the lives of American fighting men overseas and the prospect of victory itself. To the miners he offered a guarantee, that the cost of living would be held down for necessities and that union privileges would be preserved. Finally he reiterated his faith that "the spirit of the nation is good."

Twenty minutes before, Lewis had ordered the miners back to work. By setting up a fifteen day limit for further negotiations perhaps he emphasized the impermanence, perhaps the save-faced-ness of his bridled patriotism. His performance, in either case, was not anti-climaxed but transcended by executive expression of a national aim. Without belittling the part of tiny strands and small threads, the President successfully emphasized the whole fabric of the nation.