He thought for a moment.
"It seems like he's starting to think about his ticket."
Glancing at his wife, he added:
"But I'm not confident about it. My background is too thin—and there are many others more qualified than me..."
Looking at her husband's deep insecurity, Mrs. Truman challenged him:
"Harry, what if... what if you're exactly the kind of person President Roosevelt needs?"
Her words startled him. Then suddenly, he looked like a man who'd just had a lightbulb turn on over his head.
"Yes... that's it. That's exactly it! He's running for a fourth term—why would he pick a rival as his running mate?"
Suddenly, Truman thought of all his peers in the party—those with impressive résumés and high prestige. Each one of them wanted to be VP, not to assist Roosevelt, but to build momentum for their own future White House runs.
But Roosevelt? He could run a fifth time, or a sixth… all the way until he either died or was thrown out by the public.
