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In November 1948 Harry Truman was reelected President of the
United States. Dan Weggeland and I were the only two Democrats we
knew in the entire building. Dan and I greeted each other the day after
the election with great joy, but Dan immediately warned me to keep our
attitudes secret. Many Republicans were stunned at the elections results.
I knew one fellow in Berkeley who was so upset that he couldnt even
go to his business that day.
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a miscarriage. Laurine immediately took care of our kids for a few days.
We were disappointed at the miscarriage, but Jean recovered from the
event rapidly and we had a happy Christmas.
There had been a rumor in the fall that the company was going
to move its headquarters from San Francisco to New York, but it had
been denied. However, in February it was announced that the company
headquarters would be moving to a new building that was leased, 505
Park Avenue, New York City. The company had also leased a large new
apartment building in Westchester County within commuting distance
to New York City. We prepared to go to New York. We arranged to pick
up a new Plymouth automobile at the plant in Detroit, which we would
then drive to New York. We sold our house in Berkeley for $9,500,
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were pleased.
About two weeks before we were to leave, George Wood, who
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be willing to go to Saudi Arabia for about three months. He advised
that Bela Barnes, the Manager of Organization and Compensation there,
would be leading a major study aimed at cutting back on American em-
ployees there. Up until the spring of 1949, oil companies could sell
everything they produced; then productive capacity exceeded demand,
so production was going to be cut back and employment as well. I told
Mr. Wood I would be willing to go, though this would obviously require
some adjustments since we had sold our house. He asked, Arent you
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will agree to it.
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