Then Truman said he was considering Byrnes for secretary of state. The head of the State Department was next in line for the presidency, and the current secretary, Stettinius, had come from the private sector. If Truman were to die or become incapacitated, he wanted a successor who had held public office, who had been elected by the American people to serve. And he trusted Byrnes, who had nearly twenty-five years’ experience in Congress. Besides, Byrnes, like Truman, had come from humble beginnings.
