Two days after the inauguration, Truman presided over the Senate for the first time. He received an ovation, and when the moment was right, he smacked a gavel to begin the proceedings. The gavel was said to be carved from a tree planted on the Capitol grounds by George Washington. One day later, January 23, Roosevelt left for Yalta with his entourage, where the group would meet with the Soviets and the British in what would turn out to be the most controversial of the secret Grand Alliance conferences. All of Roosevelt’s trusted advisors would attend, from Jimmy Byrnes to Harry Hopkins,
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