It was a city unto itself, built to carry nearly two thousand sailors across oceans.

She felt envious of the people way up on the top deck—little specks from her vantage point—and what position they held to be allowed to stand so many stories above the crowd. Oliver was somewhere up there, having secured a press pass. He’d acquired a second one and invited Gladys to join him, but she turned him down, saying that she was going to watch it with “her girls” and the rest of the hoi polloi from down below. But Oliver promised a full accounting later. Would he get to visit its many chambers? The Missouri was supposed to be state-of-the-art, complete with a library, dentist’s office, and even a doughnut shop!

She expected a mouthful from Gladys, but for once, her friend was speechless.

“We’re just in time,” Dottie whispered into Margaret’s ear. “Isn’t that Senator Truman up there at the podium?”

Margaret shielded her eyes from the sun and squinted until she could see the main speaker. Indeed, it did seem to be the senator from the state of Missouri, his face familiar to them as a frontrunner for the vice-presidential ticket in the upcoming election. It was to be Roosevelt’s fourth term if he won again, and conventional wisdom predicted that his failing health might render him unable to complete his years. So the vice-presidential selection was more important than ever, as there was a good chance that whoever filled the role could very well take over as president.

Margaret’s father listened with rapt attention to CBS World News Roundup and, had he been a betting man, said that he’d put his money on Truman over the man who currently held the position, Henry Wallace. Conservative Democrats feared that a Wallace administration would be far too progressive, favoring labor and alienating the businessmen among the party.

She didn’t have a strong opinion either way, never having thought even a year ago that politics was something that affected her. But now she had the sense that it was a responsibility of adulthood that she needed to embrace and vowed as she stood there to start listening along with her father. The decision for the nomination was a month away when the party met in Chicago, so she had time to catch up. But if that all came about as her father predicted, she might be looking at a future president of the United States.

Just one more reason for her blood to rush with anticipation today.