Chapter 38
5:15 AM
May 4, 1943
Room 310
The Willard Hotel
1400 Block of Pennsylvania Avenue, North West
Washington, D.C.
In the late spring of 1943, the 5:00 A.M. hour could be hectic at the Willard Hotel. The morning shift always arrived before 4:30. The cooks, waiters, chambermaids, janitors, and maintenance men went about their duties, preparing to assist their guests to greet each new day. Important leaders staying at the hotel got their morning start with the able assistance of the Willard staff and then spent their days making critical decisions about the course of the war.
After almost a century, the Willard dominated Washington’s political landscape. During the American Civil War, the Willard had been the hotel in Washington for the rich and powerful to congregate. In 1861,
