Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. I don’t know whether you fellows ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me yesterday what had happened, I felt like the moon, the stars and all the planets had fallen on me. I’ve got the most terribly responsible job a man ever had.

Harry S Truman (1884-1972) US President (1945-1953)

Remark to reporters (13 Apr 1945)

On having become president the previous day, upon Franklin Roosevelt's death.