A delegation of civil rights leaders was filing into the Oval Office to push Franklin Roosevelt to embrace a radical, explosive concept: integrate the armed forces of the United States. Privately, Roosevelt thought it might be a good idea some day in the future. Today it was the last thing he wanted to do. It was the dawn of World War II, a national election was weeks away, he had many other battles to wage, and he had to buy time.

What Roosevelt's guests did not know was that the president was secretly recording them through a microphone hidden in his desk lamp, which connected to an experimental sound machine hidden in a padlocked chamber right under their feet. Roosevelt had just recorded a press conference, and the machine was still running.