Churchill and America

Winston Churchill's blood was American. His father was of noble descent as was Winston who was born at Blenheim Palace. Winston Churchill's father was British but his rather feisty mother was born in the borough of Brooklyn, U.S.A. Winston first visited America when he was 21 on October 21, 1895. He was on his way to report the happenings of the Spanish War in Cuba. He was met in New York City by his mother's illicit lover Bourke Cockran who entertained Winston. Winston proceeded to Cuba to report on the hostilities in Cuba. Later in 1900, Winston went on a lecture tour of the East Coast and onto the Midwest in Chicago. Later during World War I Churchill recognized that the future of the English Speaking Peoples was determined in the actions of America during World War I. Without the help of America the Great War would have been lost. Churchill continued his visits to the U.S.A. His friendship with Charlie Chaplin and William Randolph Hearst continued in his so called Wilderness Years. His unfortunate accident in Manhattan in 1931 along with his loss of fortune in the N.Y.S..E. are indeed matters of legend. Later after the Battle of Britain, the meeting at Placentia Bay with FDR stirs the participants to a great Anglican-American Alliance of magical proportions. Down the road Winston seduces FDR in doing the Lend Lease. Further, FDR succumbs to help Great Britain in all of their efforts. At this point Winston was truly the number one Patrician of the free world. After the War Winston goes on to warn the world of the increasing Soviet menace. Winston was a true British Politician of the Imperial kind. But he was also of the American ilk!! Long live Winston!! 5 Stars no problem!!!

This is a brilliant book! I love well-written history, especially about Winston Churchill, one of history's great and truly interesting figures. In "Churchill and America" Martin Gilbert, Churchill's official biographer, proves himself, once again, a tremendously talented historian and writer. He describes Churchill and the British leader's love affair with America with passion and skill. He highlights Churchill's American roots (his mother was American) and his growing affection with the United States over the course of a life time. No interesting detail is overlooked. George Washington was part of Churchill's family pedigree. Three of his ancestors fought against the British in the American Revolution. And Churchill himself was an honorary American citizen, an honor of which he was immensely proud. Churchill first visited the United States in 1895, when he was twenty-one. "What an extraordinary people the Americans are!" he wrote to his mother. During both the First and Second World Wars he worked closely and effectively with his American counterparts to defeat Germany. His love and understanding of the United States and its people helped to ensure that the Allies emerged victorious, especially in WWII. His close relationship with FDR was seminal to that victory. He sought to ensure that Great Britain and America remained friends forever and cautioned his colleagues upon his retirement as Prime Minister: "Never be separated from the Americans."

I don't think it would be possible for Sir Martin to write other than a superb book about Churchill if he tried. And this latest volume is no exception. The only thing better than reading it is to hear the author, as I did recently at the National Archives, speak about the book and take questions. One of the most remarkable things about Gilbert is that despite the fact he has written so extensively on WC, he still manages to add something new or a novel perspective. I think if a single theme dominates the book, it is that WC fought a life-long battle against British anti-Americanism. In the mid-1930's, WC began using the expression "English-speaking Peoples," which was another device to build unity between the two countries. I had assumed the book would begin with WWI, but I was very wrong in that regard. Rather, Gilbert begins by looking at WC's parents, and particularly the American connections of his mother, Jenny Jerome. WC makes his first visit to America in 1895. Each visit thereafter (some 17 or so) is discussed, and an important bonus feature is an appendix containing maps of WC's various U.S. travels. But the book is about far more than visits. It is about the manifold way WC interacted with Americans over nearly 70 years, sometimes to his benefit, other times resulting in frustration. For example, WC always maintained that the U.S. refusal to enter the League of Nations played a major role in the rise of Nazism and the need to fight a second great war. There were also constant negotiations during and after both wars relative to British debt and the means of repayment. Gilbert is particularly effective in discussing the 1930's period when the European war was about to commence and how WC interacted with FDR in trying to secure necessary materials and induce the U.S. to join in the battle. The discussion of the "special link" between FDR and WC is acutely perceptive and much attention is devoted to it. A relationship full of affection and joint success, but also marred by fundamental disagreements, such as the priority of the cross-Channel invasion and whether Ike should race to beat the Russians to Berlin. The points of increasing stress between WC and the U.S. are interesting to say the least. Among the most pressing issues were: (a) how to treat Stalin; (b) intervening in Greece; (c) the puzzle of Poland; and (d) the priority of taking Prague. Always, there are disputes about the enormous wartime and postwar British debt and whether the Americans were trying to "skin" the Brits. There is no doubt that Churchill paid a steep price at home for his heavy reliance upon the "special relationship," and he also exasperated subsequent presidents Truman and Ike. Nonetheless, this is almost a love story--Churchill and his dedication to Anglo-American interests and dominance.

Winston Churchill was a remarkable man and Martin Gilbert, Churchill's official biographer, has spent at least thirty-six years chronicling the great man's life. Recounting the connection(s) between a British citizen and the United States might make thin gruel for anyone other than Churchill. But it was Churchill's perceptions and obvious love for America that may have saved the world or at least Europe from generations of tyranny. Churchill's first visit to the United States occurred in 1895. Even at 21, because of his family, Churchill was introduced to the powerful of the day. Five years later Churchill was being handsomely compensated for lecturing across the United States. In an era before broadcast radio and television, Churchill was a celebrity known for his reporting and heroism. A few years later, Churchill was a member of the British government, working closely with his American counterparts on aspects of strategy against the common WWI enemy. America, always America. Churchill correctly foresaw and understood the growing power and influence of the United States in the world. He cultivated his relationships with powerful Americans and was a frequent visitor to the US. During the 1930s, Churchill was one of the few who saw the need to confront Hitler, a stance that left him a political outcast until the opportunity for peace had passed by and Churchill became a wartime Prime Minister. It is during this period that the fullness of Churchill's love for the United States and his belief in its power and capabililities becomes clear. Churchill knew that Britain could not survive without US involvement in the European war. America, at the time, manifested the same political blindness it would evidence again over Vietnam and Iraq: a refusal to confront evil. Churchill's popularity in America, built over the previous four decades; his writings; his outright appeals to the decency of the American people and, of course, his capacity for establishing productive relationships with Americans such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bernard Baruch. Gen. George Marshall all helped to bring the United States around to Churchill's thinking. Churchill was far more than a merely decent man. He believed in freedom, though his idea of freedom had more than a bit to do withd nationality: some people simply weren't fully ready for freedom in Churchill's eyes. But America and the United Kingdom shared a special relationship and should, because of their common beliefs, essentially rule the world in order to make it a better place for all. Churchill was an idealist and this shows in his voluminous correspondence with various Americans. There is a huge amount of detail in this volume. In lesser hands than Gilbert's, there might be a risk of boredom or lost direction. But Gilbert never fails. He paints what is a love story between Churchill and America, of a man whose love for freedom had him standing against legions of detractors. To read Churchill's

There is no one better to document Sir Winston's love affair with America than Martin Gilbert. Churchill's influence in American-European relations can still be felt 40 years after his death. This book is a guilty pleasure for any fan of Anglo-American history.