May 5, 2013

Finest Hour 151, Summer 2011

Page 14

Wit and Wisdom – Reflections on America


Churchill never criticized America publicly. Asked in 1944 if he had any complaints he replied, “Toilet paper too thin, newspapers too fat.” With close associates he was less reticent, yet he always maintained a decent respect for the motherland which claimed him as a son.

His prescription for a fraternal relationship “between the two great English-speaking organizations” was regularly expressed, and he never lost faith in America’s destiny or capacity for good. His greatest disappointment in old age, one of his closest colleagues confided, was that the “special relationship” never blossomed as he had wished. Surely he would be cheered by the recent Anglo-American collaborations—and those of the broader “Anglosphere” with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and, in the 21st century, India as well.

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Robert Pilpel, writing in Finest Hour, expressed the belief that Churchill’s American affinity began the day he first arrived in New York in 1895: “…a life which before 1895 seemed destined to yield a narrow range of skimpy achievements became from 1895 onwards a life of glorious epitomes and stunning vindications. Credit Bourke Cockran, New York’s overflowing hospitality, the railroad journey to Tampa and back, or the rampant vitality of a nation outgrowing itself day by day. Credit whatever you will, but do not doubt that Winston’s exposure to his mother’s homeland struck a spark in his spirit. And it was this spark that illuminated the long and arduous road that would take him through triumphs and tragedies to his rendezvous with greatness.”

This is a very great country my dear Jack. Not pretty or romantic but great and utilitarian. There seems to be no such thing as reverence or tradition. Everything is eminently practical and things are judged from a matter of fact standpoint. (1895)

I have always thought that it ought to be the main end of English statecraft over a long period of years to cultivate good relations with the United States. (1903)

England and America are divided by a great ocean of salt water, but united by an eternal bathtub of soap and water. (1903)

Deep in the hearts of the people of these islands…lay the desire to be truly reconciled before all men and all history with their kindred across the Atlantic Ocean, to blot out the reproaches and redeem the blunders of a bygone age, to dwell once more in spirit with them, to stand once more in battle at their side, to create once more a union of hearts, to write once more a history in common. (1918)

I felt a strong feeling of sentiment when I saw…that the Coldstream Guards and the United States Marines were standing side by side. It looked to me as if once again the great unconquerable forces of progressive and scientific civilization were recognizing all they had in common and all they would have to face in common. (1927)

We have slipped off the ledge of the precipice and are at bottom. The only thing now is not to kick each other while we are there. (1932)

I wish to be Prime Minister and in close and daily communication by telephone with the President of the United States. There is nothing we could not do if we were together. (1933)

The British Empire and the United States will have to be somewhat mixed up together in some of their affairs for mutual and general advantage. For my own part, looking out upon the future, I do not view the process with any misgivings. I could not stop it if I wished; no one can stop it. Like the Mississippi, it just keeps rolling along. Let it roll! Let it roll on full flood, inexorable, irresistible, benignant, to broader lands and better days. (1940)

Prodigious hammer-strokes have been needed to bring us together again….Still, I avow my hope and faith, sure and inviolate, that in the days to come the British and American peoples will for their own safety and for the good of all walk together side by side in majesty, in justice, and in peace. (1941)

The experience of a long life and the promptings of my blood have wrought in me conviction that there is nothing more important for the future of the world than the fraternal association of our two peoples in righteous work both in war and peace. (1943)

Great Britain and the United States all one? Yes, I am all for that, and you mean me to run for President? (1943)…There are various little difficulties in the way. However, I have been treated so splendidly in the United States that I should be disposed, if you can amend the Constitution, seriously to consider the matter. (1932)

There is no halting-place at this point. We have now reached a stage in the journey where there can be no pause. We must go on. It must be world anarchy or world order. Throughout all this ordeal and struggle which is characteristic of our age, you will find in the British Commonwealth and Empire good comrades to whom you are united by other ties besides those of State policy and public need. To a large extent, they are the ties of blood and history. Naturally I, a child of both worlds, am conscious of these. (1943)

Neither the sure prevention of war, nor the continuous rise of world organisation will be gained without what I have called the fraternal association of the English-speaking peoples…a special relationship between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States. (1946)

It is not a matter of whether there is a war with China or not, but whether there is a rift between Britain and the United States or not. (1951)

I have never accepted a position of subservience to the United States. They have welcomed me as the champion of the British point of view. They are a fair-minded people. (1951)

Let us stick to our heroes John Bull and Uncle Sam. They never were closer together than they are now…. (1953)

The British and American Democracies were slowly and painfully forged and even they are not perfect yet. (1954)

Never be separated from the Americans. (1955)

There is not much left for me to do in this world and I have neither the wish nor the strength to involve myself in the present political stress and turmoil. But I do believe, with unfaltering conviction, that the theme of the Anglo-American alliance is more important today than at any time since the war. (1956)

I am, as you know, half American by blood, and the story of my association with that mighty and benevolent nation goes back nearly ninety years to the day of my father’s marriage. In this century of storm and tragedy I contemplate with high satisfaction the constant factor of the interwoven and upward progress of our peoples. Our comradeship and our brotherhood in war were unexampled. We stood together, and because of that fact the free world now stands. (1963)

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