Churchill's American Network
Winston Churchill and the Forging of the Special Relationship
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- £15.49
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- £15.49
Publisher Description
A revelatory portrait showing how the famed British statesman created a network of American colleagues and friends who helped push our foreign policy in Britain’s favor during World War II
Winston Churchill was the consummate networker. Using newly discovered documents and archives, Churchill’s American Network reveals how the famed British politician found a network of American men and women who would push American foreign policy in Britain’s direction during World War II—while at the same time producing lucrative speaking fees to support his lavish lifestyle.
Stelzer has gathered contemporary local newspaper reports of Churchill’s lecture tours in many American cities, as well as interactions with leaders of local American communities—what he said in public, what he said at private meetings, how he comported himself. Readers observe Churchill as he is escorted by an armed Scotland Yard detective, aided by local police when Indian nationalists threaten to assassinate him, while he travels in deluxe private rail cars provided by wealthy members of his network; and as he recovers from a near-death automobile crash—with the help of liquor prescribed by a friendly doctor with no use for Prohibition.
The links in Churchill’s network include some of fascinating American figures: the millionaire financier Bernard Baruch; the railroad magnate, Averell Harriman, who became an FDR-Churchill go-between; media moguls William Randolph Hearst (and wife and mistress); Robert R. McCormick—who attacked Churchill’s policies but enjoyed his company—and Charles Luce, who made him TIME’s Man of the Year and later Man of the Century; and bit players such as Mark Twain, Charlie Chaplin, and David Niven.
It is no accident that Churchill was able to put these links together into an important network that served to his, and Britain’s, advantage. He worked at it relentlessly, remaining in close contact with his American friends by letter, signed copies of his many books, and by attending to their needs when they were in Britain. Many of these colleagues were invited to dinners at Chartwell and, later, Downing Street. Perhaps most importantly, Churchill’s network of American allies had Franklin Roosevelt’s ear while the president was deciding how to overcome opposition in congress to helping Britain take on the threat from Germany.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian Stelzer (Working with Winston) documents Churchill's pre-WWII visits to America in this thoroughly researched if disappointingly superficial chronicle. Stelzer recounts four of Churchill's trips, including a lecture tour from 1900 to 1901 on his Boer War experiences and a visit from 1931 to 1932 when his focus was on shoring up the British-American alliance. According to Stelzer, during these journeys Churchill cultivated a powerful and influential network of allies "to finance his lifestyle and to create a cadre sympathetic to Britain's policy needs." Drawing on "hundreds of rarely consulted press reports" from across the U.S., Stelzer provides lots of new details about Churchill's travels, but not many documented mentions of the impact of Churchill's socializing. (Though one such intriguing mention is a letter from a British diplomat to Churchill stating that his visit to William Randolph Hearst "produced wonderful and immediate results amongst those who... have been antagonistic toward us.") The result is a central hypothesis supported largely by supposition. (Discussing FDR's decision to support Britain before entering WWII, Stelzer writes that the president "undoubtedly checked informally with... members of Churchill's network," but provides no evidence.) Stelzer's recounting of Churchill's experiences in America—including when he was struck by a car—provides a more comprehensive picture of those visits than many biographies. Still, readers will be dissatisfied by the lack of in-depth analysis.