The Library of CongressExhibitionsChurchill Exhibition
Churchill and the Great Republic
Interactive Exhibition About the Exhibition Read More About It Acknowledgements Text Version
INTRODUCTION
TIMELINE
THEMES
  Forebears and Family
Warrior for Empire
Visits to America
American Presidents
The Communicator
The Politician
World War II
Cold Warrior
The Long Sunset
OBJECTS
Cold Warrior
The Iron Curtain
Though out of office in Britain in the late 1940s, Churchill retained huge prestige and influence on the international stage. In March 1946, at the encouragement of President Harry Truman, he traveled to Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, to speak. His speech was a call for closer Anglo-American cooperation in the post-war world, but it is now best remembered for its warnings about the threat of Soviet expansionism, eloquently captured in the phrase "Iron Curtain."
Related Objects
Iron Curtain Speech
Acme Telephoto. On the Campus Grounds, 1946
Old Friends In A New Role
During his second premiership (1951-55) Churchill struggled to initiate a summit meeting with Stalin's successors in the Kremlin. He felt that strong negotiation might obtain an end to the nuclear arms race and establish détente in the Cold War. In this goal he was frustrated, partly by his own failing health, partly by the opposition of President Dwight Eisenhower and other Western leaders who favored a harder line against communism and the Soviet Union, and partly by the new Soviet leaders who resisted détente.
Related Objects
Za Prochnyi mir! Protiv Podzhigatelei Novoi Voiny! [For a stable peace! Against those who would ignite a new war], 1949
Acme. Old Friends Get Together, 1951
The Library of CongressExhibitionsChurchill Exhibition