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FDR
Convinced that Anglo-American solidarity offered the best hope for the survival of liberty, Churchill carefully cultivated a close personal relationship with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt, in turn, admired the courageous Prime Minister and delighted in Churchill's conversational brilliance and puckish sense of humor. Their friendship helped the United States and the United Kingdom forge an alliance that won a world war and prepared the way for an enduring peace. After Roosevelt's death, Churchill told the British Parliament that he had been "the greatest American friend we have ever known, and the greatest champion of freedom who has ever brought help and comfort from the new world to the old." |
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Winston Churchill to Franklin Roosevelt, October 6, 1939 |
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Winston Churchill, January 20, 1941 |
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Extract from speaking notes for broadcast by Winston Churchill, February 9, 1941 |
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Winston Churchill. Broadcast speech, February 9, 1941 |
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King George VI to Winston Churchill, July 25, 1941 |
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Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, August 9, 1941 |
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Religious Services at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, August 10, 1941 |
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Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Proposed declaration, August 12, 1941 |
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"Churchill im Weissen Haus" [Churchill at the White House], no date |
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Truman
In President Harry S Truman, Churchill found a firm American ally for the trials of the Cold War. After the collapse of Nazi Germany, Churchill's anti-Communist sentiments and fear of Soviet hegemony mirrored those of the President. He later described Truman as "a man of exceptional character and ability, with an outlook exactly along the line of Anglo-American relations as they had developed, simple and direct methods of speech, and a great deal of self-confidence and resolution." |
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Eisenhower
During World War II Churchill and Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had worked closely and harmoniously to defeat Hitler's armies in Europe. After Eisenhower became President in 1953, they would again be leading the West in the Cold War, but separate national interests and different approaches to common problems would occasionally lead to areas of disagreement between the two men as they tried to produce a free and peaceful world. Despite these differences, however, Eisenhower and Churchill would continue to retain the respect and affection they had for each other. |
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Kennedy
Although Joseph P. Kennedy, U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom at the outbreak of World War II, had been harshly critical of Winston Churchill, his son John F. Kennedy, the future President, became a great admirer. In the younger Kennedy's mind, Churchill was the embodiment of courage, and his career was the epitome of democratic leadership. As he conferred honorary American citizenship upon him in 1963, President Kennedy said: "In the dark days and darker nights when England stood alone--and most men save Englishmen despaired of England's life--he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." |
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