The Library of CongressExhibitionsChurchill Exhibition Find in Churchill Exhibition Pages Exhibition Web Pages All Library of Congress Pages

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 Extract from notes for Winston Churchill's address to U.S. Congress, December 26, 1941 Churchill addressed the United States Congress for the first time on December 26, 1941. These are two key pages from his notes for that address annotated by Churchill. He began by joking about his own Anglo-American parentage but built up to a dramatic condemnation of the Japanese attack, linking the British cause with that of the United States and asking, "What kind of people do they think we are?" Object Details: Annotated typescript. Churchill Papers, Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, U.K. (147) © Crown copyright 1941, Archival Reference # CHAR 9/153/29, 42 Related Theme: Visits to America Transcript: 26 December 1941 Speech to Congress First page End Paragraph 1: . . .both branches of Congress End paragraph 2: I wish indeed that my mother . . .whose memory I cherish could have been here to see. Start paragraph 3: By the way . . . Last page Last paragraph: Japan; When ( . . . ? ) those of China, and also the Russian menace which hangs over Japan, it becomes still more difficult to reconcile Japanese action with prudence or even sanity. What kind of people do they think we are? Is it possible that they do not realise that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they & the world will never forget.

The Library of CongressExhibitionsChurchill Exhibition Find in Churchill Exhibition Pages Exhibition Web Pages All Library of Congress Pages