February 11, 2004 Symposium Investigates Winston Churchill's Relationship with "The Great Republic"

The Library of Congress, in conjunction with the Churchill Centre of Washington, D.C., will host a symposium, “Churchill and Three Presidents,” from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19, in the sixth floor Mumford Room of the Library’s Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue S.E., Washington, D.C. This event is free and open to the public.

On the occasion of the Library’s exhibition about Winston S. Churchill, “Churchill and the Great Republic,” which opened Feb. 5, this symposium investigates Churchill’s relationship with the United States and the results of that political and personal connection. It focuses on Churchill’s exchanges with three American presidents: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry S. Truman. William Ives, president of the Churchill Centre, will speak and six papers will be presented.

The first paper, “Churchill, Roosevelt and Empire,” will be presented by Piers Brendon, who will discuss Churchill’s commitment to the Empire and Roosevelt’s suspicion and opinion of it. Brendon has written a dozen books, including “Winston Churchill: A Brief Life,” and was keeper of the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge, England, for six years. He is currently writing a history of the British Empire.

Warren Kimball will present “Churchill and Roosevelt Joined at the Hip, by History, or Historians?” This paper focuses on the various stages of the two leaders’ relationship and the complex, and at times strained, moments in their partnership. Kimball is the Robert Treat Professor of History at Rutgers University in Newark, N.J., and the 2002-04 Mark Clark visiting Distinguished Professor of History at the Citadel in Charleston, S.C.

“Churchill Without Tears: President Truman and the Ambivalence of Anglo-American Relations” will be presented by Arnold A. Offner. His paper will discuss Truman’s cautious, post-World War II relationship with Churchill. Offner is Cornelia F. Hugel Professor of History at Lafayette College. He has written five books and is currently writing an essay on the ideology of U.S. security policy and a book on Hubert Humphrey and the decline of American liberalism.

David Reynolds will present “Churchill and Truman: The Struggle for History,” focusing on each man’s concern for his reputation in the eyes of posterity. Reynolds is professor of international history at Cambridge University and is completing a study of Churchill’s memoirs of the Second World War.

“Unequal Relations: Churchill and Eisenhower During the Cold War” will be presented by Klaus W. Larres. This paper will focus on Churchill and Eisenhower’s delicate balance of power. Larres was Henry A. Kissinger Professor in Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress in 2002-03 and is working on a book comparing transatlantic relations during the Cold War and the post-Cold War era.

John Ramsden will present the final paper, “Old and Dear Friends, Old and New Worlds,” about Churchill and Eisenhower’s mutual admiration and political partnership despite their dissimilar backgrounds. Ramsden is professor of modern history at Queen Mary, University of London, and director of the Graduate School in Humanities and Social Sciences. He is currently preparing a series of Churchill lectures to be published on a CD and is a member of the Churchill Centre Board of Academic Advisors.

The moderator of the symposium is James W. Muller, professor of political science at the University of Alaska at Anchorage, and academic chairman of the Churchill Centre. He is at work on a book on Churchill’s writings.

More information about the symposium can be found on the Library’s Web site www.loc.gov/exhibits/churchill/wc-programs.html. Information about the exhibition, “Churchill and the Great Republic,” can be found at www.loc.gov/exhibits/.

Another symposium dealing with recent scholarship on Winston Churchill will take place at the Library on June 1.

The exhibition will remain on view in the Northwest Gallery of the Library’s Jefferson Building until June 26. A 96-page soft-cover volume that accompanies the exhibition is available for purchase in the Library’s sales shop for $19.95. The accompanying publication and symposia were made possible by and produced in association with the Churchill Centre in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1995 as a nonprofit educational organization, the Churchill Centre encourages the study of the life and thought of Sir Winston Churchill and fosters research on his speeches, writings, and deeds.