journal of the churchill center and societies - Winston Churchill

the first $ 100 bond from Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau.
Donning a white suit and lighting a fresh cigar,
Churchill modeled what he thought the perfect costume
for the 50,000,000 Americans to whom Morgenthau
hoped to sell an extra $100 war bond. 38
As the war went on, Churchill was occasionally
upstaged. For example, in the newsreel footage of the 1943
Teheran Conference, Churchill appeared as only one of the
Big Three leaders, seated alongside Roosevelt and Joseph
Stalin. Churchill looked tired as he slumped over in his
chair, while Roosevelt sat next to Stalin, smiling and chatting
with the Soviet leader. In contrast, Churchill seemed
almost left out. Relying mainly on hindsight, some historians
have used this particular episode to support the idea
that Churchill had been demoted to junior partner and
that Britain had become a second rate power. It is true
that, by 1943, the British war effort had been overshadowed
in the U.S. media by the growing might of the
United States and the horrendous fighting in the Russian
theater. Yet Churchill's warrior image remained largely intact.
He had already secured the admiration and gratitude
of the American people. He continued to be portrayed in a
positive manner and remained immensely popular. 39
On 8 May 1945, Churchill formally proclaimed
an end to the war in Europe. Though he called
for unity in the unfinished fight against Japan, it
was clear that Britain's coalition government was splitting
apart. Although Churchill's popularity was never in question,
there was a growing sense in Britain that postwar issues
required new approaches and solutions that the Conservative
Party could not provide. This sense began to
spread beyond Britain. Gradually, the American media
gained a better understanding of British politics and the
shifting mood of the electorate, although few commentators
predicted that Churchill would lose his job.
As the results of die British elections came pouring
in on July 26th, it was clear that Labour had won by a landslide.
After recovering from the initial shock, the U.S.
media attempted to put the results in perspective. It was
apparent that the overriding concern of the British electorate
was not Churchill but employment and the rebuilding
of the country. A reprint of an editorial from The Times
of London suggested that contact with U.S. soldiers had
impressed many Britons with the idea that a higher standard
of living could be reached if traditional class restraints
were replaced by more egalitarian practices. It was also explained
that Churchill's willingness to support the far right
in Italy, Spain, and Greece too closely resembled the old
Right: "Man of the Year," in
Time for 6 January 1941.
Ten years later Time named
Churchill "Man of the
Half-Decade. "A half century
on, Time declared
him an implacable
enemy of women's right!
and Gandhi.
Plus ca change...
Tory adventurism.^0
A popular
notion in
the United
States was that
the results signaled a repudiation
of the Conservative Party for the
practice of appeasement, which was blamed for leading to
war. Solace was taken in the fact that, unlike the United
States, the British electorate had to vote for a party, not a
leader, and that Churchill himself was reelected.
What later critics have called "the Churchill legend"
developed almost naturally out of Churchill's
achievements as a war leader and qualities as a statesman.
He not only led his nation through its greatest peril, but
came to embody British determination in sombre times.
By injecting his personality into his statesmanship, he became
a sensation in the U.S. media. More flamboyant,
witty, and candid than most politicians, he always made
good copy for reporters. He also carefully flattered the
United States and its citizenry, which enhanced his popularity.
He was adored by U.S. photographers who focused
their lenses on his cigars, walking sticks and V-signs, all of
which became Churchillian symbols. Although short,
bald, and overweight, the media transformed him, wearing
an assortment of suits and headgear, into an affable
figure. Finding it easier to generate public support for a
person rather than abstract ideas, the media latched on to
Churchill and made him larger than life. Their promotion
of Churchill cultivated the martial spirit and helped
prepare the United States to defend its interests.
It is an exaggeration to say that Winston Churchill
cast U.S. leaders under his spell, but it is clear that
through the American media, Churchill's legend charmed
the American people. He was such a dominating personality
throughout the war that, had he retired from public
life in 1945, he still would have remained a hero in the
United States. But Churchill's legend was to grow even
larger, with ramifications that have outlasted the man.
Footnotes overleaf...
FINEST HOUR 108/35