Roosevelt and Churchill: Comradeship During Crisis
By: Holley Snaith
Tags: History, Politics, Government, Leadership, President

Despite this interruption in routine at the White House, Churchill’s visit was the reassurance that Americans were thirsting for during those dark days after Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt took advantage of this momentous time and invited Churchill to his December 23rd press conference. The packed Oval Office consisting of one-hundred journalists cheered when the short and stout prime minister stood on his chair for all of them to see. Relishing being the center of attention, he charmed each and every one of them effortlessly.

Roosevelt and Churchill speak with members of the press in the Oval Office on December 23, 1941. Photo: CNN

On a chilly Christmas Eve, both leaders attended the annual lighting of the National Christmas Tree and delivered much needed uplifting speeches to a crowd of 15,000 standing beyond the White House premises. In his speech, Roosevelt stressed the importance of taking time to observe Christmas during wartime, and he spoke of his reliance on faith by asking God to guide the Allies on the long road ahead. Acknowledging his “old and good friend,” the president spoke of the British people being role models during this tumultuous time, saying, “ He and his people have pointed the way in courage and in sacrifice for the sake of little children everywhere.”

Churchill talked of temporarily casting aside the worries of the world to “make for the children an evening of happiness in a world of storm.” Yes, there were difficult days ahead, said Churchill, but adults should too partake in the joys of Christmas. In his adopted homeland, Churchill became more beloved than Jolly Old St. Nicholas himself.

Lord Beaverbrook, the Minister of Supply, Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt attend a Christmas Service at the Foundry Methodist Church in Washington, December 25, 1941. Photo: AP

Christmas Day was bittersweet for both Churchill and Roosevelt. Churchill was an ocean away from his beloved Clementine and their children, and Roosevelt was spending his first Christmas without his adored mother, Sara. They were also bonded by the fact that their sons, like millions of others, were embarking upon harrowing military excursions, and another Christmas with them was not guaranteed. Fortunately, Churchill’s son Randolph and Roosevelt’s sons, James, Elliott, Franklin, Jr., and John, would all survive the war. Some in their inner circles, such as Roosevelt’s advisor and Churchill’s friend Harry Hopkins, could not count themselves as lucky.

Perhaps the single most defining moment of the trip for Churchill the statesman came on December 26th, when he delivered a salient address to Congress. Poignantly, he touched upon his American roots and how he wished his late mother, the American-born Jennie Jerome Spencer-Churchill, could have lived to see one of the “most moving and thrilling” experiences of her eldest son’s life. He talked of the long fight ahead but ended by saying he hoped the British and Americans would “walk together in majesty, in justice and in peace.” After receiving a thunderous applause, Churchill responded with his famous “V for Victory” sign.