FROM:
THE HON.
SIR PETER RAMSBOTHAM KCMG

BRITISH EMBASSY

WASHINGTON, D. C. 20008

TELEPHONE: (202) 462-1340

PERSONAL

9 December 1974

The Honorable
Henry A Kissinger
Secretary of State
Department of State
Washington DC

Before you leave for Brussels I would like you
to know how moved we all were, especially Mary Soames,
by the tributes you paid to her father. We were
struck by the significant use you made of Churchill's
speeches in his old age, with their relevant message
for our own troubled times. That you and Nancy were
able to be with us on Saturday set the seal on an
evening we shall never forget.

HAK

ADDRESS BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE AT THE CHURCHILL
CENTENARY DINNER ON SATURDAY, 7 DECEMBER 1974, GIVEN
BY THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR AND THE WOODROW WILSON
INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS AT THE RESIDENCE
OF THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR

Mr Speaker, Mr Ambassador, Distinguished guests,

I am in a difficult position, since I did not know
Sir Winston, but I have admired him all my life. And I asked
myself, after I was handed a commemorative speech draft by
the Department of State, what I might say that would be
significant. And it seemed to me that the only meaningful
thing I could say - I could talk about - is to speak to you
extemporaneously about what Winston Churchill means to those
of us who attempt to practice, inadequately, by comparison to
him, the art of statesmanship today.

And one has to begin by asking oneself how it is that
this son of the Victorian Age, who grew up before the First
World War, is more relevant to us today than most of our
contemporaries. What is it that he did and said that moves
us so in our time?

As far as I am concerned, it is not only because he led
his people and all of civilisation in a victorious war, for
no British Statesman would have had another choice. But it
is that his convictions, his style and his nobility make us
all proud to have been his contemporary. In our time, which
is confused by detail and obsessed by difficult choices, of
which it knows all the parameters and few of the purposes,

/it is

[c]

it is well to remember a heroic leader, who was willing to
walk alone and who illustrated the profoundest problem of
leadership; which is not intelligence, since most leaders
are of roughly equal intelligence; and it is not technical
skill, which can easily be hired; but it is to have a vision
of the future and the courage to walk towards it.

Peoples learn only from experience. They know only
when it is too late to act. But their leaders must act as
if their intuition were already experienced, as if their
vision were the truth. If they get too far ahead of their
contemporaries they may find themselves isolated. If they
confine themselves to the experience of their contemporaries,
they doom themselves to irrelevance. Winston Churchill knew
much isolation, but he was *never* irrelevant.

And I would like to follow some of the remarks that
were made by Sir Christopher about, not what Sir Winston did
before the war and during the war, but about his vision of the
period after the war, because his foresight was as unfailing
then as it had been throughout his life.

He understood, having just emerged from a desperate war,
that the most overwhelming problem that mankind faced was the
problem of peace. In 1945 he wrote: "The bomb brought peace,
but men alone can keep that peace and henceforward they will
keep it under penalties which threaten the survival not only
of civilisation, but of humanity itself. In these years we

/must

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[10]

in defence of those causes which we hold dear. The orders I sent to the Congress of the United States in a dark hour in 1941, to walk together, in majesty and peace."

And, as Sir Christopher pointed out, just as he was not a little Englander, he was also not confining his inspiration to the English-speaking people. He, who had fought Germany in Europe in two wars, was the first leading statesman to call for a united Europe which knew no victors or vanquished; in which all the little children in this tormented world may find themselves not victors nor vanquished, but the heirs of all the treasures of the past; and masters of all the signs, the abundance, and the glory of the future.

And it is a measure of our contemporary travail that the agenda which was sketched by Sir Winston in 1945, 1946 and 1947 is still unfulfilled. The problem of peace has still eluded us. Indeed its definition is still disputed. The unity of Europe has not yet been achieved and the Atlantic Community has remained illusive. And the measure of our success still remains the fulfilment of Sir Winston's wishes.

But if perchance we should succeed, a generation too late, to achieve his inspiration, he would be with us still, because we would still need and remember his style of leadership. We would still remember that here was a leader who knew who he was and who did not need success to define his values. He did not need power to measure his quality and he knew his

/worth

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[L.C]

worth regardless of approbation. He wrote once: "the only guide to a man is his conscience. The only shield to his memory is directitude and sincerity of his action. It is very imprudent to walk through life without this shield, because we are so often mocked by the failure of our hopes and the upsetting of our calculations. But with this shield, however the fates may play, we march always in the ranks of honour."

This theme of honour and nobility recurs through all the speeches and all the writings of Sir Winston, because he knew that all people live by a sense of continuity; that they must treat challenges as an elevation of their spirit and not as a technical issue to be overcome by tactics.

"When danger is far off," he wrote once, "we may think of our weakness. When it is near, we must never forget our strength."

And in 1940 he said: "these are not dark days. These are great days - the greatest that our country has ever lived.

And we must all thank God that we have been allowed to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race."

He understood that it matters not only *that* things are done, but *how* things are done. And therefore he showed man of what he is capable; and he demonstrated that cathedrals are not built by saints, that politics become insoluble only when it is purely tactical.

And therefore he fulfilled his life and our future in

/words

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words that he wrote nearly 70 years ago. "What is the use of living", he wrote in 1917, "if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone. How else can we put ourselves in harmonious relation with the great varieties and consolations of the infinite and the eternal. And I avow my faith that we are marching towards better days. Humanity will not be cast out. We are going on; and already behind the distant mountains is the promise of the sun."

Thank you very much.

OFFICE OF THE COMMONWEALTH SECRETARY-GENERAL
MARLBOROUGH HOUSE·PALL MALL·LONDON SW1

PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL

May 7, 1976

Just a brief word as you come to the end of
your African visit to say how much I valued the opportunity
of talking with you in London as you started out. I
have naturally followed events closely. I hope you found
our conversation of some value. For my part, I was
greatly encouraged by our talk and by the positive and
wholly constructive character of you statement in Lusaka.
I am certain that your discussions with Presidents in the
spirit of those sentiments and commitments will be of
enduring value. It was an auspicious beginning; there
is even greater need now for us all to make use of the
opportunities it has helped to provide.

My visit to Malta confirmed the view I expressed
to you in London that a meeting with Dom Mintoff, the Prime
Minister of Malta, would be well worthwhile. He is deeply
immersed in the problems of the Mediterranean and brings to
them perceptions which are bound to influence the course
of events in that area. He greatly values an opportunity
of sharing his thoughts with you - thoughts which I
believe will be entirely constructive. I hope you can,
in the very near future, accept his invitation to spend
a day or two in Valletta which, though it has changed
greatly since the days when the Knights of St. John held
sway in their island fortress, nevertheless remains a
critical element in Mediterranean stability.

....... 2

H.E. Dr. Henry Kissinger,
Secretary of State
Department of State
Washington D.C.
U.S.A.

[L]

Dr. H. Kissenger

2.

May 7, 1976

I leave tomorrow for Lagos. Please be assured
of my continued friendship and good will.

With warm personal regards and good wishes.

Shridath S. Ramphal

TELEPHONE: (202) 462-1340

12 November 1974

The Honorable
Henry A. Kissinger
Secretary of State
State Department
Washington DC

I have pleasure in enclosing an invitation to a dinner on
7 December which Dr James Billington of the Woodrow Wilson
International Center and I will be hosting together, to celebrate
the centenary of the birth of Sir Winston Churchill, honorary
citizen of the United States.

Sir Winston's grandson, Winston Churchill MP, and Sir Christopher Soames and his wife, who is Sir Winston's daughter, are coming over from Britain for the occasion; and we hope that one or two of the most distinguished British political and military figures of Churchill's era will also be able to attend. On the American side, we have invited many of those who either knew or worked with Sir Winston during the war, or were connected with his visits to the United States. I should also mention that we have sent an invitation to the President, who has indicated informally that he may be able to come at least for part of the evening.

As far as I know, this will be the only celebration of the
centenary to take place in the capital city of the United States;
and we are expecting wide publicity, in particular for the speeches.
We do hope that you and Mrs Kissinger will be able to join us that
evening; and that you would agree to be a speaker. It will be an
occasion for reminding the peoples of the United States and Great
Britain how they stood resolute together against great odds, such
as again confront the world today.

CONFIDENTIAL

Dear Henry

I quite understand about your arrangements to stay in London on 17 February. We can keep Dorneywood for another time. As you will be going into London anyway, I suggest we have our dinner there at Admiralty House. The Prime Minister will join us for dinner. We could still have it early at, say, 1930 for 1945 (I understand you arrive at Heathrow at 1820) and so, if you wanted, you could go straight there from the airport. Perhaps your people could confirm that this is convenient for you.

All good wishes for the success of your current trip.
I am keeping my fingers crossed.

CONFIDENTIAL

CONFIDENTIAL

[LC]

Dear Henry,

Many thanks for your message of 1 September which I have just received. Hearty congratulations. We all owe you yet another debt. I am particularly glad that you will not weary in well doing but intend to pursue the Syrian-Israel end of the problem. I am sure that is right. Warmest regards.

Jim

CONFIDENTIAL