Churchill's American Network

Winston Churchill and the Forging of the Special Relationship

Cita Stelzer

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Year: 2024
• Edition: 0
• eBook ISBN:
  9781639364862
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: Politics & International Relations

A revelatory portrait showing how the famed British statesman created a network of American colleagues and friends who helped push our foreign policy in Britain's favor during World War II Winston Churchill was the consummate networker. Using newly discovered documents and archives, Churchill's American Network reveals how the famed British politician found a network of American men and women who would push American foreign policy in Britain's direction during World War II—while at the same time producing lucrative speaking fees to support his lavish lifestyle. Stelzer has gathered contemporary local newspaper reports of Churchill's lecture tours in many American cities, as well as interactions with leaders of local American communities—what he said in public, what he said at private meetings, how he comported himself. Readers observe Churchill as he is escorted by an armed Scotland Yard detective, aided by local police when Indian nationalists threaten to assassinate him, while he travels in deluxe private rail cars provided by wealthy members of his network; and as he recovers from a near-death automobile crash—with the help of liquor prescribed by a friendly doctor with no use for Prohibition. The links in Churchill's network include some of fascinating American figures: the millionaire financier Bernard Baruch; the railroad magnate, Averell Harriman, who became an FDR-Churchill go-between; media moguls William Randolph Hearst (and wife and mistress); Robert R. McCormick—who attacked Churchill's policies but enjoyed his company—and Charles Luce, who made him TIME 's Man of the Year and later Man of the Century; and bit players such as Mark Twain, Charlie Chaplin, and David Niven. It is no accident that Churchill was able to put these links together into an important network that served to his, and Britain's, advantage. He worked at it relentlessly, remaining in close contact with his American friends by letter, signed copies of his many books, and by attending to their needs when they were in Britain. Many of these colleagues were invited to dinners at Chartwell and, later, Downing Street. Perhaps most importantly, Churchill's network of American allies had Franklin Roosevelt's ear while the president was deciding how to overcome opposition in congress to helping Britain take on the threat from Germany.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Note to the Reader Regarding Monetary Conversion
• Foreword
• Preface
• Chapter 1: 1895: New York and Bourke Cockran, Cuba, Whizzing Bullets, and Jennie and Her Network
• Chapter 2: 1898–1899: India, Sudan, and South Africa
• Chapter 3: 1900–1901: First American Lecture Tour, Part 1: Planning, Then Off to America
• Chapter 4: 1900–1901: First Lecture Tour, Part 2: Into the Hinterlands, the Other Winston Churchill, New York, and Home
• Chapter 5: Building the American Network, Link by Link
• Chapter 6: 1929: Westward Ho, Nibbling Some Grass, the Troupe Goes to Hollywood
• Chapter 7: 1929: Winston in Tinseltown, with Hearst at His Castle at San Simeon
• Chapter 8: 1929: Eastward Ho to Chicago, New York, a Lesson from Wall Street, and Home
• Chapter 9: 1931–1932: Stepping Off the Curb in New York, Meets a Car, and Recuperates in Nassau
• Chapter 10: 1931–1932: On the Road Again, Death Threats, Hunting Lecture Fees, and Policy Influence
• Chapter 11: 1931–1932: New York and the World Economic Crises, Washington to Woo Congress, More Cities in Which to Meet More Americans
• Chapter 12: 1931–1932: Chickamauga, Boston, a Radio Broadcast to Americans, and Home
• Chapter 13: 1932–1941: The Wandering Lecturer Returns to a Wilderness, Keeps His Network Intact, and Kisses Hands
• Chapter 14: 1932–1941: FDR, Luce, and Churchill’s Network Take on the Isolationists
• Epilogue
• Coda: In 1901, Churchill Wrote
• Photographs
• Appendices
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright