January 2019 - Richard M. Langworth

Churchill’s Prep for the “Iron Curtain” Speech 1946

31 January 2019 Comments 0 Comments

Q: Where did Churchill write the Iron Curtain address?

When we first moved to the United States we bought a home in New Canaan, Connecticut that had once been owned by Bernard Baruch and used has his get-away. We were told that, as he and Churchill were friends, Churchill had been invited by Baruch to stay there and it was there he wrote his Iron Curtain speech. We were never sure whether this was true or whether it was something a local real estate agent had dreamed up. There was another house down the road where George Washington was said to have slept on his way through!…

Origins: “I’ll kiss him on all four cheeks”

24 January 2019 Comments 1 Comment

Q: Churchill’s Kiss: A Cheeky Affair

I found myself using an alleged Churchill witticism I have long known, but could not find in your book, Churchill’s Wit: The Definitive Collection (2009). As I have it, Churchill was preparing to meet Marshal Stalin, and a diplomatic advisor said, “He will probably expect to kiss you on both cheeks.” “Oh, that’s all right,” said Churchill, “as long as he doesn’t want to be kissed on all four.” Can you verify this one?

My own main area of scholarly research is Samuel Johnson, another subject often misattributed. Good quote collections more than just the quotation and its source.…

Churchill and Texas: The Complete History

20 January 2019 Comments 2 Comments

Washington, after Pearl Harbor. Texas Reporter: "Mr. Minister [sic], can you tell us when you think we may lick these boys?" [Pause while someone explained to Churchill the meaning of the American slang, “lick.”] WSC: "If we manage it well, it will take only half as long as if we manage it badly." Texas reporter: "In one of your speeches you mentioned three or four of the [war’s] great climacterics. Would you now agree that our entry into the war is one of these, sir?" WSC: I think I may almost say [affecting a Texas drawl] Ah sho’ do!"