Tag: Harold Macmillan

jaw-jaw
President John F. Kennedy (L) meets with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, Hamilton, Bermuda, 22 December 1961. (Photo by Robert Knudsen. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, public domain)
“Jaw to Jaw” Versus “Jaw-Jaw”: Supermac Still Owns the Latter

“Jaw to Jaw” Versus “Jaw-Jaw”: Supermac Still Owns the Latter

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“Jaw-Jaw” be-jaws the dialogue (from 2008):

On 27 June 1954, Churchill was quot­ed as say­ing “jaw-jaw is always bet­ter than to war-war.” (William H. Lawrence, “Churchill urges Patience in Cop­ing with Red Dan­gers,” The New York Times, page 1; and Wal­ter Tro­han, “‘Vig­i­lance and Time’ Asked by Churchill,” Chica­go Dai­ly Tri­bune, page 1. Did Churchill say this? —M.D.

No. From my Defin­i­tive Wit of Win­ston Churchill, page 37:

“Meet­ing jaw to jaw is bet­ter than war.” —1954 Com­mon­ly mis­quot­ed as ‘Jaw-jaw is bet­ter than war-war,’ an expres­sion coined four years lat­er by Prime Min­is­ter Harold Macmil­lan, on a vis­it to Australia.…

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secondhand
Churchill debating for the negative on the resolution “That in the opinion of this House the present Government is unworthy of the confidence of the country,” Oxford Union, 1 March 1907. Secretary Hallett is seated at far left, President Talbot on the raised dais, Viscount Wolmer in the chair to his left. (This fine framed print from the Illustrated London News is offered by Media Storehouse. See http://bit.ly/2S1JlNE)
Secondhand but Valid: “If you can speak in this country…”

Secondhand but Valid: “If you can speak in this country…”

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The Eng­lish-Speak­ing Union posed a ques­tion which illus­trates the prob­lem of sec­ond­hand quotes. That is, some­thing Churchill said which is not in his pub­lished canon. The quote is: “If you can speak in this coun­try [Britain], you can do any­thing.” It was a con­cise cel­e­bra­tion of the British right to free speech. The ESU has it on their web­site. But is it verifiable?

In 1966, the ESU Philadel­phia Branch host­ed an exhib­it of my Churchill bio­graph­i­cal stamp col­lec­tion at the Philadel­phia Nation­al Bank. It was the first pub­lic appear­ance of what­ev­er lim­it­ed Churchill knowl­edge I then had, my “awak­en­ing” as a Churchillian.…

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Europe
Churchill and Eden, 29 June 1954. With by Canada Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent (L) and External Affairs Minister Lester Pearson (R). Rockcliffe Airport, Ottawa. (Library & Archives Canada, reproduced with permission)
Churchill Red Herrings: On a Federal Europe and “Keep England White”

Churchill Red Herrings: On a Federal Europe and “Keep England White”

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"Keep England White" is not a direct quote, nor did the words ever appear in public. Also, Macmillan followed it with an exclamation mark, which could mean that Churchill said it in jest. Ask yourself: Would any astute politician, even then, seriously propose this as a campaign slogan?

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Randolph Churchill
Stour House, East Bergholt, visited on the 2006 Churchill Tour of England. We were the guests of the present owners, who have maintained its stately beauty. Randolph’s strong room, which once housed the Churchill Archives, is behind the blacked-out windows at left. (Photo by Barbara Langworth)
Present at the Creation: Randolph Churchill and the Official Biography (2)

Present at the Creation: Randolph Churchill and the Official Biography (2)

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“Ran­dolph Churchill: Present at the Cre­ation,” is tak­en from a lec­ture aboard the Regent Sev­en Seas Explor­er on the 2019 Hills­dale Col­lege Cruise around Britain, 8 June 2019. Con­tin­ued from Part 1.

Randolph Churchill Postwar

Out of the Army and Par­lia­ment in 1945, and divorced from Pamela in 1946, Ran­dolph Churchill led a “ram­pag­ing exis­tence,” his sis­ter Mary wrote. “He always had lances to break, and hares to start.” He was loy­al and affec­tion­ate, but he “would pick an argu­ment with a chair.”

In 1948 he mar­ried June Osborne and fathered his sec­ond child, Ara­bel­la.…

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Trade
Fishing for a shilling: Churchill, President of the Board of Trade, the ardent free trader in 1908, when different countries produced vastly different stuff—like the taxi, which I think is a Renault.
Churchill and Free Trade: That was Then, This is Now

Churchill and Free Trade: That was Then, This is Now

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On Free Trade and tariffs

The Hud­son Insti­tute  econ­o­mist Irwin Stelz­er penned an inter­est­ing arti­cle on trade: “Trump girds for War with EU.” I sent it around to col­leagues, prais­ing it for prop­er­ly attribut­ing an alleged Churchill quote:

No one doubts that Trump is gear­ing up to launch a tar­iff bat­tle with the Euro­pean Union. For one thing, he is set to sign a deal end­ing the trade bat­tle with Chi­na, and would not be fight­ing a two-front war should he take on Europe which, he tweet­ed last week, “has tak­en advan­tage of the U.S.…

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Roberts
Admiring but not uncritical, Roberts’ book is a masterpiece. To paraphrase Simon Schama, it is a Churchilliad, and Andrew Roberts is its Bard. (Cartoon by David Low on WSC’s 80th birthday.)
“No Cutlet Uncooked”: Andrew Roberts’ Superb Churchill Biography

“No Cutlet Uncooked”: Andrew Roberts’ Superb Churchill Biography

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Andrew Roberts, Churchill: Walk­ing with Des­tiny. New York, Viking, 2018, 1152 pages, $40, Ama­zon $25.47, Kin­dle $17.99. Also pub­lished by the Hills­dale Col­lege Churchill Project. For Hills­dale reviews of Churchill works since 2014, click here. For a list of and notes on books about Churchill from 1905 cur­rent­ly through 1995, vis­it Hillsdale’s anno­tat­ed bibliography.

“No Cutlet Uncooked”

He lies at Bladon in Eng­lish earth, “which in his finest hour he held invi­o­late.” He would enjoy the con­tro­ver­sy he still stirs today, in media he nev­er dreamed of. He would rev­el in the assaults of his detrac­tors, the ripostes of his defend­ers.…

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“Churchill’s Secret”: Worth a Look

“Churchill’s Secret”: Worth a Look

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Churchill’s Secret, co-pro­duced by PBS Mas­ter­piece and ITV (UK). Direct­ed by Charles Stur­ridge, star­ring Michael Gam­bon as Sir Win­ston and Lind­say Dun­can as Lady Churchill. To watch, click here. 

Excerpt­ed from a review for the Hills­dale Col­lege Churchill Project.

PBS and ITV have suc­ceed­ed where many failed. They offer a Churchill doc­u­men­tary with a min­i­mum of dra­mat­ic license, rea­son­ably faith­ful to his­to­ry (as much as we know of it). Churchill’s Secret limns the pathos, humor, hope and trau­ma of a lit­tle-known episode: Churchill’s stroke on 23 June 1953, and his mirac­u­lous recov­ery. For weeks after­ward, his faith­ful lieu­tenants in secret ran the gov­ern­ment.…

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RML Books

Richard Langworth’s Most Popular Books & eBooks


Winston Churchill, Myth and Reality

Churchill by Himself

Churchill in His Own Words

Churchill and the Avoidable War

The Definitive Wit of Winston Churchill

The Patriot’s Churchill

Triumph Cars - The Complete Story
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