Ronald Reagan Archives - Richard M. Langworth

Mr. Ivison: May we proclaim Trump no Churchill without slurring the latter?

8 June 2020 Comments 1 Comment

Mr. Ivison is right. And wrong.

John Ivison in Canada’s National Post makes the point: “Donald Trump is no Winston Churchill, and the comparison is ludicrous.” He refers to a June 3rd statement by the President’s press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany. (She compared Trump’s appearance at St. John’s Episcopal Church across from the White House to Churchill visiting the blitzed East End in 1940.)

I think from a purely historical point of view we can all agree with him. In 1940, Churchill wrote, “There was a white glow, over-powering, sublime, which ran through our Island from end to end.”…

Churchill Memories of the Mount Washington and Bretton Woods

20 May 2020 Comments 1 Comment

Readers reacted kindly to my essay on Alistair Cooke. I venture to add some private Churchillian moments at the Mount Washington Hotel at Bretton Woods. I sent these to still-living participants, who urged I publish them—with strategic edits to protect the innocent.

“I’ve been using microphones before you were born”

Commander Larry Kryske USN was our toastmaster for the 1988 Mount Washington Churchill dinners. I remember particularly his naval declaration after dinner: “The smoking lamp is lighted.” (How odd that sounds now! In my experience, group smoking stopped almost dead around 1990.) Larry sends this amusing memory of that night, 27 August:

During his address, Sir Alistair appeared to be having trouble with the mic.…