The Churchill Series - Jan. 25, 2006

(One of a series of daily posts on the life of Winston S. Churchill.)

A previous post described the April 9, 1963, White House ceremony at which Churchill was awarded honorary American citizenship. Age and ill health forced Churchill to remain at his London home, but he watched the ceremony via live satellite transmission.

The following day Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, a friend and colleague who had served in both of Churchill governments, sent him this warm and revealing letter:

Dear Winston,

I gave a dinner last night for General Lemnitzer. He used to be American Deputy to Field Marshal Alexander in the Mediterranean Campaign and is now the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. Field Marshals Alexander and Harding, Lord Mountbatten and General Strong all came.

We and others present unanimously agreed to send you a message recalling the days when we worked together under your leadership.

We wished also to express our delight at your versatility, which allows you to combine being a loyal British subject with being a good United States’ citizen.

Yours ever,

Harold Macmillan

It’s well known that in his last years Churchill’s memory faded and he lost interest in current events. Nonetheless, its jarring as well as poignant to realize Macmillian felt he needed to tell Churchill who was “now the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.”

We’ve also been told that until near the very end Churchill held on to much of what had always been one of his greatest strengths: a sense of humor. Macmillan’s closing sentence indicates he agreed with that assessment.