This week, a bust of Britain’s greatest leader was installed at the heart of the Capitol building. So why does the cult of Winston still hold Washington in thrall?
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Inside the Freedom Foyer: 'We shall get
the Americans in by showing courage and boldness and prospects of
success and not by running ourselves down,’ Sir Winston Churchill said
of winning US assistance in the war Photo: Getty Images
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This week, the elite of American politics gathered in Washington DC to unveil
a bust of Winston Churchill at the Capitol building. The rotunda where he
now sits immortalised in bronze, and looking a little perplexed, was renamed
the Freedom Foyer for the occasion. John Kerry, the Secretary of State,
listened as John Boehner, the leader of the House Republicans, gave a
passionate speech of dedication. “Ladies and gentlemen,” said Mr Boehner,
“this is one of history’s true love stories. Between a great statesman and a
nation he called 'The Great Republic.’ ” The famously sentimental Republican
wiped tears from his eyes as the crowd listened to a recording of Churchill
addressing Congress following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Afterwards, Roger Daltrey of The Who sang Stand by Me – a tribute, Mr
Boehner said, to “the best friend the United States ever had”.
All in all, it was a very American ceremony to celebrate the life of a very
British icon. So why do our transatlantic friends love a foreign former
prime minister so much?
Read more at The Telegraph >>
