An exhibition of Churchilliana in New York has reminded Americans why they took the great man to their hearts – and kept him there
By Andrew Roberts
Americans love Sir Winston Churchill. That much has been obvious since even
before 1963, when President Kennedy gave him the only honorary US
citizenship ever awarded to a living person. Yet, in the half-century since
then, that admiration and affection hasn’t abated; he is one of the only
non‑Americans to have a US warship named after him, and as many books are
published about him in America as in Britain. Indeed, the only bookshop in
the world dedicated solely to selling his books, articles and memorabilia is
the splendid Chartwell Books on Madison Avenue and 52nd Street in Manhattan.
As Churchill’s mother, Jennie Jerome, was born in Brooklyn, Americans
understandably regard Churchill’s extraordinary life as an almost
semi-detached telling of their own national story.