Churchill and FDR
The most consequential personal relationship of the Second World War -- how Churchill courted Roosevelt and what the 'special relationship' really looked like.
The Courtship
Churchill understood from the moment he became Prime Minister in May 1940 that Britain could not defeat Nazi Germany alone. American industrial power and eventually American military force were essential to Allied victory. But in 1940, the United States was determinedly neutral, bound by Neutrality Acts and a public deeply opposed to another European war. Winning over President Franklin Roosevelt became Churchill's most important diplomatic mission.
Churchill began corresponding with Roosevelt even before becoming PM, initiating a wartime exchange that would eventually encompass over 1,700 messages. Churchill signed his early letters 'Former Naval Person' -- a reference to his time at the Admiralty and a calculated appeal to Roosevelt, himself a former Assistant Secretary of the Navy. The correspondence was warm, personal, and strategically vital.
The relationship was never between equals. Britain was the supplicant; America held the leverage. Churchill needed Roosevelt far more than Roosevelt needed Churchill. This asymmetry shaped every interaction. Churchill deployed his full arsenal of charm, eloquence, and emotional appeals. Roosevelt, a politician of equal cunning, gave just enough to keep Britain fighting while extracting maximum concessions for American interests.