Beschreibung
This small archive is the elaborate dinner program and a set of three photographic negatives of Winston S. Churchill from the dinner in his honor at the Waldorf Astoria on 15 March 1946, during which he spoke, staunchly defending the content of his "Iron Curtain" speech delivered ten days earlier. The elaborately printed dinner program, produced by "Cartier, Inc. New York", measures 12 x 9.25 inches, is 12 pages in length, the contents printed in blue and red, with card covers elaborately printed and embossed with the coat of arms of the United Kingdom printed in blue, gold, and red. The contents and covers are string-bound with a blue and white twisted and tasseled cord. The program features Karsh s late 1941 iconic "Roaring Lion" photographic portrait of Churchill as the frontispiece and, in addition to the menu and program, includes a chronological summary of Churchill s honors, ranks, and ministerial posts and excerpts from two of his early wartime speeches. The dinner program is in fine condition.Of the three photographic negatives from the dinner, all feature Churchill, two of him speaking, one of him seated. Churchill is pictured with New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, who would lose the 1948 presidential election to Truman. The third man in the images appears to be Grover A. Whalen, Chairman of the Mayor's Committee on Receptions to Distinguished Guests (despite the Waldorf's own website identifying him as Conrad Hilton Sr.) The three negatives, measuring 4 x 5 in. on Kodak Safety Film, are in very good condition, clean and free of scratches and finger prints. The numbers 44, 47, and 60 are written in the corners of the film, unobtrusive in scans.On 9 January 1946 Winston S. Churchill boarded the Queen Elizabeth for his first trip to the U.S. since losing his premiership on 26 July 1945 to a Labour Party general election landslide. As he had in the 1930s, Churchill found himself warning of a clear and imminent danger that neither a war-weary public nor their leaders wanted to face. This time it was not the ambitions of the Third Reich, but those of the Soviet Empire.On 5 March Churchill delivered his famous "Iron Curtain" speech in Fulton, Missouri. Churchill incisively framed and defined the Cold War that would come to dominate postwar politics. "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent…" He continued, calling for increased cooperation between the U.S. and U.K. against the growing Soviet threat. The response to his speech was immediate and almost universally negative.Then-President Harry S. Truman had traveled with Churchill by special train from Washington D.C. specifically to introduce Churchill in Fulton. Before the speech, Truman was shown a copy of the speech and told Churchill that he "thought it was admirable" and "would do nothing but good, though it would make a stir." (Gilbert, Vol. VIII, pp.196-7) After the speech, Truman claimed he had not known in advance what Churchill was going to say. Truman even instructed Dean Acheson not to attend a New York reception for Churchill. Although Churchill had explicitly said "I repulse the idea that a new war is inevitable; still more that it is imminent. If we adhere faithfully to the Charter of the United Nations…" the Soviet newspaper Pravda accused him of sabotaging the United Nations and Stalin dubbed Churchill "a warmonger" who was "strikingly reminiscent of Hitler". Prime Minister Attlee pointedly declined to comment in the House of Commons on "a speech delivered in another country by a private individual", and over one hundred Labour MPs signed a motion formally denouncing the speech.Amid this media and political hailstorm, Churchill was invited to a 15 March dinner given by the City of New York in his honor at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel the event captured in these images and memorialized in this dinner program. Newspapers reported more than 2,000 protesters assembled outside of the hotel, chantin. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 007787
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