Lynne Olson describes the atmosphere during WW2 especially till America entered. 20/5/20
Joseph Kennedy(1888 to 1969) was American ambassador to London an appeasement supporter and thought Britain was doomed and sent several thousand American residents to return to the US including his family. An Anglophobe who felt that supplies that the UK got would end up in German hands. Patton was an Anglophobe.
Lord Halifax was replaced by Antony Edan in the foreign office and he became Briish Ambasidor to Washington.
Gilbert Winant (1889 to 1947) replaced J. Kennedy in March 1941 as US ambassador and maintained the alliance between the US and Britain and set up the "special relationship" When he first arrived he was met personally by George VI at Winsor station.
Averell Harriman(1891 to 1986) was chairman of the Union Pacific Railway and was involved in Lend Lease aid. His father EH Harriman was a notorious robber baron "malefactors of great wealth" as called by Teddy Roosevelt. Harriman had supported the New Deal to promote economics his business recovery from the Depression. After WW1 bought a ship yard in Chester, Pensylvania and controlled one of the largest mechant shipping fleets in the world. He dealt in manganes from Russia and had met all the important figures like Lenin , Mussolini, Churchill. In 1940 Harriman was summoned to Washington to advise one how to coordinate transport of raw materials for the mobilization effort. The new deal funded jobs from building roads , preventing floods and painting murals and writing books.
1941 March Lend Lease bill.
Harry Hopkins (1890 to 1946) was secretary of Commerce under Roosevelt and his international affairs advisor and thus the most powerful person under Roosevelt and personal representitive. He worked on mobilization and rearmament and was sent to London to determine British arms requirements and if the UK could hold out against Germany
Ed Murrow(1908 to 1965) head of CBS News arrived in 1937. had lobbied Washington to replace Kennedy and by 1941 was the best known US reporter in the UK. The blitz gave immediacy to Murrow's radio reports directly into US living rooms, radio now became the main news media. Harry Hopkins wanted Murrow to be the catalytic agent between Churchill and Roosevelt. He had covered the German takeover of Austria and seen the work of Nazi thugs. he had helped Paul Tillich and Martin Burber emigrate to America. Murrow had recommended Winant as Kennedy's successor. He hired William Shires as CBS correspondent in Berlin. Murrow's effect changed BBC from representing the government to having true news with great prestige.
When Churchill refused to appease Hitler and got Britain onto a war footing he presumed that the US would have to come to Britain aid. For armaments Britain had to give the US bases on Newfoundland, Bermuda and 6 British possessions in the Caribbean.
US Treasury secretary Henry Morganthau and Secretary of State Cordell Hull were convinced the riches of the British empire were limitless. The US would not support a war solely to preserve the British Empire.
Winant was a Republican New Hampshire Governor touted to be a next US president that supported the New Deal. He had been a US history school teacher and in the flying corp in WW1. 1934 he represented the US is International Labor Organization, English socialist Harold Lasky was a friend of his. later in the Social security Board
The US Embassy house in London had originally been occupied by John Adams the first US envoy.
Nataniel Hawthorn had been a US consul in Liverpool in 1850s.
Nancy Astor was the first women MP. elected in 1919 till 1945 for Plymouth-Sutton
The Blitz lasted from 7 Sept for 57 straight nights. Eight churches designed by Christopher Wren and the medieval Guildhall were destroyed. Manchester, Portsmouth ,Cardiff ,Plymouth, Liverpool and Bristol were badly damaged. In London 1 in 6 residents lost their homes.
General George Marshal and Admiral Harald Stark were already convinced of the need to come to Britain's aid as it was important for US defence, but many US generals were Anglophobic.. Many British asset were turned over to the US and an American destroyer went to S. African to collect British gold worth 50 million pounds.
The Women Voluntary Organization set up by the Marquis of Reading(wife of Rufus Issacs) the organized mobile libraries canteens and distributed clothing and supplies sent from the US and Commonwealth.She later became the first women elevated to the House of Lords.
Harriman arranged for British ships to be repaired in US shipyards.
Lord Beaverbrook had his Press Empire and was one of the most powerful and controversial men in the UK and a friend of Churchill. He had supported appeasement till May 1940. Under Churchill became minister of supplies and was in charge of war production. 1941 Britain was the first country to draft its females citizens for war work, as auxiliaries in military units and industries. They started wearing slacks, started smoking and drinking and having sex out side of marriage!
The first Lend Leas supplest of dried eggs and powdered milk, canned beef, beans and bacon arrived but weapons were still not being produced in bulk in the States. Henry Ford an isolationist refused to fill orders for the British.4000 marine were sent by FDR to take over the defences in Iceland from the British with US naval protection for US merchant ships till here.
When Hitler invaded Russia, Churchill pledged Britain full support for the Soviets. Harriman went to negotiate with Stalin on the US behalf but did not use the experience of Lawrence Steinhardt of the US or Stafford Cripps of Britain who were sceptical of Stalin's promises. Strictly speaking it was illegal for US Citizens to enlist in a foreign army but they were never prosecuted for joining Canada or Britain. The Eagle Squadron was set up by wealthy Charles Sweeny recruiting American flyers. These 3 squadrons became part of the British military,40% of these did not survive. The Reuben James was the first US destroyer sunk by the Germans with 115 of its crew lost (Song by Woody Guthrie)
Churchill sent Harriman to Cairo to asses the military situation there.
1941 Dec. Pearl Harbor and Churchill set of 4 days later to Washington, Clement Attlee was his deputy at home, defeating Germany was to be the first objective. Field Mashall John Dill was the British Army rep now based in Wahington.
When American soldiers started arriving Winant realized that the Brits never knew about the US and opened a library, this was later the start of all US embassy libraries. Allan Niven a historian was recruited to write a short history of the US that became required reading in British schools Alister Cooke and Allen Nevins gave talks on BBC about America. Eleanor Roosevelt paid an official visit to England in the fall of 1942 but FDR never did.
When there was a coal strike Winant was asked to help deal with this British Labour dispute and he was very successful in convincing the miners that this was part of their war effort. Even before the war Winant had had good ties with left wing intellectuals Beveridge, Laski, HG Well, RH Tawney and Maynard Keynes.
American troops landed in Morocco and Algeria as it was felt that they would be more accepted than the British by the French. Eva Curie a journalist and daughter of Marie Curie escaped to London.
Eisenhower was exactly the right leader and he was able to work on and make the British, US alliance a success. Norway leased more than 1300 ships and crews to the British.
With no possibility of an early invasion of Europe US bombers started bombing Germany. The Mustang was a faster plane than the Spitfire and when finally the Merlin Engine was added to it, it became the best fighter at the time. The Mustang went ahead of the Bombers to ambush German attackers. The Germans never ran out of planes but most of their skilled pilots were killed and Germany had no air protection by D day.
There were eventually 1.63 million US troops in the UK US military authorities had sole jurisdiction over criminal offences of US servicemen. There were over 100000 black US soldiers in Britain and the Brits found them more respectful and easier to get on with than boisterous whites.
Winant asked the black tenor Roland Hays to stay on after his concert tour and meet US black and discuss with them about their army treatment. He reported to Eleonor Roosevelt on this and Walter White of the NAACP came to England to deal with discriminations against black soldiers. He gave a lot of credit to Eisenhower and Winant on their work in this. Nearly 2 million, soldiers, sailors and airman took part in the Normandy and later invasion, including 500 reporters.
Paris returned to its former glory as it had was left unscathed by the war unlike London.
The US benefitted from the war reduction of British goods as it helped open markets for them and they pushed for free trade in the post war. Britain lost a quarter of it wealth and two thirds of its export trade in the war.
This book also talks about the relationships between Churhills daughters, daughter in laws and Edwina Mountbatten and different influencial Americans.
In1947 Gilbert Winant in a state of depression took his own life upset by the failure of the post war world to be a better place.
