Christmas Eve, 1941. The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor just seventeen days earlier, and the United States had responded by declaring war on Japan . . . and, a few days later, on Germany as well, thus bringing the U.S. firmly into the throes of World War II.

On that day, a top-secret meeting was afoot at the White House, where even the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, had not been told who her house guest was to be. Only when his ship, the HMS Duke of York, was safely docked at a Virginia port was Mrs. Roosevelt told to expect the British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, for dinner. [Stephen Collinson, Caitlin Hu and Shelby Rose, CNN, Meanwhile in America, December 24, 2024.]

The tale of that two-week summit in Washington — Churchill’s hazardous crossing of the Atlantic by ship, his idiosyncrasies, his preferences in cigars and various alcoholic beverages, and the differences in personality of the two world leaders — is beautifully told by CNN’s reporters, and I will not attempt to recreate it here.

But it’s the result of that period during which the two found common ground that is most significant. Because by the end of a fortnight, they had “forge[d] a bond and create[d] the blueprint to win the war: Roosevelt and Churchill eventually linked a Europe-first strategy to defeat the Nazis before imperial Japan and a joint move on North Africa.” [Id.]

They also managed to agree on the United Nations Declaration, which would be created “. . . to spare future generations from the horror of war and to unite the West with institutions and a common transatlantic mission . . .” [Id.]

And on that Christmas Eve, Churchill stood by on the South Portico of the White House as Roosevelt flipped the switch that lit the national Christmas tree on the nearby Ellipse. Speaking by radio to the nation, Roosevelt asked:

“How can we give our gifts? How can we meet and worship with love and with uplifted spirit and heart in a world at war, a world of fighting and suffering and death?” He then urged Americans to gird for the fight ahead with “the arming of our hearts. And when we make ready our hearts for the labor and the suffering and the ultimate victory which lie ahead, then we observe Christmas Day — with all of its memories and all of its meanings — as we should.” [Id.]

It would take another three and a half years, but that joining of Allies did ultimately bring about the victory over the Axis formed by Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito. And, in October of 1945, the United Nations was born, and the world — while far from perfect — has at least not seen another world war in nearly 80 years.

Even so, during those eight decades the world has endured a Cold War, “hot” wars in Korea and Vietnam, and far too many Middle Eastern conflicts. We are currently embroiled in Russia’s war against Ukraine, Israel’s continuing battle against several of its neighboring countries and terrorist organizations, and the saber-rattling of China and North Korea, to name but a few of our problems.

What we desperately need now — with the advanced technologies and weaponries of the modern world — are statesmen like Churchill and Roosevelt, who are willing and able to put aside their meaningless differences in order to lead the fight for the creation of a safer and better world for all of its citizens.

But do such leaders even exist any longer? And if so, where are they hiding?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/24/24