19. Eleanor Roosevelt’s opinion of Churchill evolved over time
In March 1965, two months after Churchill’s death following a series of strokes, Eleanor Roosevelt published an article in Vanity Fair discussing her relationship with the famed Englishman. It was decidedly mixed. In it, she made several comments of a less than complimentary nature. “I have to confess I was frightened of Mr. Churchill”, she wrote. “I was solicitous for his comfort, but I was always glad when he departed…” She referred to his working hours late at night as “unconscionable”. The article also revealed the fact that Churchill had long expected and planned for a visit to Britain by FDR. Eleanor was on a trip to that country when Churchill showed her the rooms, modified to accommodate Roosevelt’s wheelchair, in Number 10 Downing Street. Further modifications were made at his country residence, Chartwell.
Though Eleanor made several trips to Great Britain during the war, FDR never did. He traveled to Casablanca, Teheran, and Yalta, to meet with Churchill and Stalin, but for British trips he preferred to send his trusted aide Harry Hopkins, or another aide, to represent him. He also made long trips to the Pacific to meet with Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur. But though Churchill invited him several times, and suggested they meet in Great Britain, FDR never accommodated him. He preferred their meetings to occur in the White House, or on neutral territory, as at Casablanca, in then American-controlled Morocco. The reason was political, FDR reasoned there could only be one head man, and that was he, as far as the Allies were concerned. Churchill and Stalin’s war efforts were dependent on American aid, not the other way around.