Thank you W.W. Norton & Company for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. No review was required in return for an advance reading copy and no review was promised.

Mr. Book just finished Mr. Churchill In The White House: The Untold Story Of A Prime Minister And Two Presidents, by Robert Schmuhl.

I was initially uncertain whether I really wanted request this book. While I am a big fan of history, my interest is almost exclusively limited to US history. Books on other areas of history are rarely able to hold my attention. But, since the book wasn’t merely about Churchill, but rather his relationships with Presidents Roosevelt and Eisenhower, I decided it was worth taking the time to check it out. And I am glad that I did.

I was unaware that Churchill’s first trip to the White House actually occurred all the way back in December 1900. At the time, the 26-year-old Churchill had just written a best-seller. was in United States on a lecture tour and had recently been elected to the House of Commons for the first time. Churchill worked with Senator Depew (R-NY) who took him to meet the newly reelected President McKinley. Of course, that visit did not generate much notice.

I always enjoy the little tidbits that can be found in history books, such as when Churchill arrived a couple of weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he vetoed Eleanor Roosevelt’s choice of him staying the Lincoln Bedroom, since he preferred the Rose Bedroom.`

Another good tidbit I don’t recall previously seeing was Churchill had said that he “cannot help reflecting that if my father had been American and my mother British, instead of the other way round, I might have gotten here [Congress or the presidency] on my own.” He was probably right, especially if he had meant Congress (it’s uncertain from the context which one he was referring to).

One of the highlights of the book was a story that Churchill told how he had ordered that a machine gun should be mounted to his lifeboat, in case the ship he’s on was ever sunk by the Germans. When told, by Averell Harriman that talk about an attack scared him, the Prime Minister responded “You must have with me in the boat and see the fun.” It’s stories like that make books like this one so enjoyable.

There were plenty of good insights into the Roosevelt/Churchill relationship as well as many stories that helped to personalize the two leaders. The book did not go into as much detail about Churchill’s relationship with President Eisenhower, the other president that the subtitle refers to. But, that was because there wasn’t as much to their relationship as there was to the former.

Mr. Book gave this a B+. Amazon, Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a B+ equates to 4 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley and Goodreads. It will also be posted at Amazon, as soon as the book is released to the public on July 2.

Mr. Book originally read this on May 25, 2024.