| United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill (November 30, 1874 – January 24, 1965) arrives at Washington’s National Airport to meet with United States President Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969). On the night of June 24, 1954, Churchill, accompanied, among others, by Foreign Minister Anthony Eden (June 12, 1897 – January 14, 1977) and Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell (April 5, 1886 – July 3, 1957), flew via Gander, Newfoundland, Canada to Washington. Both the Americans and the British Cabinet had been loath to let him go without what they regarded as the restraining presence of Eden, although on nearly all current issues other than the central 1 of H-bomb talks with the Russians the Foreign Secretary was more critical of the Americans than was Churchill. The purpose of the visit was admirably summed up in Sir John “Jock” Colville, Churchill’s Joint Principal Private Secretary’s, diary: “Primarily it was to convince the President that we must co-operate more fruitfully in the atomic and hydrogen sphere and that we, the Americans and British, must go and talk to the Russians in an effort to avert war, diminish the effect of Cold War and procure a ten years’ period of “easement” during which we can divert our riches and our scientific knowledge to ends more fruitful than the production of catastrophic weapons. Now, owing to Anglo-American disagreement over Southeast Asia, reflected very noticeably at the Geneva Conference [which had been meeting for several previous weeks under Eden’s chairmanship in an attempt to deal with Indochina], the meeting has become in the eyes of the world (and the Foreign Secretary) an occasion for clearing the air and recreating good feeling. The main topics are to be: Indochina, Germany if the European Defense Community fails, Egypt and atoms.” For Churchill the visit went well from the beginning. He was met at the airport by Vice President Richard M. Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) and Secretary of State John F. Dulles (February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) and swept off to the White House, where he was to stay for the 1st 3 nights. Eisenhower was determinedly out to be pleasant, perhaps regarding the weekend (for it was a Friday to Monday) as more in the nature of a respectful valediction than a basis of negotiation for the future. However, it was not all honors and no substance. At their 1st meeting, on the Friday morning, Eisenhower both flabbergasted and delighted Churchill by agreeing to talks with the Russians. He had expected to secure this (if at all) only after long hours and much eloquence. Nevertheless, he regarded the issue as of such importance that he did not in the least mind having the wind taken out of his sails. He was reported (by Colville) that evening, after another successful session, mainly on Egypt, in the afternoon as being “elated by success and in a state of excited good humor.” And his euphoria persisted, in spite of some Dulles efforts to catch back on the President’s broad approval for summitry. On the Sunday evening there was a “very gay” White House dinner at which Eisenhower and Churchill both spoke warmly of the Germans, while Eisenhower, not necessarily endorsed by Churchill and contested by Eden, called the French by contrast “a hopeless, helpless mass of protoplasm.” Roger Makins (February 3, 1904 – November 9, 1996), the British ambassador, said that “he never remembered a more riotous evening.” | |
| Image Filename | wwii0780.jpg |
| Image Size | 433.22 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1528 x 1941 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | June 25, 1954 |
| Location | |
| City | Washington |
| State or Province | District of Columbia |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | International Churchill Society |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database