Stromata Blog: Throwing Churchill Under the Bus

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Throwing Churchill Under the Bus

Does it matter that President Obama has sent Sir Winston Churchill’s bust back to Britain?

A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government's art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back.

The bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds if it were ever sold on the open market, enjoyed pride of place in the Oval Office during President Bush’s tenure.

But when British officials offered to let Mr Obama to hang onto the bust for a further four years, the White House said: “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Diplomats were at first reluctant to discuss the whereabouts of the Churchill bronze, after its ejection from the seat of American power. But the British Embassy in Washington has now confirmed that it sits in the palatial residence of ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald, just down the road from Vice President Joe Biden’s official residence. It is not clear whether the ambassador plans to keep it in Washington or send it back to London.

Nile Gardiner thinks that“Obama’s surprise decision to send Churchill home is both wrong-headed and crassly insensitive towards America’s closest ally”, but I doubt that there will be any damage to Anglo-American relations. Judging by press reports, the British governing class worships The One with a fervor matched only by Chris Matthews and Joe Klein on this side of the pond. When the bust is back in London, I expect to see thousands standing in line, awaiting the opportunity to kiss the marble that was once, however briefly, in the presence of the divine.

All that this incident does is give us another insight into the world view of this very peculiar President. For most Americans, Churchill was the man who stood valiantly against tyranny when the cause looked hopeless. Is that a mark against him in the President’s book? Or is he acting out some obscure grudge inherited from his communist Kenyan father? Or does he just not know who this fat guy with the cigar was?

Posted by Tom Veal on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 07:02 PM in Obama Nation | Permalink

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Throwing Churchill Under the Bus

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