Mr Churchill in the White House was an excellent and well researched book about Winston Churchill and his relationship with Roosevelt, and to a much lesser extent, Eisenhower. The book was well written, and I really enjoyed those little stories which showed the human side of someone who in many ways can seem larger than life.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review in exchange for this advance copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Liveright for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I, sadly, DNF'd this book at around 11%. I am currently trying to read more historical books and I found the focus of this one intriguing and decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, the way the book skips around in time, and characters, and elaborates on the smallest details led me to lose interest in this topic quickly and dread the idea of picking this up again. I found the pacing to be slow and the writing a bit rough to get through. I kept glancing down at the percentage point and was disappointed that I hadn't made further progress. All these reasons have led me to DNF Mr. Churchill in the White House. Maybe I will give this book another chance in the future, but it is unlikely.

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.

I 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 so.

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.

I 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.

This is a wonderful book that will either have you roll on the floor laughing or make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Most people would probably agree that Britain and the United States were extremely fortunate in their political leaders at the time of the Second World War. Whether this was simply a happy coincidence of timing or that perhaps something about the nature of wartime brought out the best in them remains to be seen. I suspect a bit of both.
At any rate, the relationship between the paraplegic Franklin D. Roosevelt, champion of the New Deal and the great British bulldog and scourge of appeasement, Winston Churchill was crucial to the success of the wartime alliance. It is this friendship, in the form of the British premier's wartime visits to the White House combined with the ageing Churchill's later relationship with the wartime General Eisenhower during his presidency which coincided with Churchill's second stint in Downing Street between 1951 and 1955 which forms the basis of this fascinating account.
Was Churchill and FDR's relationship always as close as it.first appeared? Why did Roosevelt never visit London himself during the war? How did Stalin fit into all this? Was Churchill a good guest and FDR a good host? What did Clemmie and Eleanor think? And was the Special Relationship under Eisenhower fundamentally different to that under Roosevelt?
All these questions are examined in this fascinating, well-researched book.

Another important book on one of my favorite statesmen in history: Churchill. We learn about his considerable influence on American foreign policy in this beautifully written and meticulously researched marvel. Highly recommended!

I don't normally read biographies but I thought this would be an interesting read. Not gonna lie but I actually enjoyed it. It was a little cheeky at times but the narrative was really well done. I'd probably read another biography if it was done like this. Would recommend if you like the genre