Lawrenceville Daily Record

You can win a battle and still lose the war



President Eisenhower and Prime Minister Churchill met at a conference in Bermuda in 1953. The topic was post war rebuilding of Europe and mutual defense against Russian aggression. 
Eisenhower wanted the U.K. to maintain its troops in Europe indefinitely and to join in the European Defense Alliance (now NATO). Churchill advocated double dealing with Russia; one helping hand in friendship, the other held back in a fist prepared to fight if necessary.
England had suffered greatly during the war, proportionately greater than most. America had been attacked at Pearl Harbor but was spared German bombing and had rebounded quickly and was prospering. Without American assistance, The U.K. likely would have lost the war. Both men knew that. 
Churchill was a statesman who took the long view of events and sought peace and time to rebuild the damage to all concerned. Eisenhower was a solider, and a politician. At the conference, Churchill spoke eloquently about humanity and the future of the world now that a hydrogen bomb had been developed by the U.S. 
Eisenhower said Russia was a whore and whether we dressed her up in nice clothes now and got her off the streets or not, she would still be one. It was a crude remark, crudely put, but no apology followed. When asked when the next meeting might be, Eisenhower said his would be with a whisky and soda in his room and got up and left.
He had earlier commented that England’s Commonwealth was just colonialism carried forward from the past, benefitting no one but the ruling classes back home. Churchill tactfully countered by pointing out that India, which was then in turmoil after gaining independence, was better governed by British rule than what followed.
Eisenhower agreed, but added that to Americans, liberty was more precious than good government. With the benefit of hindsight, depending on your point of view, it may be possible to agree with one or the other, but not both.
Good governance is a war. The political minutia of the moment is a battle. You can win a battle and still lose the war. This ends the history lesson for today.  
There will be a test later.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.