ABSTRACT
In January 1941, Roosevelt sent Harry Hopkins as special emissary to Churchill. The president was a great believer in the usefulness of emissaries. Churchill preferred to be his own emissary, and to work at the summit; but, of necessity, he did his best with Hopkins – and made a quick and important conquest. In March 1941, Churchill was chosen as ‘man of the year’ by time magazine. In its favourite portentous prose, the magazine declared : he gave his countrymen exactly what he promised them: blood, toil, tears, sweat, and one thing more – untold courage. Emanuel Shinwell was more combative, but less constructive. He accused Churchill of resenting criticism to such an extent that he had called for the vote of confidence purely out of wounded pride. There never was any apparent need for a vote of the confidence.
