[CHURCHILL, Winston S. (1874-1965).] Sir Winston Churchill, Honorary Citizen of the United States of America. [Washington, 9 April 1963.]

[CHURCHILL, Winston S. (1874-1965).] Sir Winston Churchill, Honorary Citizen of the United States of America. [Washington, 9 April 1963.]

"I am, as you know, half American by blood": the official program awarding Churchill's honorary U.S. citizenship, his own copy, brought back to London by his son Randolph as he was too ill to attend the ceremony personally. The program prints President Kennedy's remarks, the text of the citizenship proclamation itself, and Churchill's own message: "It is a remarkable comment on our affairs that the former Prime Minister of a great sovereign state should thus be received as an honorary citizen of another. I say 'great sovereign state' with design and emphasis, for I reject the view that Britain and the Commonwealth should now be relegated to a tame and minor role in the world [...] I am, as you know, half American by blood, and the story of my association with that mighty and benevolent nation goes back nearly ninety years to the day of my Father's marriage. In this century of storm and tragedy I contemplate with high satisfaction the constant factor of the interwoven and upward progress of our peoples. Our comradeship and our brotherhood in war were unexampled. We stood together, and because of that fact the free world now stands."

Octavo (220 x 165mm). Stiff wrappers, three pages japon hand made paper (unopened), bound with red, white, and blue thread and tassels, with original gilt-lined envelope. Provenance: Sir Winston Churchill, by descent to his family – Sotheby's, 15 July 1998, lot 115.

Pre-Lot Text
FURTHER SELECTIONS FROM THE WINSTON S. CHURCHILL COLLECTION OF MALCOLM S. FORBES, JR.