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The Churchill Complex: The Curse of Being Special, from Winston and FDR to Trump and Brexit
From one of its keenest observers, a brilliant, witty journey through the "Special Relationship" between Britain and America that has done so much to shape the world, from World War II to Brexit.
It is impossible to understand the last seventy-five years of American history, through to Trump and Brexit, without understanding the Anglo-American relationship, particularly the bonds between presidents and prime ministers. FDR of course had Winston Churchill; JFK had Harold Macmillan, his consigliere during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Ronald Reagan found his ideological soul mate in Margaret Thatcher; and George W. Bush found his fellow believer, in religion and in war, in Tony Blair. Today, the bond between Donald Trump and Boris Johnson illuminates the populist uprisings in both countries, as well as a new kind of Special Relationship that goes against everything it once stood for.
Remembering the past, even its most glorious moments, can be as misleading as forgetting it. Over and over, in the name of freedom and democracy, British and especially American leaders have evoked Winston Churchill as a model for brave leadership (and Nevillle Chamberlain to represent craven weakness). As Ian Buruma shows, in his dazzling, short tour de force of storytelling and analysis, the myths of World War II too often resulted in bad policies and foolish wars.
But The Churchill Complex is much more than a reflection on the weight of Churchill's legacy and its misuses. At its heart are shrewd and absorbing character studies of the president-prime minster dyads, which in Ian Buruma's gifted hands serve as a master class in politics, diplomacy, and the personal quirks of our leaders. It has never been a relationship of from Churchill's desperate cajoling and conniving to keep FDR on his side in World War II, British prime ministers have put much more stock in the relationship than their US counterparts. After the loss of its once-great empire, Britain clung to the world's greatest superpower as a path to continued relevance and leverage. As Buruma shows, this was almost always fool's gold, and now, the alliance has floundered on the rocks of isolationism. The Churchill Complex may not have a happy ending, but as with Ian Buruma's other works, piercing lucidity is its own lasting comfort.
It is impossible to understand the last seventy-five years of American history, through to Trump and Brexit, without understanding the Anglo-American relationship, particularly the bonds between presidents and prime ministers. FDR of course had Winston Churchill; JFK had Harold Macmillan, his consigliere during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Ronald Reagan found his ideological soul mate in Margaret Thatcher; and George W. Bush found his fellow believer, in religion and in war, in Tony Blair. Today, the bond between Donald Trump and Boris Johnson illuminates the populist uprisings in both countries, as well as a new kind of Special Relationship that goes against everything it once stood for.
Remembering the past, even its most glorious moments, can be as misleading as forgetting it. Over and over, in the name of freedom and democracy, British and especially American leaders have evoked Winston Churchill as a model for brave leadership (and Nevillle Chamberlain to represent craven weakness). As Ian Buruma shows, in his dazzling, short tour de force of storytelling and analysis, the myths of World War II too often resulted in bad policies and foolish wars.
But The Churchill Complex is much more than a reflection on the weight of Churchill's legacy and its misuses. At its heart are shrewd and absorbing character studies of the president-prime minster dyads, which in Ian Buruma's gifted hands serve as a master class in politics, diplomacy, and the personal quirks of our leaders. It has never been a relationship of from Churchill's desperate cajoling and conniving to keep FDR on his side in World War II, British prime ministers have put much more stock in the relationship than their US counterparts. After the loss of its once-great empire, Britain clung to the world's greatest superpower as a path to continued relevance and leverage. As Buruma shows, this was almost always fool's gold, and now, the alliance has floundered on the rocks of isolationism. The Churchill Complex may not have a happy ending, but as with Ian Buruma's other works, piercing lucidity is its own lasting comfort.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 2020
42 people are currently reading
391 people want to read
About the author
Ian Buruma
89 books251 followersIan Buruma is a British-Dutch writer and academic, much of whose work focuses on the culture of Asia, particularly that of 20th-century Japan, where he lived and worked for many years.
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August 21, 2023
"On each occasion that we shall have to choose between Europe and the open seas, we will always choose the open seas." - Churchill to de Gaulle, 1944 on the eve of D-Day
"Whenever the choice has been between protectionism and the open seas, Britain has chosen the open seas." - PM Gordon Brown, 2006 on the eve of the financial crisis
************
Ian Buruma, Dutch writer and editor, explores the 'Special Relationship' between Britain and the US from WWII to the present in this 2020 book. His interests are international politics and popular culture in recent history. Prior to a WWII charm offensive, to mobilize the US as allies, there wasn't love lost between anglophones. It was a priority for Churchill to develop. His Anglo-American background and will to save the empire urged him to woo Roosevelt and forge bonds with the US. After WWII there was less influence as Britain played wise ancient Greece to America's new Rome.
Roosevelt and Americans had little interest in preserving the British empire. FDR would needle Churchill during the lend-lease period for Indian self rule, a tenet written into the Atlantic Charter. Without colonies Britain would be a junior partner in the alliance. When the United Nations was formed China was part of the security force, an idea Churchill abhored. While FDR and Stalin wanted an earlier Atlantic invasion Churchill dithered and dallied in the Mediterranean until 1944. He envisioned a future United States of Europe, sponsored by the USA, the British Empire and the USSR.
After the liberation of western Europe by US, British and Canadian troops Buruma tracks a trans-Atlantic love affair from Hershey chocolates and nylon stockings to Hollywood movies. With FDR dead and Britain bankrupted the empire survived only a few years. Churchill, voted out by Brits who opposed the old status quo, was replaced by the left leaning Clement Attlee. A less than special relationship ensued, as Truman and the US declined to share nuclear secrets. The ghost of Chamberlain in Munich was invoked in Vietnam and Korea inscribed in the Domino Theory and Truman Doctrine.
By 1950 precursors to the EU were underway. The US hoped a union led by Britain would develop strong economic and defense institutions to counter the USSR and avoid future involvement. Britain resisted becoming just another state but were eager for the Marshall Plan and NATO to anchor the US in Europe and cement the special relationship. When the six members agreed in 1955 to build a common European market Britain abstained. British Protestants thought the founders were wily Catholics, while the proposed rules conflicted with commonwealth trade and tariff privileges.
PM again in 1951, Churchill faced a crumbling empire. In Egypt control of the Suez canal was challenged, oilfields in Iran nationalized. In D.C. he was hailed as a hero but denied help. Hatred of communism overcame dislike of colonialism for Americans however. In 1953 the PM of Iran was painted as a Soviet stooge by MI6 and then deposed in a covert CIA coup. The British cooked up information that the Egyptian president was aligned with Soviets and planned to overthrow the mideast. Britain, France and Israel conspired to seize the canal in 1956 but were restrained by Eisenhower and the UN.
The Suez debacle caused PM Anthony Eden to resign in 1957 and he was replaced by Harold Macmillan. Once Mac patched things up with Ike the special relationship was back on. As Churchill thought Chiang Kai-Shek unworthy, Ike felt Mao a threat. The PRC shelled two tiny islands off of Taiwan and the US sent warships. Ike thought a few nukes would do the trick, a delusion he had about Vietnam too. Macmillan and Churchill were appalled as Ike recited Munich. Each country faced ban the bomb protests as Sputnik 1 went into orbit. Ike and Mac pooled scientists to cooperate on nuclear weapons.
Macmillan hit it off well with Kennedy. With Castro and the commies in JFK's backyard a plan was hatched to invade. CIA-trained Cuban 'freedom fighters' failed utterly in 1961. While Britain cared not for Cuba she was concerned in SE Asia where the US was considering fighting Chinese backed guerrillas. LBJ visited Saigon and decided it could be the first domino to fall. JFK and Mac were fending off Khrushchev, building walls in Berlin while missiles were planted in Cuba. Their concerns were expressed once again in Churchillian terms about the Chamberlain appeasement in Munich.
After long negotiations de Gaulle vetoed Britain's entry to the European Economic Community in 1963 because Britain led a nuclear test ban treaty without French participation. Within months JFK was dead and Mac resigned. With Lyndon B. Johnson in the US and Harold Wilson in the UK an era of social reform began. Both boasted of working class origins and were free of JFK and Mac's aristocratic background. LBJ wanted British boots on Vietnamese ground, if only 'a token bunch of bagpipers in kilts'. Wilson gave lip service but no troops and ended military commitments east of the Suez.
LBJ had exited the White House in self inflicted ignominy by 1969. Guided by the ghost of Munich Richard Nixon wouldn't appease communist aggression in Asia. PM Edward Heath was the only European leader to back the war. Other than this Heath did all he could to join with Europe, downplaying the special relationship. With Pompidou in the Elysee Palace Britain was admitted to the EEC in 1973. Combined economic power in Europe began to rival the US and proposals to share nuclear arms rankled Nixon. Friction over Arab-Israeli wars made further strains until he met his Watergate fate in 1973.
During Jimmy Carter's term Irish rights were raised with PM Jim Callahan as the IRA planned bloody bombings. Congress advised it would be difficult to intervene with an ally. Britain alone retained access to the US submarine based nuclear weapons. The Thatcher-Reagan decade in the 1980's was notable for trenchant rhetoric of Anglo-American kinship, Churchillian freedom and a shared communist adversary. When Argentina took over the Falkland Islands it was a Munich moment, supported by Reagan's cabinet. In turn Thatcher allowed the US to bomb Libya from British bases.
As the decade waned Germany pulled ahead while Britain's economy lagged, awakening old resentments towards the continent. The fall of the wall and reunification left Thatcher in fear of weak western resolve and a strong central Europe. The special relationship was reaffirmed when GHW Bush and John Major had their adventure in Iraq. In 1992 the EU was ratified and Major criticized by Thatcherites for selling out Britain to a bureaucracy. In the Yugoslav wars the US wanted the EU to sort it out, but Europe didn't want to get involved in a civil conflict. The special relationship pulled no weight.
Bill Clinton's first term was with Major as PM and second with Tony Blair. Born in 1946 he had no war nostalgia and was not an anglophile. Although elected on an economic platform he wanted to be involved in the Balkans and Irish troubles. US proposals to give arms and aid to Bosnia fell on deaf Europe ears. Things got so bad an IRA leader was given a US visa, all but declaring the relationship over. The French leader Chirac blamed the UN for inaction and the US must step in. After 1997 Clinton and Blair got along much better, sharing centrist positions of doing good while getting rich.
Post Clinton, Blair increasingly believed the trans-Atlantic partnership was the way to go and armed conflict right in moral matters. As George W Bush came into office he was given a bust and memorabilia of his hero Churchill. W was no internationalist but soon the planes of 911 struck and Blair had declared solidarity. The special relationship was rekindled. As Afghanistan was bombed, W had eyes on Iraq. A case for war was needed, duly provided at the UN. Blair's zealotry and Bush's evangelism worked in concert. A half million died but no weapons of mass destruction were found.
After a short tenure of Gordon Brown the new US president Barack Obama worked with PM David Cameron for most of his terms. Obama inherited a 2008 world financial crisis and with Brown had pulled it from the brink. He was indifferent to the special relationship. In the 2011 Arab Spring Obama bombed Libya while Cameron botched things on the ground. Obama vacillated as Syria went up in flames and an Egyptian ally was deposed. Cameron, denied backing for war in Syria, faced pressure at home to exit the EU. Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson beat on an anti-immigrant and anti-union drum.
To the shock of the world Donald Trump, failed casino owner and former game show host, became president. In the first two years he was paired with PM Theresa May. Brexit had a similar effect in Britain as Trumpism in the US, dividing the public into warring tribes and destroying the middle of the road. May was a target for the hard right as she attempted damage control in the EU exit. Boris Johnson, comparing himself to Churchill, became PM in 2019. Twin images of BoJo and Trump stood to dismantle the open, liberal and international precepts the special relationship was built on.
So what exactly is the 'Special Relationship'? Churchill had defined it as an affinity between 'English Speaking Peoples' based on shared love of freedom, democracy and free trade. The ideals were flexible based on the situation at hand. A special relationship was needed in his time to defend Britain and it was a winning strategy. As an imperialist Churchill saw no need to extend those rights to people of other lands, languages or customs. Buruma is insightful and entertaining depicting the personal and political interplay of presidents and prime ministers who followed in Churchill's footsteps.
"Whenever the choice has been between protectionism and the open seas, Britain has chosen the open seas." - PM Gordon Brown, 2006 on the eve of the financial crisis
************
Ian Buruma, Dutch writer and editor, explores the 'Special Relationship' between Britain and the US from WWII to the present in this 2020 book. His interests are international politics and popular culture in recent history. Prior to a WWII charm offensive, to mobilize the US as allies, there wasn't love lost between anglophones. It was a priority for Churchill to develop. His Anglo-American background and will to save the empire urged him to woo Roosevelt and forge bonds with the US. After WWII there was less influence as Britain played wise ancient Greece to America's new Rome.
Roosevelt and Americans had little interest in preserving the British empire. FDR would needle Churchill during the lend-lease period for Indian self rule, a tenet written into the Atlantic Charter. Without colonies Britain would be a junior partner in the alliance. When the United Nations was formed China was part of the security force, an idea Churchill abhored. While FDR and Stalin wanted an earlier Atlantic invasion Churchill dithered and dallied in the Mediterranean until 1944. He envisioned a future United States of Europe, sponsored by the USA, the British Empire and the USSR.
After the liberation of western Europe by US, British and Canadian troops Buruma tracks a trans-Atlantic love affair from Hershey chocolates and nylon stockings to Hollywood movies. With FDR dead and Britain bankrupted the empire survived only a few years. Churchill, voted out by Brits who opposed the old status quo, was replaced by the left leaning Clement Attlee. A less than special relationship ensued, as Truman and the US declined to share nuclear secrets. The ghost of Chamberlain in Munich was invoked in Vietnam and Korea inscribed in the Domino Theory and Truman Doctrine.
By 1950 precursors to the EU were underway. The US hoped a union led by Britain would develop strong economic and defense institutions to counter the USSR and avoid future involvement. Britain resisted becoming just another state but were eager for the Marshall Plan and NATO to anchor the US in Europe and cement the special relationship. When the six members agreed in 1955 to build a common European market Britain abstained. British Protestants thought the founders were wily Catholics, while the proposed rules conflicted with commonwealth trade and tariff privileges.
PM again in 1951, Churchill faced a crumbling empire. In Egypt control of the Suez canal was challenged, oilfields in Iran nationalized. In D.C. he was hailed as a hero but denied help. Hatred of communism overcame dislike of colonialism for Americans however. In 1953 the PM of Iran was painted as a Soviet stooge by MI6 and then deposed in a covert CIA coup. The British cooked up information that the Egyptian president was aligned with Soviets and planned to overthrow the mideast. Britain, France and Israel conspired to seize the canal in 1956 but were restrained by Eisenhower and the UN.
The Suez debacle caused PM Anthony Eden to resign in 1957 and he was replaced by Harold Macmillan. Once Mac patched things up with Ike the special relationship was back on. As Churchill thought Chiang Kai-Shek unworthy, Ike felt Mao a threat. The PRC shelled two tiny islands off of Taiwan and the US sent warships. Ike thought a few nukes would do the trick, a delusion he had about Vietnam too. Macmillan and Churchill were appalled as Ike recited Munich. Each country faced ban the bomb protests as Sputnik 1 went into orbit. Ike and Mac pooled scientists to cooperate on nuclear weapons.
Macmillan hit it off well with Kennedy. With Castro and the commies in JFK's backyard a plan was hatched to invade. CIA-trained Cuban 'freedom fighters' failed utterly in 1961. While Britain cared not for Cuba she was concerned in SE Asia where the US was considering fighting Chinese backed guerrillas. LBJ visited Saigon and decided it could be the first domino to fall. JFK and Mac were fending off Khrushchev, building walls in Berlin while missiles were planted in Cuba. Their concerns were expressed once again in Churchillian terms about the Chamberlain appeasement in Munich.
After long negotiations de Gaulle vetoed Britain's entry to the European Economic Community in 1963 because Britain led a nuclear test ban treaty without French participation. Within months JFK was dead and Mac resigned. With Lyndon B. Johnson in the US and Harold Wilson in the UK an era of social reform began. Both boasted of working class origins and were free of JFK and Mac's aristocratic background. LBJ wanted British boots on Vietnamese ground, if only 'a token bunch of bagpipers in kilts'. Wilson gave lip service but no troops and ended military commitments east of the Suez.
LBJ had exited the White House in self inflicted ignominy by 1969. Guided by the ghost of Munich Richard Nixon wouldn't appease communist aggression in Asia. PM Edward Heath was the only European leader to back the war. Other than this Heath did all he could to join with Europe, downplaying the special relationship. With Pompidou in the Elysee Palace Britain was admitted to the EEC in 1973. Combined economic power in Europe began to rival the US and proposals to share nuclear arms rankled Nixon. Friction over Arab-Israeli wars made further strains until he met his Watergate fate in 1973.
During Jimmy Carter's term Irish rights were raised with PM Jim Callahan as the IRA planned bloody bombings. Congress advised it would be difficult to intervene with an ally. Britain alone retained access to the US submarine based nuclear weapons. The Thatcher-Reagan decade in the 1980's was notable for trenchant rhetoric of Anglo-American kinship, Churchillian freedom and a shared communist adversary. When Argentina took over the Falkland Islands it was a Munich moment, supported by Reagan's cabinet. In turn Thatcher allowed the US to bomb Libya from British bases.
As the decade waned Germany pulled ahead while Britain's economy lagged, awakening old resentments towards the continent. The fall of the wall and reunification left Thatcher in fear of weak western resolve and a strong central Europe. The special relationship was reaffirmed when GHW Bush and John Major had their adventure in Iraq. In 1992 the EU was ratified and Major criticized by Thatcherites for selling out Britain to a bureaucracy. In the Yugoslav wars the US wanted the EU to sort it out, but Europe didn't want to get involved in a civil conflict. The special relationship pulled no weight.
Bill Clinton's first term was with Major as PM and second with Tony Blair. Born in 1946 he had no war nostalgia and was not an anglophile. Although elected on an economic platform he wanted to be involved in the Balkans and Irish troubles. US proposals to give arms and aid to Bosnia fell on deaf Europe ears. Things got so bad an IRA leader was given a US visa, all but declaring the relationship over. The French leader Chirac blamed the UN for inaction and the US must step in. After 1997 Clinton and Blair got along much better, sharing centrist positions of doing good while getting rich.
Post Clinton, Blair increasingly believed the trans-Atlantic partnership was the way to go and armed conflict right in moral matters. As George W Bush came into office he was given a bust and memorabilia of his hero Churchill. W was no internationalist but soon the planes of 911 struck and Blair had declared solidarity. The special relationship was rekindled. As Afghanistan was bombed, W had eyes on Iraq. A case for war was needed, duly provided at the UN. Blair's zealotry and Bush's evangelism worked in concert. A half million died but no weapons of mass destruction were found.
After a short tenure of Gordon Brown the new US president Barack Obama worked with PM David Cameron for most of his terms. Obama inherited a 2008 world financial crisis and with Brown had pulled it from the brink. He was indifferent to the special relationship. In the 2011 Arab Spring Obama bombed Libya while Cameron botched things on the ground. Obama vacillated as Syria went up in flames and an Egyptian ally was deposed. Cameron, denied backing for war in Syria, faced pressure at home to exit the EU. Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson beat on an anti-immigrant and anti-union drum.
To the shock of the world Donald Trump, failed casino owner and former game show host, became president. In the first two years he was paired with PM Theresa May. Brexit had a similar effect in Britain as Trumpism in the US, dividing the public into warring tribes and destroying the middle of the road. May was a target for the hard right as she attempted damage control in the EU exit. Boris Johnson, comparing himself to Churchill, became PM in 2019. Twin images of BoJo and Trump stood to dismantle the open, liberal and international precepts the special relationship was built on.
So what exactly is the 'Special Relationship'? Churchill had defined it as an affinity between 'English Speaking Peoples' based on shared love of freedom, democracy and free trade. The ideals were flexible based on the situation at hand. A special relationship was needed in his time to defend Britain and it was a winning strategy. As an imperialist Churchill saw no need to extend those rights to people of other lands, languages or customs. Buruma is insightful and entertaining depicting the personal and political interplay of presidents and prime ministers who followed in Churchill's footsteps.
December 20, 2024
Ian Buruma is an author whose work is always worth reading and provides insights which grow out of his knowledge and experience but also from his lived experience and that of his family (I have no intention of relating it here - that's what Goggle is for) and there is much of what that experience gives him that resonates with me (even though I am seven years younger). This book is about the 'Special Relationship' but it was inspired by the incomprehension that people like Buruma, and me, felt when faced with the England of Brexit, Boris Johnson and their laudatory bum licking antics around the grotesque figure of Donald Trump. This book was written/published immediately post Brexit, but before COVID and the antics of the UK government in failing to manage anything, even keeping secret their drunken revels at Number 10 on the eve of Prince Phillip's funeral, had become apparent. So this is not really a book about Brexit or its aftermath but it does try and put it into a context via an understanding of the 'Special Relationship' between the UK and USA.
As a history of of a phantom, and the 'Special Relationship' is a phantom as incomprehensible but as firmly believed in as transubstantiation or the Athanasian Creed's definition of the Trinity, the work is brilliant in its concision. What is not very good at is explaining why it was so important to various UK leaders. Again and again various UK politicians bemoan that the UK is only a step away from being Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, etc. Quite why it would have been so horrible for the UK to be like any of the above is never explained. It probably would have meant that the UK was nicer, cleaner, more prosperous and happy place. The absurd thing is that everyone knew that the USA didn't take the 'Special Relationship' seriously, didn't take the UK seriously and that the 'influence' that the UK leaders liked to believe the 'SR' gave them was completely illusory.
Of course Tony Blair and his complete lack of influence with G.W. Bush is the culmination of an idiotic and pointless exercise in self deception. The USA didn't want or need the UK's military contribution to the invasion of Iraq - Blair insisted on going in. Why? Well it has helped make him a millionaire consultant but it didn't do any good for the UK, UK service men, never mind Iraqi civilians. A deeper question that needs to be asked is why UK politicians are so obsessed with hanging on to the tawdry charade of their long vanished empire.
As a history of of a phantom, and the 'Special Relationship' is a phantom as incomprehensible but as firmly believed in as transubstantiation or the Athanasian Creed's definition of the Trinity, the work is brilliant in its concision. What is not very good at is explaining why it was so important to various UK leaders. Again and again various UK politicians bemoan that the UK is only a step away from being Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, etc. Quite why it would have been so horrible for the UK to be like any of the above is never explained. It probably would have meant that the UK was nicer, cleaner, more prosperous and happy place. The absurd thing is that everyone knew that the USA didn't take the 'Special Relationship' seriously, didn't take the UK seriously and that the 'influence' that the UK leaders liked to believe the 'SR' gave them was completely illusory.
Of course Tony Blair and his complete lack of influence with G.W. Bush is the culmination of an idiotic and pointless exercise in self deception. The USA didn't want or need the UK's military contribution to the invasion of Iraq - Blair insisted on going in. Why? Well it has helped make him a millionaire consultant but it didn't do any good for the UK, UK service men, never mind Iraqi civilians. A deeper question that needs to be asked is why UK politicians are so obsessed with hanging on to the tawdry charade of their long vanished empire.
October 13, 2020
Jeez. What a pleasant surprise. I saw this new book come out last month, and thinking I knew about the subject matter grabbed it. Boy, was I wrong. I knew little.
The level of detail this Academic, Ian Burma, pours into this book is incredible. While I may not always agree with Ian's personal poignant political opinions, there is no denying the man did his homework. His research top shelf.
Here is a country, Great Britain, our nemesis of so many years, now aligned with us as the two top English Speaking Empires on the planet. After all, England is whom we struggled against for so many years to gain our independence. And then "The Empire," had the gall during The War of 1812 to burn our White House down. And who could ever forgive them for "buddying up" with the Confederacy during our brutal American Civil War.
Yet during and after WWII, they and we, The United States of America formed what the new nations even called themselves . . .The Special Relationship.
Awesome to read about The Special Relationship occurring and becoming practically a mandatory tradition. FDR and the man quoted by his British countrymen especially during "The Finest Hour," and also by his beloved "fellow" Americans non-stop (his Mother being born in the USA) Winston Churchill. They being the most famous of the Prime Ministers/Presidents laid the groundwork for future romances between JFK and his go-to brain thrust: Macmillan; Ronald Reagen and his soul mate Maggie Thatcher, the religious Tony Blair and the reborn Christian, George W Bush, and of course in our current lives: Donald Trump, The Great Orange Lord himself, who yesterday declared from atop the White House Steps " I'm Immune," and the man who brought jolly ol' England out of the European Complex thus BREXIT - Boris Johnson.
This read was witty, educational, sardonic, containing solid slices of humor and was nearly impossible to put down.
The level of detail this Academic, Ian Burma, pours into this book is incredible. While I may not always agree with Ian's personal poignant political opinions, there is no denying the man did his homework. His research top shelf.
Here is a country, Great Britain, our nemesis of so many years, now aligned with us as the two top English Speaking Empires on the planet. After all, England is whom we struggled against for so many years to gain our independence. And then "The Empire," had the gall during The War of 1812 to burn our White House down. And who could ever forgive them for "buddying up" with the Confederacy during our brutal American Civil War.
Yet during and after WWII, they and we, The United States of America formed what the new nations even called themselves . . .The Special Relationship.
Awesome to read about The Special Relationship occurring and becoming practically a mandatory tradition. FDR and the man quoted by his British countrymen especially during "The Finest Hour," and also by his beloved "fellow" Americans non-stop (his Mother being born in the USA) Winston Churchill. They being the most famous of the Prime Ministers/Presidents laid the groundwork for future romances between JFK and his go-to brain thrust: Macmillan; Ronald Reagen and his soul mate Maggie Thatcher, the religious Tony Blair and the reborn Christian, George W Bush, and of course in our current lives: Donald Trump, The Great Orange Lord himself, who yesterday declared from atop the White House Steps " I'm Immune," and the man who brought jolly ol' England out of the European Complex thus BREXIT - Boris Johnson.
This read was witty, educational, sardonic, containing solid slices of humor and was nearly impossible to put down.
January 31, 2022
Great overview of the Anglo-American 'Special Relationship' since WW II, Ian Buruma shows how Washington is often closer to London than Brussels, Paris or Berlin in the mind (and heart) of British politicians.
May 24, 2024
Een uitstekend geschiedenis boek. Je bent een passant in de relatie die Britse leiders met hun Amerikaanse tegenhangers sinds de tweede wereldoorlog onderhielden. Hierin krijg je een uniek inkijkje in hoe ze dachten en welke beelden hun dreef. Hiermee verkrijg je ook een nieuwe invalshoek om de hedendaagse Britse internationale politiek te beschouwen.
July 6, 2021
On the whole, I am a bit disappointed with this book because I expected more argument and analysis and less exposition. Instead this reads more like a standard chronological account of the relations between the president and the prime minister packed with snappy anecdotes. Buruma is a skilled historian who knows his way around the source materials but knowing these materials is not the same as knowing how to use them smartly and in a way that supports the overarching argument of the book. This book would have turned out better if Buruma had put more effort into clearly presenting and defending his thesis: that there is such a thing as a Churchill complex in the psyches of past, present and future prime ministers. That there is such a thing, I do not doubt for a moment.
"History can inspire but it can also bedevil."
"History can inspire but it can also bedevil."
April 22, 2021
It felt like a nice long NY Review of Books piece on the GB - US "special relationship". Buruma deftly sketches out all the Prime Minister - President relationships as the connection between the two allies ebbs and flows. I hadn't realized how firmly Eisenhower put the kibosh on the Suez affair. I also hadn't realized how vast an overseas military presence Britain maintained into the 1950's.
August 28, 2021
For many decades there has been a mystique around British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his ability to lead his nation through war and build a relationship with the United States, which allowed him to sustain his government. He referred to this as the "special relationship" between Great Britain and the United States. " The Churchill Complex: The Curse of Being Special, from Winston and FDR to Trump and Brexit" by Dutch writer Ian Buruma spends its early chapters writing about this period. The remainder of the book is less about Churchill and more about how succeeding prime ministers would seek Churchill's same relationship with American presidents. Throughout, there is a strong narrative of how Britain sought a leadership position on its continent, and in the world, through its association and support from the United States.
Initially, It took much effort for Churchill to enlist the support of President Roosevelt at a crucial time during a make or break time in the war. Britain had sustained the loss of 11 destroyers to the German Navy over ten days. FDR initially showed little interest in preserving Britain. In large part, that is because he promised to keep America out of the war. Churchill knew he needed that support and had a dream of the US and the USSR supporting a united states of Europe in which Britain would play a lead role. It never happened. Roosevelt died, and a nearly bankrupt nation saw Churchill voted out of office.
The remainder of the book traces the up and down relationships between future prime ministers and Presidents.
To begin, Churchill's replacement, Clement Attlee, never developed the same "special relationship" with Harry Truman. Among the things Attlee wanted was sharing America's nuclear secrets to enhance its stature. Truman refused.
During efforts to create a European Union in 1950, Britain did not want to be an equal among the other nations as it hoped the United States would always allow it special status in Europe.
Even when Churchill returned to power in 1951, he saw a different relationship and a different world. His nation faced its challenges. Oilfields in Iran had been nationalized, and control of the Suez Canal was up for grabs.
The book looks at each succeeding prime minister and offers evidence of how the 'special relationship' fared during their tenure.
Harold Macmillan found it challenging to develop a footing with President Eisenhower but later bonded with President Kennedy. Harold Wilson had much in common with Lyndon Johnson, but LBJ wanted British troops to help fight the Vietnamese, something that never happened. Jimmy Carter and PM Jim Callahan had to deal with Irish rights with Britain seeking access to nuclear weapons of US submarines. A genuine special relationship was forged between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. When Argentina took over the Falkland Islands, Regan supported Britain's fight back, and Thatcher allowed the US to bomb Libya from British bases. Iraq united President George Herbert Walker Bush and John Major. Bill Clinton maintained a good relationship with Major and later with Tony Blair. Barack Obama worked, for a short time, with Gordon Brown and much longer with David Cameron. Brown supported Obama's efforts to deal with a massive financial crisis.
The book spends ample time reviewing the tenure of Donald Trump and his dealing with Theresa May and Boris Johnson and Britain's reaction to Brexit. Just as Trump shook things up in the US, Brexit did the same in Britain.
Churchill defined the 'special relationship' as the affinity between 'English Speaking Peoples' based on a shared love of freedom, democracy, and free trade." But the book demonstrates that it was also impacted by the events of the day and the leaders' personalities.
Initially, It took much effort for Churchill to enlist the support of President Roosevelt at a crucial time during a make or break time in the war. Britain had sustained the loss of 11 destroyers to the German Navy over ten days. FDR initially showed little interest in preserving Britain. In large part, that is because he promised to keep America out of the war. Churchill knew he needed that support and had a dream of the US and the USSR supporting a united states of Europe in which Britain would play a lead role. It never happened. Roosevelt died, and a nearly bankrupt nation saw Churchill voted out of office.
The remainder of the book traces the up and down relationships between future prime ministers and Presidents.
To begin, Churchill's replacement, Clement Attlee, never developed the same "special relationship" with Harry Truman. Among the things Attlee wanted was sharing America's nuclear secrets to enhance its stature. Truman refused.
During efforts to create a European Union in 1950, Britain did not want to be an equal among the other nations as it hoped the United States would always allow it special status in Europe.
Even when Churchill returned to power in 1951, he saw a different relationship and a different world. His nation faced its challenges. Oilfields in Iran had been nationalized, and control of the Suez Canal was up for grabs.
The book looks at each succeeding prime minister and offers evidence of how the 'special relationship' fared during their tenure.
Harold Macmillan found it challenging to develop a footing with President Eisenhower but later bonded with President Kennedy. Harold Wilson had much in common with Lyndon Johnson, but LBJ wanted British troops to help fight the Vietnamese, something that never happened. Jimmy Carter and PM Jim Callahan had to deal with Irish rights with Britain seeking access to nuclear weapons of US submarines. A genuine special relationship was forged between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. When Argentina took over the Falkland Islands, Regan supported Britain's fight back, and Thatcher allowed the US to bomb Libya from British bases. Iraq united President George Herbert Walker Bush and John Major. Bill Clinton maintained a good relationship with Major and later with Tony Blair. Barack Obama worked, for a short time, with Gordon Brown and much longer with David Cameron. Brown supported Obama's efforts to deal with a massive financial crisis.
The book spends ample time reviewing the tenure of Donald Trump and his dealing with Theresa May and Boris Johnson and Britain's reaction to Brexit. Just as Trump shook things up in the US, Brexit did the same in Britain.
Churchill defined the 'special relationship' as the affinity between 'English Speaking Peoples' based on a shared love of freedom, democracy, and free trade." But the book demonstrates that it was also impacted by the events of the day and the leaders' personalities.
October 10, 2020
A fun book that gave me an amusing look at what to expect in future seasons of The Crown. It basically shows "how the UK lost its way".
The book begins with the UK at nearly its peak of its empire. It loses more and more of the empire but manages to hold onto global supremacy with goodwill from WW2 and widely exported Beatlemania. By going through UK history one PM at a time, and focusing specifically on that PM's relationship with the US President(s) of the time, it helped me understand a lot about recent history.
Who knew that Bill Clinton wasn't much of an Anglophile but that pro-Bush supporters in the UK government tried to dig up anti-US sentiment during his time at Oxford claiming he sought UK citizenship? Or that invoking Churchill as a means for heaping praise would go from no-questions-asked during the Reagan years to twist-my-arm during the Obama administration?
One minor complaint is that he says 3 or 4 times that "the defining photograph of this dynamic is one where...", and yet this book doesn't show those photos! Were they skimping on royalties or just lazy?
The book begins with the UK at nearly its peak of its empire. It loses more and more of the empire but manages to hold onto global supremacy with goodwill from WW2 and widely exported Beatlemania. By going through UK history one PM at a time, and focusing specifically on that PM's relationship with the US President(s) of the time, it helped me understand a lot about recent history.
Who knew that Bill Clinton wasn't much of an Anglophile but that pro-Bush supporters in the UK government tried to dig up anti-US sentiment during his time at Oxford claiming he sought UK citizenship? Or that invoking Churchill as a means for heaping praise would go from no-questions-asked during the Reagan years to twist-my-arm during the Obama administration?
One minor complaint is that he says 3 or 4 times that "the defining photograph of this dynamic is one where...", and yet this book doesn't show those photos! Were they skimping on royalties or just lazy?
March 28, 2021
Buruma is een van de weinige schrijvers, die ingewikklde politieke en historische problemen op een interessante en leesbare manier weet te brengen. Zo ook hier weer. Sinds Churchill lijkt er een "special relation" te bestaan tussen de VS en Engeland. Daar valt volgens Buruma nog wel wat op af te dingen en hij legt dat uit aan de hand van de opeenvolgende relaties tussen Amerikaanse presidenten en Britse premiers. Ondanks, dat je deze geschiedenis wel kent, komen er toch feiten en feitjes in voor die, in ieder geval voor mij, nog nieuw waren. Buruma schrijft mooi en met veel humor. aan te bevelen als je ook maar een beetje in de moderne politiek geinteresseerd bent. De Brexit, Trump en Johnson komen er wat bekaaid vanaf, maar dat ligt waarschijnlijk aan het tijdstip van publicatie.
October 10, 2021
This book is a really fascinating look into the Anglo-American “special relationship” over the years.
The focus of the book is the dynamics between the Prime Minister of the UK and his or her contemporary US President, from Churchill all the way to Cameron (if you speak American, that would be FDR to Trump).
The way Buruma depicts the seemingly simultaneous weave, from right to left and back again, that the two countries have undergone over the years is both easily digestible and wholly informative.
Not a daunting read at all. Still, definitely not at the top of the list (or even close to the top) of books I recommend to people.
The focus of the book is the dynamics between the Prime Minister of the UK and his or her contemporary US President, from Churchill all the way to Cameron (if you speak American, that would be FDR to Trump).
The way Buruma depicts the seemingly simultaneous weave, from right to left and back again, that the two countries have undergone over the years is both easily digestible and wholly informative.
Not a daunting read at all. Still, definitely not at the top of the list (or even close to the top) of books I recommend to people.
June 7, 2021
Ik aarzel tussen drie en vier sterren omdat Buruma hier en daar wat steken laat vallen en niet altijd even helder is. Soms moet je een oorlog of gebeurtenis opzoeken in Wikipedia omdat Buruma veronderstelt dat je op de hoogte bent van de ins en outs. Een bonte stoet Amerikaanse presidenten en Engelse premiers passeert de revue. Sommigen zijn interessant anderen minder en Gerald Ford is zelfs helemaal afwezig. Obama komt er niet altijd goed vanaf maar de steun aan regime change nog minder. Egypte, Libië en Irak waren alle beter af geweest als hun dictators aan de macht waren gebleven.
September 7, 2024
De Speciale Relatie tussen VS en UK telkens vorm gegeven door verschillende Britse premiers vanaf Churchill maakt veel duidelijk over de internationale politiek. Vage noties die ik had (tijdens Irak oorlog) worden duidelijk door Buruma’s beschrijving van de verhouding tussen deze twee landen.
De strijd die UK voert om zich te verhouden tot een wereld waarin ze niet langer een grootmacht zijn, is nog verre van over.
Ian Buruma weet met zijn schrijverstalent ingewikkelde materie helder te beschrijven en lezenswaardig te maken.
De strijd die UK voert om zich te verhouden tot een wereld waarin ze niet langer een grootmacht zijn, is nog verre van over.
Ian Buruma weet met zijn schrijverstalent ingewikkelde materie helder te beschrijven en lezenswaardig te maken.
September 30, 2022
This feels well written bit quite prejudiced; there is plenty of criticism of US and Britains relationships but it feels like the writer is trying to convince you of the of disadvantages of Brexit without ever making a coherent case for the advantages of the EU, and when he does its purely financial. The subtext seems to reveal a deep prejudice on the authors part which males it hard to view the writing and research objectively.
June 25, 2023
Ian Buruma's The Churchill Complex: The Curse of Being Special, from Winston and FDR to Trump and Brexit is a concise history of the relations between the US and Great Brittan since WWII. It fills in some gaps for me since I either was not born yet or did not pay attention to relations between the two countries at certain points in time. Predictably, it ends on something of a sour note as both countries did something unconscionable: elect Trump president and leave the EU respectively.
February 16, 2021
Fascinating story of geopolitical events through the eyes of UK prime ministers and to a lesser extend other Western leaders. Written from a generally neutral perspective. The clearly chosen side at the end of the book and the unnecessary usage of difficult words are downsides, but did not take away the pleasure of reading it.
November 6, 2020
This is fine. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it - but I also didn't get much from it that I didn't already know. I would say most definitely aimed at the American reader who perhaps doesn't know (as) much about British politics and British Prime Ministers.
April 19, 2021
This interesting book examines the relationship between US presidents and British prime ministers from World War Two to the present. To what degree has a "Special Relationship" existed? This topic may sound dull, but Buruma is a lively, engaging writer.
October 29, 2022
Gives you a detailed insight into what this special UK-US relationship is and how it came about. A solid manual for anyone foreign to the history of transatlantic politics, that became especially relevant as of WW2. Well-written and translated. Highly recommended.
April 16, 2025
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book as I bought it at a library sale. It was very well researched and had a lot of information; I learned a lot from it. However, it was not the liveliest writing in my opinion, so it took a little while to get through.
December 28, 2020
Very interesting, especially given the current brexit developments
February 2, 2025
Drags at points, but really interesting
September 1, 2021
cijfer: 7
een kijkje op de politiek van het Verenigd Koninkrijk en met name de relatie met de Verenigde Staten door de jaren heen en hoe deze relatie veranderd is.
een kijkje op de politiek van het Verenigd Koninkrijk en met name de relatie met de Verenigde Staten door de jaren heen en hoe deze relatie veranderd is.
March 10, 2021
Gelezen voor de boekenclub van werk en viel eerlijk gezegd een beetje tegen. Buruma blijft in eerste instantie vaag wat nou de kernboodschap/rode lijn in zijn verhaal is: is het een (historische) verklaring zoeken voor de Brexit? Anglo-Amerikaanse verhoudingen bespreken? Of echt 'het Churchill complex' bespreken?
Ik vond de argumentatie soms net wat zwak en de schrijfstijl erg van de hak op de tak springen. Jammer dat de Anglo-Amerikaanse betrekkingen m.n. uit het perspectief van de Britten werd geschreven. Toch biedt het scheve machtsevenwicht tussen beide landen wel een goede verklaring voor besluiten van de Britten om een inval in Irak te ondersteunen. Bij de Brexit uitgekomen werd de verklaring alleen een beetje dun en eindigde het boek erg abrupt. Wel weer goed vond ik dat Buruma de geschiedenis vrij luchtig weet te bespreken en dat hij laat zien hoe het trauma van 'München' nog lang veel (foute) politieke beslissingen heeft beïnvloedt.
Ik vond de argumentatie soms net wat zwak en de schrijfstijl erg van de hak op de tak springen. Jammer dat de Anglo-Amerikaanse betrekkingen m.n. uit het perspectief van de Britten werd geschreven. Toch biedt het scheve machtsevenwicht tussen beide landen wel een goede verklaring voor besluiten van de Britten om een inval in Irak te ondersteunen. Bij de Brexit uitgekomen werd de verklaring alleen een beetje dun en eindigde het boek erg abrupt. Wel weer goed vond ik dat Buruma de geschiedenis vrij luchtig weet te bespreken en dat hij laat zien hoe het trauma van 'München' nog lang veel (foute) politieke beslissingen heeft beïnvloedt.
November 19, 2020
Ian Buruma laat op indrukwekkende wijze zien hoe Groot Brittannië haar grootsheid verloor door de dekolonisatie, maar niet kon geloven dat het daardoor een 'gemiddeld' land zou worden. Churchill is de staatsman die de vermeende grootsheid nog eenmaal in beeld bracht. Sindsdien hangt het verenigd koninkrijk aan een elastiekje tussen de VS en de (rest van) Europa, voortdurend opzoek naar haar legitimatie en werkelijke afmeting. Met de naderende Brexit zullen de afmetingen duidelijker worden, met de keuze voor Biden het isolement vergroot. Een mooi en goed leesbaar boek over een pendel die veel heeft betekend de laatste decennia.
November 15, 2020
Interessant. Wel redelijk veel van hetzelfde.
April 14, 2021
Is een handleiding bij de huidige situatie.
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