CHURCHILL AND FAMOUS SIGN IN WASHINGTON - An original press photograph of Sir Winston S. Churchill flashing his famous V sign on 25 June 1954 upon arrival in Washington, D.C. for his final meeting with President Dwight Eisenhower as British Prime Minister.
Washington, D.C. United Press Photo, published by the Brooklyn Eagle, 28 June 1954. Photograph. This original press photograph shows Prime Minister Sir Winston S. Churchill flashing his famous V sign on 25 June 1954 upon arrival in Washington, D.C. for his final meeting with President Dwight Eisenhower as British Prime Minister. The image is a closeup of Churchill captured while he was in the backseat of a car at Washington Airport, where he had just landed. Churchill’s cheerful countenance upon arrival and astute reminder to his American audience of their shared Second World War victory belied - or perhaps was intended to soften - the seriousness of the issues he would address with Eisenhower.
The image is printed on glossy photo paper and measures 9 x 7.125 inches. Condition is very good plus. The image remains crisp and bright, the print clean with only light, superficial scuffs visible under raking light. The original copyright stamp on the verso is partially obscured by the original printed “UNITED PRESS TELEPHOTO” caption titled “CHURCHILL AND FAMOUS SIGN IN WASHINGTON”. Designated “WAP 1060814 (59783) and attributed to the "NEW YORK BUREAU", the caption reads "WASHINGTON, D.C.: British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill gives his famous victory sign from the backseat of a car at a Washington Airport following his arrival on June 25th. He drove immediately to the White House for high level talks with President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. Churchill, accompanied by Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, said they came here ‘to talk over a few family matters, and to try to make sure that there are no misunderstandings.’ Churchill and Eisenhower began their conferences three hours after the Prime Minister’s arrival. NX-A-B FTS MX CAN MGS FOR TV CREDIT (UNITED PRESS TELEPHOTO) 6/25/54 (JL)”. This photo originally belonged to the archives of the Brooklyn Eagle, whose "RECEIVED" ink stamp on the verso is dated "JUN 28 1954". The Brooklyn Eagle published continuously for 114 years before ceasing publication on January 29, 1955, due to a prolonged strike. This photograph later belonged to the Photofest agency, evidenced by their sticker on the verso. The image is protected within a clear, removable, rigid sleeve.
At the height of his own and Eisenhower’s supreme victories, Churchill’s wartime government fell to Labour in the General Election of late July 1945. More than six years passed with Churchill as Leader of the Opposition before Churchill’s Conservatives won the General Election of October 1951. Churchill would return to 10 Downing Street to lead a Britain increasingly marginalized and eclipsed by America and Eisenhower would be elected President of the United States just a year later, becoming Churchill’s civilian counterpart.
This journey to America was the third and last of Churchill's second, peace-time premiership (1951-55). Just before this image was captured, Churchill reached Washington on the morning of Friday, 25 June 1954. Days before, Churchill communicated to Eisenhower goals for their conference. Significantly, prominent among the issues was Churchill's assertion that "In no foreseeable circumstances, except possibly a local rescue, could British troops be used in Indo-China, and if we were asked our opinion we should advise against United States local intervention except for rescue." ('Top Secret' Message from the Prime Minister received 21 June 1954) It is also noteworthy that in the days leading up to the Washington visit, Churchill and Eden disagreed over whether Churchill should consult Washington on the terms of the proposed British withdrawal from Egypt. Churchill wanted to delay negotiations with Egypt until he had explored "the extent to which the United Stated could be persuaded to support us... or even to be associated with us..." Eden opposed Churchill's suggestion. Significantly, America's opposition to British occupation of Suez would bring down Eden's own government two and a half years later, in January 1957. Anglo-American comity was affirmed during the visit in a “Declaration of Principles”, even if full strategic alignment was elusive and Churchill’s earnest desire for a summit including U.S. and Soviet leadership was thwarted.
Though their relationship was marked with frequent disagreements about strategic and national priorities, the two men had a deep mutual respect. When Eisenhower eulogized Churchill on 30 January 1965, he recalled: “…I was privileged to meet, to talk, to plan and to work with him for common goals… an abiding – and to me precious – friendship was forged; it withstood the trials and friction inescapable among men of strong convictions, living in the atmosphere of war… our friendship flowered in the later and more subtle tests imposed by international politics… each of us, holding high official post in his own nation, strove together so to concert the strength of our two peoples that liberty might be preserved among men and the security of the free world wholly sustained.”. Item #009022
Price: $300.00