The Artist and the Aviator: The Case for Churchill and Roosevelt Viewing Victory Through Air Power
Following the Second World War, the claim was made by Walt Disney and Alexander P. de Seversky that the film Victory Through Air Power (1943), based on the book of the same name, was viewed by Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt at the Quebec Conference. This viewing, the claim continues, helped to increase the support the two leaders gave to strategic air power in defeating the Axis. The story has been repeated by Disney historians ever since. But is it true?
In April 1942 the book Victory Through Air Power by Major Alexander P. de Seversky was published with little fanfare, but within a month it appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. By August it had reached number one—so popular it prompted a paperback reissue, practically unheard of at the time. Interest continued at a fever pitch, and it was condensed for publication in Reader’s Digest and serialized in newspapers. By fall, Gallup’s Audience Research Institute estimated five million people had read the book in one form or another.
The book’s popularity was in large part due to timing. It was the early stages of the war for the United States, and the country had faced many setbacks. The book offered bold solutions, a self-help manual for a frustrated public on how to win the war. The “secret” was long-range air power.
One American totally won over by Seversky’s argument was Walt Disney. In 1941 Walt had caught the flying fever on a goodwill trip to South America, done at the behest of the US Government. “I had decided to make a picture on the history of aviation,” recalled Walt in 1942, and “when I read…Victory Through Air Power, I was impressed with Major Seversky’s clear vision of the present and future role of air power.”1
Within a month Walt instructed that the film rights be purchased with the caveat that all inquiries eliminate the Disney name. Straightaway the rights were secured, and Walt contacted Seversky to strategy for winning the war.
