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  • Finest Hour

    Franklin D. Roosevelt

    May 03, 2021 6 minutes
    By Winston S. Churchill

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) served as thirty-second President of the United States from 1933 until his sudden death on 12 April 1945. Five days later, Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered the following eulogy in the House of Commons.

    My friendship to the great man to whose work and fame we pay our tribute today began and ripened during the war. I had met him, but only for a few minutes, after the close of the last war, and as soon as I went to the Admiralty in September 1939, he telegraphed inviting me to correspond with him direct on naval or other matters if at any time I felt inclined. Having obtained the permission of the Prime Minister, I did so. Knowing President Roosevelt’s keen interest in sea warfare, I furnished him with a stream of information about our naval affairs, and about the various actions, including especially the action of the Plate River, which lighted the first gloomy winter of the war.

    When I became Prime Minister, and the war broke out

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