This talk will explore how the evolving partnership between Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt shaped Allied strategy and, ultimately, the outcome of the Second World War. The talk charts their path from cautious early exchanges to an often frank, interdependent relationship after Pearl Harbor, contrasting Churchill’s effective rhetoric and imperial objectives with Roosevelt’s pragmatism and political flexibility. 

Through episodes such as the Atlantic Charter, the Germany-first decision, disputes over the Second Front, and arguments about the future of empire, it shows how private letters, late-night conversations and carefully staged summit meetings held the Grand Alliance together. Churchill’s personal gesture gifting his painting of the Koutoubia Mosque, on display in our exhibition, Winston Churchill: The Painter was an important moment within this wider story of negotiation, conflicting national interests and objectives, mutual need, and shared purpose. 

About the speaker:Colonel (Ret) Kevin J. Weddle, Ph.D. is a Distinguished Fellow and a military historian at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of the US Military Academy, a combat veteran, and served over 28 years on active duty in the US Army. During his Army career he served in a variety of command and staff positions in the United States and overseas. He earned a master’s in civil engineering at the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. in history from Princeton.  

Kevin is a multiple award-winning author of books and articles, including the critically acclaimed and best-selling The Compleat Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution (Oxford University Press, 2021), winner of six national and international literary awards including the Gilder Lehrman Prize in Military History and the Society of the Cincinnati Prize.  

Watch online: This talk will be broadcast live via Zoom. Online ticketholders will be emailed a link to join 24 hours in advance. Ticketholders will also receive a link to view a recording of the talk, which will be available for two weeks.