Dedication of Churchill Bust in Congress after Obama snub
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Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. ET, Congress dedicated a bust of Winston Churchill to reside in the Capitol. This is a tribute to the greatest statesman of the 20th century, who urged the United States and the British Empire to join together in a “fraternal association” to “proclaim in fearless tones the great principles of freedom and the rights of man which are the joint inheritance of the English-speaking world.” You can view the dedication live at speaker.gov/live. It will also be archived there for you to watch later if you prefer.
Hillsdale College is the publisher of the official biography of Winston Churchill.
Winston Spencer Churchill was the best friend the United States ever had,” said John Boenher, the speaker of the House, at the commemoration ceremony.
Mr Boehner was joined inside the Capitol, a building British forces tried to burn down in 1814, by leaders of both parties as they paid tribute to the former prime minister.
Both Republicans and Democrats noted that Churchill’s mother was an American and that he had a deep admiration for the country he called “the Great Republic”.
Churchill is the only person ever granted an honourary US passport.
The unveiling went significantly more smoothly than the last time Washington focused on a bust of the wartime prime minister.
When Barack Obama was sworn in as president, the White House returned a bust of Churchill to the British embassy, which had loaned it to George W Bush.
Mr Obama’s aides angrily denied they had returned the bust to the embassy or that the move was intended to show “antipathy towards the British”.
But days later they were forced to backtrack, admitting the bust had in fact been sent back and that they had mistaken it for a similar piece that has been in the White House since the 1960s.
The new bust will be displayed inside Congress’s statuary hall alongside former political leaders and American icons like Rosa Parks.
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