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Raymond A. Callahan
The Churchill Project - Hillsdale College > Raymond A. Callahan
Jack Pease Insights on the 1911-15 Liberal Government
15
Jan
2024
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
Pease enhances our understanding Cabinet decisions during the Great War’s first critical months, hitherto mainly represented by Asquith’s gossipy letters to his lady friend. But virtually every entry is accompanied by a superb editorial gloss that not only fills in the context but acts as a review of all recent scholarship on the subject covered, or alluded to in the entry. Everything is good about this book—except the price.
Great Contemporaries: George Marshall and America at War (2)
05
Jan
2024
1
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
Despite sharp wartime differences, the British never forgot George Marshall. At the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, as he entered Westminster Abbey representing the United States, the vast congregation stood as a mark of respect. When he was hospitalized and dying in 1959, Churchill (by then “Sir Winston”), on a visit to Washington, accompanied President Eisenhower to see him. He left Walter Reed Medical Center with tears in his eyes.
Great Contemporaries: Marshall, “The American Carnot” (1)
15
Dec
2023
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
Marshall’s role is usually discussed now in terms of his contributions to Anglo-American strategy. His clashes with Churchill and his formidable Chief of Imperial General Staff General Sir Alan Brooke well known. But the skill with which he built a small, somewhat obsolescent force into a mighty army was staggering. He selected and promoted its leaders, oversaw its organization and training, secured its equipment, worked with industry, and managed relations with the President, Congress and a public anxious about “their boys.”
Great Contemporaries: Asquith: The Last Victorian Liberal (2)
06
Mar
2023
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
“Asquith fell when the enormous task was but half completed. He fell with dignity. He bore adversity with composure. In or out of power, disinterested patriotism and inflexible integrity were his only guides. Let it never be forgotten that he was always on his country's side in all her perils, and that he never hesitated to sacrifice his personal or political interests to the national cause.” —Churchill
Great Contemporaries: Asquith: The Last Victorian Liberal (1)
17
Feb
2023
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
Asquith reshaped the Liberal Cabinet, promoting Lloyd George to the Exchequer and Churchill to the Board of Trade. These two intelligent, ambitious, future prime ministers provided much of the firepower and nearly all the color that in the early Asquith government. It reflects well on Asquith’s self-assurance that he successfully managed both of them for so long.
Great Contemporaries: The Age of Lloyd George (Part 4)
15
Sep
2022
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
“David Lloyd George's personal failings are clear, but a historian’s verdict ought to be that, in utterly unprecedented situations, he rose very well to the challenges—and far better than any conceivable alternative leader. Overshadowed now by the memory of Churchill, he deserves respectful remembrance in his own right.”
How Arcadia Blueprinted History’s Greatest Wartime Coalition
18
Aug
2022
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
Although it commands less historical attention than some of the war’s later “summits,” Arcadia was very important. It brought together for the first time the small group that, sustainably unchanged, would manage the largest, most complex coalition war in recorded history. It also shaped the Allies’ controlling machinery and grand strategy. Without it, effective Anglo-American cooperation and coordination would have been much harder, if not impossible.
Great Contemporaries: Churchill in the Age of Lloyd George (Part 3)
09
Jun
2022
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
Versailles is often viewed as short-sighted and vindictive, laying the foundation for future calamity. But Lloyd George was under enormous pressure to satisfy clamant allies whose mood was either deeply angry (France) or unrealistically messianic (America). At home, the Tories wanted a harsh peace. Churchill, still a Liberal and characteristically magnanimous, argued vainly for milder treatment of Germany.
Great Contemporaries: Churchill in the Age of Lloyd George (Part 2)
07
Jun
2022
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
The first thing to know about Lloyd George’s premiership is that it destroyed the Liberal Party. Internecine fighting opened the door for the Labour Party (which joined the wartime coalition). A few years later, moving from minor third-party status, Labour formed a government. The Liberals would never govern again.
Great Contemporaries: Churchill in the Age of Lloyd George (Part 1)
21
Apr
2022
2
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
Much of Churchill’s pre-1914 career was tied into that of Lloyd George, who kick-started the rebuilding of that career in 1917. The memory of Lloyd George’s experience as war leader helped shape how Churchill structured his own position in 1940. Lloyd George’s career is worth remembering for its own sake, and for its impact on Churchill, who led Britain through a second and greater total war.
Great Contemporaries: Montgomery, Right Man at the Right Time (Part 2)
30
Sep
2021
1
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
“He’d never get us killed, stupid like…” Britain’s soldiers needed a general who wouldn't squander their lives. In Montgomery they found one.
Great Contemporaries: Montgomery, Right Man at the Right Time (Part 1)
23
Sep
2021
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
Montgomery took command of the 8th Army at a time when Britain and Churchill desperately needed a victory. It was left to him to deliver it.