May 17, 2013
JFK SUGGESTED AMERICAN VISITORS TO LONDON LAY WREATHS AT CHURCHILL'S FEET
London, U.K. (JFK+50) British academics think highly of U.S. President FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, so much so that in 2010 a group of them selected FDR as the greatest of all our Presidents. FDR finished 1st in 3 of 5 categories: vision, domestic leadership and foreign policy.
The British people honored FDR on the third anniversary of his death, April 12, 1948, by dedicating a statue of the 32nd President of the United States which still stands today in London's GROSVENOR SQUARE.*
FDR Statue in Grosvenor Square
London, U.K.
Photo by Bill Harrison (2009)
*During WWII, the Chancery was on one side and Ike's HQs were on the other, so Grosvenor Square was called "Little America."
A statue of FDR by Sir William Reid Dick, was unveiled in the Square by Eleanor Roosevelt on the 3rd anniversary of his death, April 12, 1948.
The ceremony was attended by the Royal Family, PM Clement Attlee & Sir Winston Churchill. The statue was dedicated by Ambassador Lewis W. Douglas.
Funds for the statue were raised in less than a week by "The Pilgrims," a group dedicated to promoting good will between the US and UK. There were more than 160,000 individual donations.
On May 8, 1963, John F. Kennedy was reminded of that statue by a reporter at his news conference when he asked if JFK was aware of any plan to reciprocate here in the United States with a statue of WINSTON CHURCHILL.
The reporter said....
"Americans who go to London always go (to Grosvenor Square)...and every time there's Britishers laying...wreaths (on FDR's statue)."
President Kennedy responded...
"Well, (Churchill) is still very much with us and I think we ought to lay our wreaths at his feet."
The President's answer was followed by laughter from the press corps.
Statue of Winston Churchill
London Park Square
Photo by Ziko (2004)
