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Vintage matte-finish 12 x 10 photo of Winston Churchill delivering a speech before the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia on March 8, 1946, with General Dwight D. Eisenhower seated to his left, signed below in fountain pen, “Winston S. Churchill” and “Dwight D. Eisenhower.” The photo is also signed by Virginia Governor William M. Tuck, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Lewis Preston Collins II, and Field Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson. In fine condition, with lightly trimmed edges, and some creasing to the wide borders. Accompanied by a group of 10 vintage matte-finish 11 x 8.5 photos taken during Churchill’s visit to Richmond, several of which depict Churchill and Eisenhower together at the Virginia State House.
Three days after his famous ‘Sinews of Peace (Iron Curtain)’ speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946, Churchill traveled to the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, where he gave an address to the joint houses of the Virginia General Assembly. Flanked by General Eisenhower and Field Marshal Wilson, Churchill built upon his Iron Curtain message, emphasizing the importance of post-war unity by drawing historical parallels with past conflicts such as the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. A resounding applause followed the conclusion of his speech:
‘It is in the years of peace that wars are prevented and that those foundations are laid upon which the noble structures of the future can be built. But peace will not be preserved without the virtues that make victory possible in war. Peace will not be preserved by pious sentiments expressed in terms of platitudes or by official grimaces and diplomatic correctitude however desirable these may be from time to time. It will not be preserved by casting aside in dangerous years the panoply of warlike strength. There must be earnest thought. There must also be faithful perseverance and foresight. Great Heart must have his sword and armor to guard the pilgrims on their way. Above all, among the English-speaking peoples, there must be the union of hearts based upon conviction and common ideals. That is what I offer. That is what I seek.’
After a series of boisterous chants, Eisenhower also took to the podium and addressed the assembly: ‘Of all the things that supported me through three and a half years of warfare on the European continent, I know of no other single thing that was of greater moral benefit than the unwavering, staunch, indomitable, courageous support of the Prime Minister of Great Britain. It is my earnest conviction that only history can measure even remotely the true value of the worth of the service he has rendered to all of us. But I am certain that in meetings such as this, with the wholehearted welcome he finds in this city from my own countrymen to him, he will gain some little measure of understanding in his own time of what we think of him.’
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