November 29, 2020

By BRIAN KRAPF

The current Finest Hour (Fourth Quarter, 2020) focuses on Churchill’s vast literary accomplishments. Included within are two very interesting articles, one by Ronald I. Cohen MBE and the other by Lawrence Siskind, about the other Winston Churchill, the American author. I urge everyone to read these two articles and enjoy the fascinating story of how the two Winstons met in 1900, created a friendship, and forged an agreement which alleviated any public confusion regarding their literary publications. Likewise, both Winstons were active in politics, with American Winston serving in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

Given the subject matter presented by these two Finest Hour articles, I thought the readership might enjoy seeing this piece of campaign memorabilia for the “other” Winston. As Mr. Cohen points out, American Winston ran for Governor of New Hampshire in 1906 and again in 1912, only to lose each time. Pictured here is a silk ribbon that was used in his 1906 campaign. Since the only British governors in Churchill’s time were appointed by the Crown to oversee colonies and not elected by the people, this piece is uniquely American and should cause no confusion in the marketplace should one be offered for sale.

Brian Krapf’s book We Want Winston!—A Treasury of Churchill Memorabilia will be published by Pen and Sword in 2021.