Winston Churchill, American Patriot
In the 250 years since the founding, only eight people have been granted honorary citizenship in the American Republic. Some, such as the Marquis de Lafayette and Casimir Pulaski, played pivotal roles in winning independence itself. Others, such as Raoul Wallenberg and Mother Teresa, have been granted this high title because they were such powerful advocates of the ideals of human dignity. When Congress makes a foreigner an honorary citizen, it is a way of memorializing not just exceptional individuals but also the principles of the American Revolution they embody.
Before any of these heroes of liberty, though, the first person made an honorary U.S. citizen was an icon of Britishness: Sir Winston Churchill. In the August 1962 speech introducing a bill to award the rank to the former prime minister, Ohio Senator Stephen M. Young described him as “the hero of two nations.” But Churchill’s achievement goes beyond that. His fight against totalitarianism inspired people across the free world to resist tyranny. Churchill saved Great Britain and rescued the whole of Western civilization. It is altogether fitting and proper that the nation he often called the “Great Republic” would make him an honorary son.
Throughout his entire career, Churchill insisted that the defense of Western civilization depended upon the “special relationship” between the United States and the United Kingdom. The son of an American heiress and a British aristocrat (he had ancestors who fought on both sides of the War for Independence), he uniquely understood that the historical ties between the two nations go beyond a shared language. The English-speaking peoples were bound together by a common culture and an ardent love for liberty that Churchill believed was more precious than almost anything.
As American citizens today reflect on 250 years of independence, it is worth looking back to what our honorary brother had to say about our republic. Not only did Churchill understand the roots of American order, but he also sought ways to nourish them through both history and oratory. Furthermore, he attempted to found the post–World War II global order on those very same roots—not according to an arid universalism, but rather on the grounds of a truly rational conservatism that can balance principles and particulars.
Read more in Religion & Liberty and listen to additional commentary below in EWTN’s Ave Maria in the Afternoon.
