Roosevelt Papers
Prime Minister Churchill to President Roosevelt 1
(Blenheim Day)!
My Dear Franklin, Thinking things over w[oul]d it not be better to go straight from here to the Citadel & let us (Clemmie2 & I) come back here & to the White House after the Conference? The eyes of the world are upon the Conference & I doubt if much progress will be made till we are on the spot—w[hic]h I think sh[oul]d be by Sunday or Monday. I do not know of course how important or urgent is y[ou]r business in Washington,3 but I am quite sure that the sooner we are up in the North the better. Will you think this over.
Yours always,
- This letter, on 10 Downing Street stationery, was handwritten by Churchill and given or delivered to Roosevelt, although both Roosevelt and Churchill were staying in Roosevelt’s home at Hyde Park from August 12 to August 14, 1943.↩
- Mrs. Churchill.↩
- No written reply has been found to explain why Roosevelt preferred to return to Washington before proceeding to Quebec. Churchill left Hyde Park on the evening of August 14, and went to Quebec by train. See post, p. 833, fn. 3. Roosevelt remained at Hyde Park until the evening of August 15; traveled by train to Washington, where he arrived at 7:45 a.m., August 16; spent the day at the White House; and then left Washington by train at 8:20 p.m., August 16, to go to Quebec, where he arrived at 6 p.m., August 17. See post, p. 837.↩