ALSO BY THOMAS MAIER Dr. Spock: An American Life Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love Newhouse: All the Glitter, Power, and Glory of America’s Richest Media Empire and the Secretive Man Behind It The Kennedys: America’s Emerald Kings The Kennedy Years: From the Pages of The New York Times (opening essay) Copyright © 2014 by Thomas Maier All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Crown Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York. www.crownpublishing.com CROWN and the Crown colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Maier, Thomas, 1956– When lions roar : the Churchills and the Kennedys / Thomas Maier. — First edition. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Churchill, Winston, 1874–1965—Friends and associates. 2. Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917–1963—Friends and associates. 3. Churchill, Winston, 1874–1965—Family. 4. Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917–1963—Family. 5. Great Britain—Relations—United States. 6. United States—Relations—Great Britain. 7. Great Britain—Politics and government—20th century. 8. United States—Politics and government—20th century. 9. Churchill family. 10. Kennedy family. I. Title. II. Title: Churchills and the Kennedys. DA566.9.C5M235 2014 941.084092’2—dc23 2014007201 ISBN 978-0-307-95679-8 eBook ISBN 978-0-30795681-1 Jacket photograph: Keystone/Stringer/Hutton Archive/Getty Author photograph: Joyce P. McGurrin Frontispiece photographs: (left) The Imperial War Museums; (right) The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library v3.1 For my father and sons, James and Andrew, Taylor, and Reade Winston at Chartwell. Churchill’s magnificent home south of London vivified his many talents as a writer, politician, raconteur, artist, landscaper, and even bricklayer. TIME & LIFE PICTURES/GETTY “Have I not in my time heard lions roar?” —WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, The Taming of the Shrew “Some people pretend to regard me as the British Lion. But I am not the Lion. I am simply the Roar of the Lion.” —WINSTON CHURCHILL Contents Cover Other Books by This Author Title Page Copyright Dedication Epigraph Cast of Characters I. DYNASTY AND EMPIRE 1 | Overture: “The Special Relationship” 2 | A Troublesome Boy 3 | Speaking Engagements 4 | Love and Friendships 5 | A Man on the Make 6 | Across the Atlantic 7 | The Deal 8 | The King of Wall Street II. FAMILY FORTUNES 9 | The Sons of Great Men 10 | Menace on the Horizon 11 | London Calling 12 | Astor Place 13 | The Kennedy Women 14 | The Desire to Please 15 | Breach of Faith 16 | The Cross and Double-Cross 17 | The Last Dance 18 | While America Slept 19 | We Shall Fight 20 | A Spy in Their Midst 21 | Grace under Fire 22 | Crash Landing III. WARTIME 23 | The House of Churchill Bears a Son 24 | New Alliances 25 | “The Masters of Our Fate” 26 | Replacements 27 | The Churchill Club 28 | “His Heart’s Desire” 29 | Stratagems of Hell Photo Insert 30 | Tests of Faith 31 | Love among the Ruins 32 | Victory and Defeat IV. MAKING PEACE 33 | Feeling the Heat 34 | The Coldest War 35 | Circles of Friends 36 | Warrior Historians 37 | Great Contemporaries 38 | Winners and Losers 39 | Black Knights on a Chessboard 40 | Friends in High Places 41 | Meetings at Sea 42 | In Their Own Image 43 | Arms to Parley 44 | Mending Fences 45 | The Enemy Within 46 | After the Ball 47 | The Best and Worst of Days 48 | Thoughts That Lie Too Deep 49 | The Once and Future King Notes Selected Bibliography About the Author