Winston Churchill's address to Congress, 1941

The day after Christmas in 1941, an impassioned (but not devoid of humor) Winston Churchill addressed both houses of the US Congress for the first time.

The Pearl Harbor attack had taken place only two weeks before, and the United States had declared war on the Axis powers the following day, thus officially entering World War II. Although the speech was ostensibly to both chambers of Congress, it was at least partly intended to drum up popular support for the war effort from a unified US. Besides WNYC and WQXR, Churchill's speech was broadcast over all major networks (CBS, NBC and Mutual).

Churchill is at his usual, masterful, persuasive best. He humbly describes his thrill at he, "an Englishman", being welcome to the Senate chamber with open arms, and then proceeds to build up from the current dire situation, to some glimmers of hope (Leningrad, Libya), and finally to a resolute, defiant will to defeat the enemy ("Who do they think we are?"). His bravado was bold, since the war was at one of its darkest hours for the Allies.

Needless to say, the tide turned once the US entered the war, even if Churchill's pondering of "whether deliverance comes in 1942 or 1943 or 1944" actually ended up being just a shade optimistic.