A Letter to FDR from Lord Lothian

Although I do not mention him in the book that I’m writing, Philip Kerr played a cherished role in my research.

Born in London in 1882, Kerr was an aristocrat who held several minor government and diplomatic positions and also dabbled in newspapers. In March 1930, after a cousin died, Kerr succeeded his late relative as the Marquess of Lothian, a title that entitled Kerr to a seat in the House of Lords. He was commonly known as Lord Lothian – or, simply, Lothian – for the rest of his life.

I started this project by reading books. Lots of books. What I really wanted though was to dig into primary research materials … letters, telegrams, and diaries of key figures in Britain and the U.S. in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Primary sources are the Holy Grail for historical researchers. My first primary research adventure was a trip to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Presidential Museum in Hyde Park, NY.

One of the first documents I held was a December 21, 1938 letter to FDR from Lord Lothian. Lothian, who would become Great Britain’s ambassador to the U.S. in 1939, mentioned a planned visit to Washington in the last days of 1938 and requested a meeting to “have a talk with you about the present world situation.”

What made this note special to me was the brief comment written by hand in the margin by FDR. President Roosevelt wrote this, in pencil, in the upper left corner of the letter: “Mac, I’ll be glad to see him for a few minutes. Give him 15 minute appt when he arrives.” When I first held that document, partially written by FSR, I swear I could also “hear” his patrician voice, garbled just slightly by the cigarette holder between his teeth.

One of the absolute delights of this process has been the opportunity to work with the personal papers of Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Chamberlain, Admiral James Somerville, General Edward Louis Spears, and dozens of other players in the story I’m writing. One of the genuine surprises has been how open and welcoming archivists around the world have been to a former software salesman.

Postscript – A short time after Winston Churchill joined Neville Chamberlain’s Government as First Lord of the Admiralty in September 1939, he began an informal chain of correspondence with President Roosevelt. Lothian resented what he interpreted as interference with his role as Britain’s diplomatic conduit to America. Lothian, who was a Christian Scientist (a member of the Church of Christ, Science), died in December 1940 after refusing medical care for an illness. This provided Churchill, by then Britain’s Prime Minister, with the opportunity to appoint Lord Halifax – a presumed rival – to Washington as Lord Lothian’s successor. Ah history! I hope you enjoy these interwoven stories as much as I do.

Thanks for reading this one,
Bill