CHURCHILL, Winston S.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Autograph letter signed, to Lord Beaverbrook, thanking him for the support of his media empire in the October 1951 election. The day before the election that would return him to power, Churchill writes to his old friend, the press magnate Lord Beaverbrook, thanking him for his support and declaring, "I hope we may both take our revenge for 1945".In one of the bitterest blows of his career, Churchill had unexpectedly lost the 1945 election, after Victory in Europe but while the war in the Pacific still raged. Beaverbrook (1879-1964) was a formidable figure in British politics and a close, if sometimes volatile, ally of Churchill, who appointed him Minister of Aircraft Production during the Second World War.Beaverbrook threw his newspapers behind Churchill in the 25 October 1951 election, which was a major factor in Churchill's victory and return to Downing Street. Churchill thanks Beaverbrook for his aid: "I am most grateful to you for all the help you have given us". He also sends an enclosure: "I send this just in case you think it worth while to use it".The letter is dated by Gilbert as 24 October 1951 (Gilbert, p. 648). It comes with an original envelope addressed to Beaverbrook, but the stamp dates from 1954-56, indicating a later pairing among Beaverbrook's papers. As was customary in his letters to Beaverbrook, Churchill signs familiarly, "W".Provenance: the collection of Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Magazine, and presidential candidate in the 1996 and 2000 US elect

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