Download e-book for kindle: The Wilson–Johnson Correspondence, 1964–69 by Simon C. Smith

under a yr after the assassination of President Kennedy introduced Lyndon B. Johnson to the White apartment, Harold Wilson grew to become British major Minister. Over the following 4 years, the 2 males ruled their international locations via exceptional crises, either household and foreign. to supply a greater realizing of the transatlantic dating, this quantity offers for the 1st time the entire correspondence among Wilson and Johnson from the time Wilson grew to become leading Minister in October 1964 until eventually Johnson stepped down as President in January 1969. this era witnessed Britain’s sped up ’retreat from Empire’ and the USA’ correspondingly lively function in confronting communist impression around the globe. The letters among Wilson and Johnson display the problems they confronted in this interval of transition. specifically, the problem of the Vietnam battle looms huge, as Wilson’s refusal to dedicate British forces, and his sponsorship of peace tasks, served to put serious pressure on family among the 2 males. different major themes which re-occur within the correspondence comprise American makes an attempt to stiffen Britain’s unravel to maintain the price of the pound, the just about continuous British defence experiences, the way forward for the British military at the Rhine, the French withdrawal from NATO, the 1967 Arab-Israeli warfare, East-West kinfolk, Britain’s family members with the EEC, the Prague Spring, and the devaluation of sterling. Drawing on fabric from the Johnson Presidential Library, Wilson’s inner most papers on the Bodleian Library, and the nationwide records of either the USA and the uk, this assortment presents a right away perception into Anglo-American kinfolk at a pivotal second. For when the USA was once definitely a superpower at the upward thrust and Britain a declining impression at the international level, the letters show that Johnson was once longing for overseas allies to illustrate to the yankee people who the united states didn't stan