Drunk History: Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill was the prime minister of the United Kingdom for most of World War II. Under his leadership and with the help of the Allied Powers, he saved not only his own people from living under the Nazi regime, but likely the entirety of Europe and Asia. He went on to win a Nobel Prize in 1953 for the works of literature he created throughout his lifetime. In addition to being a talented artist, writer, and orator, Churchill is widely regarded as one of the greatest Prime Ministers to ever hold office and one of the most influential people in the history of Great Britain. He is featured in an episode of Drunk History, “The Roosevelts”.
Drunk History is a Comedy Central show in which the host, Derek Waters, shares a few alcoholic

drinks with a guest and then that guest tells the audience about a historical event. This often leads to inconsistencies between the narrative given and the actual event. In the episode “The Roosevelts”, the story of Winston Churchill’s Christmas trip to the White House is told by actor Eric Edelstein. On December 22nd, 1941, mere weeks after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, Churchill arrived on the White House steps. Over the next few days Churchill and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt discussed their battle plans over alcoholic drinks and cigars. After the Christmas celebration had concluded, December 26th, 1941, Churchill addressed the United States Congress with a powerful speech entitled “Masters of our Fate” in an attempt to persuade the United States to focus on the war in Europe as well as their focus on the war in the Pacific. Given the narrator’s state of inebriation, very few inconsistencies exist between the narrative given in Drunk History and the actual events that took place. The historical accuracy of the episode in combination with its entertainment value make this episode a valuable historical reference and an effective tool for exposing audiences to historical events.
Many of the details given by the episode of Drunk History seem too humorous and outlandish to be factual.

One claim made by Drunk History is that Churchill requested a tumbler of sherry in the morning, scotch and soda before lunch, and 90 year old brandy and French champagne before bed. However, this is evidenced to be true by an account by Cita Stelzer in her book entitled “Dinner with Churchill: Policy-Making at the Dinner Table” (Stelzer). Another claim by Drunk History is that Churchill brought war maps with him to the White House to make battle plans. According to the Smithsonian website, this is true. Churchill used the First Lady’s conference room, the Monroe room, to display several large war maps. (Trickey). Drunk History is also accurate in its assessment of the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, being concerned about the Prime Minister and the President’s late night sessions. Several sources indicate that the First Lady was concerned for the health of the president and did not approve of the late night talks, which would often run until 2 or 3 in the morning. “It was astonishing to me that anyone could smoke so much and drink so much and keep perfectly well,” the First Lady wrote later on. (Trickey). The portrayal of Churchill’s address to congress and its response in Drunk History is proven to be accurate by the actual transcript and footage of the event. A final detail mentioned in Drunk History is that after Churchill returned to London he received a telegram from FDR, in which Roosevelt wrote that “I am so happy to be living in the same decade as you”. While other sources indicate that the exact quote was “It is fun to be in the same decade as you”, the telegram did in fact exist

(U.S.).
The inconsistencies that do exist between the episode of Drunk History and the actual event are minor and spread out. A good representation of the inconsistencies in the episode is the slight misquote of the telegram sent to Churchill by FDR. The other inconsistencies in the episode follow suit, occurring only as slight errors in oration. Toward the beginning of the episode, FDR is shown making the statement that “this was the greatest threat to human existence in the history of man” in relation to Nazi Germany. However, this is a quote that was given by Churchill. The cause for confusion originated from the narrator slurring his words when describing who was giving the quote. What he says can either be interpreted as the narrator attributing it to FDR and then correcting himself, or stating “FDR believed Churchill” prior to the quote. Either way, the error does not take away from the audience's’ overall understanding of the quote. Another inconsistency is Drunk History’s portrayal of the president and the prime minister’s reaction to the first lady’s attempts to get them to go to bed. In the episode and in response to the first lady’s urging, Churchill and FDR agree to go to bed. However, Churchill and FDR tended to ignore Elenor’s worrying and continued on until late in the night (Majors). Again, this is a minor inconsistency that does not impact the audience’s broader understanding of the topic.
The unfiltered approach taken by Drunk History is usually hit or miss. In some episodes, the facts given by the narrator are skewed and occasionally blatantly false. The episode featuring Sir Winston Churchill and Roosevelt however is very accurate. The facts given in the episode are verified by several other credible sources. The combination of the entertainment value of the show and the historical accuracy make this episode of Drunk History valuable both as a historical reference and as a tool to expose viewers to historical events. The typical audience of Comedy Central most likely would not be exposed to educational programming, and if they were, they likely would not continue to watch it. Drunk History’s subtle education of viewers hidden behind a humorous and entertaining show causes more viewers to be exposed to the information in the show.