#prime ministers and shit

In 1941, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act into law; under the provisions of the act, the US could “loan” war matériel to allied countries, with the understanding that the other countries would return surviving equipment after World War II ended.  In practice, very little of the matériel was returned after the war.

In all, the United States provided over 650 million dollars (in 2017 valuation) of aid to Great Britain, the Soviet Union, Free France, the Republic of China, and other allied nations.  Stalin himself remarked on several occasions that without such aid, the Soviets could not have withstood the German juggernaut.  

During the negotiations with the British over this law, Roosevelt, realizing the potential of these loans, asked British Prime Minister Winston Churchill if he understood the concept of “vigorish.”  Churchill, who was shitrock drunk all the time but couldn’t handle himself like FDR, assumed that the President was (as Churchill would do) slurring his words.

“Oh, yesh.”  He replied.  “We musht and will make a vigoroush proshecution of thish war.”

The American President momentarily lost his legendary poker face and allowed himself a small grin.  “Okay, pigeon–uh, Winston.  Just sign on the dotted line.”

Later, upon passage, Roosevelt, realizing the importance of this law and the solemnity of the occasion, proceeded to get utterly blitzed on Negronis and rolled around the White House singing “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” until his aides begged him to stop.