sold Churchill Writes From New York on His U.S. Lecture Tour

The Conservative government of which Churchill was a part was defeated in the 1929 General Election. Churchill became estranged from the Conservative leadership over the issues of protective tariffs and Indian Home Rule, which he opposed. When Ramsay MacDonald formed a National Government in 1931, Churchill was not invited to join the Cabinet. He was now at the low point in his career, in a period known as "the wilderness years". He spent much of the next few years giving lectures and concentrating on his writing, including Marlborough: His Life and Times – a biography of his ancestor John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough – and A History of the English Speaking Peoples. In late 1931, he arrived in the United States on a lecture tour. He saw or contacted many of his friends in America, including Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia University and President Taft’s running mate in 1912. His prediction in this letter of spending Christmas in Nassau did not come to pass. Just over a week after it was written, he had near-fatal traffic accident in New York and was hospitalized. He was able to resume his activities until January 1932.

Typed Letter Signed on Waldorf-Astoria letterhead, New York, December 12, 1931, to Butler. “I am afraid I shall not be back in New York for any length of time until late in January as I am going to Christmas at Nassau. I hope, however, to have an opportunity of a talk with you and will not fail to ring you up when the immediate pressure of business upon me has slackened.” The revisions in this letter are in Churchill’s hand as well as the salutation and signature.