LETTERS: Winston Churchill of Britain, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) of the United States (US) and Joseph Stalin of the USSR were the famous and formidable trio who banded together to successfully combat the military might of Adolf Hitler's army during the Second World War in Europe.
Having a common enemy was a prerequisite for the coalition to exist and to execute their plans. For almost seven long years, both sides on the battle front fought each other tirelessly.
There were heavy casualties. There was no sight of a convincing victory. The famous D-Day on 6 June 1944 was the pivotal moment that was the beginning of the end of the long dragging war in Europe.
The trio who were supposed to plan and strategise the next move or assault on their common enemies surprisingly did have their fun moments. Joseph Stalin who was a cigarette smoker took up smoking cigars just like Churchill.
Derek Leebaert in his voluminous book "The World After The War" has vivid descriptions of the trio when they met.
The stern-looking Roosevelt was not so serious as expected. Once he joked with Stalin at Churchill's expense, observing that the British were peculiar people who wanted to "have their cake and eat it too."
But when Churchill heard such digs, he responded by just playing quietly with his cigar while his Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, stared off into the distance. Such a good display of the much touted British stoicism!
When the American President threw the idea of a United Nations organisations, the British diplomats sardonically called it "Uno". The Americans preferred to call it with a more respectable term, "the UN". In the end the version of the Americans prevailed.
Churchill the less boisterous one outlived the other two of his coalition partners. Roosevelt passed away during the War on 12 April 1945 and Stalin died in 1953, eight years after the War ended.
The famous trio of today are compatriots. They are Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. They are among the five living ex- Presidents of America.The other two are Jimmy Carter and Donald Trump.
When Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America amidst much pomp and pageantry on Jan 20, three of them were present at the ceremony together with their spouses.
Later when interviewed, they unanimously wished the new President all the best in his tenure. They are ready to assist if called upon to do so by the new head of state.
People used to say "Two is a company and Three is a crowd". Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin had shown that three could be a company in the war years and Obama, Bush and Clinton have proved that three can also be a company in peaceful time.
DR KOH AIK KHOON
Alumni, UKM
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times