I recently reviewed a book about Winston Churchill, and there is much to admire about what that man did to combat Hitler during the darkest early days of World War II when England stood virtually alone in containing the German military. I wrote in that review that Churchill signaled what an inspirational and powerful leader he was when he heard France had surrendered. He said, “Then we shall be alone. For myself, I find that rather inspiring.”

There has been controversy about the Obama administration sending a bust of Churchill bust back to the English. The story was circulated that Mr. Obama disliked Churchill’s imperialist views (which are uncontested) enough that he did not want the bust of the man displayed in the White House. In fact Mr. Obama’s press secretary got into a disagreement with Charles Krauthammer about whether a bust was returned and said that the reports were false and based on “urban myths.”

The press secretary was forced to apologize to Krauthammer when it was obvious that a bust was returned, but there is more to the story. The bust that was returned had been loaned to President Bush after the September 11 attacks. The written apology to Krauthammer said, “The bust that was returned as a matter of course with all the other artwork that had been loaned to President Bush for display in his Oval Office and not something President Obama or his Administration chose to do.” The bust in question was therefore lent to President Bush for the duration of his term, and was returned to the British Ambassador’s residence along with other art work lent to him when his presidency came to an end.

The bust of Churchill given as a gift to President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 remains in the White House residence. A spokesman for the British ambassador said “Both President Obama and the Prime Minster have repeatedly underlined that our countries remain the closest of allies”