A 'special relationship'? Harold Wilson, Lyndon B. Johnson and Anglo-American relations 'at the summit', 1964-68

Abstract

Harold Wilson and Lyndon Johnson held very different opinions about how the UK and the US were supposed to relate to each other, with Wilson supposing they were the closest of friends and Johnson supposing they were, at best, rich (the US) and poor (the UK) shirt-tail relations. Colman (international politics, U. of Wales, Aberystwyth) gives here the first comprehensive account of the complex and often frustrating personal and political relationships that lead to one of the most strained relationships ever between a president and prime minister. Using the summits of December 1964 to December 1968 as a framework, Colman traces the exchanges leading to what was in effect a declining relationship and disassociation as Johnson was dealing with events that would defeat him such as the war in Vietnam.