Winant, John

1889–1947

   Winant was the American ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1941 until the end of the war. He replaced Joseph KENNEDY. He was very committed to the improvement of Anglo-American relations in terms of the people as well as the governments. He was extremely popular in Britain and quite close to many British leaders. Winant worked with Harry HOPKINS to arrange the Lend-Lease deals. He was responsible for Eleanor ROOSEVELT’s 1942 trip to Britain. In 1943 he helped plan the Moscow Foreign Minister’s Conference which in turn led to the European Advisory Commission to which Winant was US representative: the commission discussed the postwar future of Germany. Winant also attended the Casablanca and Teheran Conferences and was the US representative to the first meeting of the United Nations.