Sail on, O Ship of State!

Sail on, O Ship of State!

In the midst of foreign wars in 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt won a third term as US President. It had been a hard fought campaign. 

Learning that the loser in the campaign, Wendell Wilkie, was headed to London to gain info on the war, FDR invited him to the White House. They chatted amicably, and FDR asked the Republican to deliver a handwritten note to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, giving him a letter of introduction, making him an emissary. 

The note contained part of a Longfellow poem which FDR & Churchill, both Naval enthusiasts, would recognize immediately. 

When Churchill gave a speech on February 9, 1941 he included the verse, crediting FDR and Wilkie. 

…Sail on, O Ship of State!

Sail on, O Union, strong and great!

Humanity with all its fears,

With all the hopes of future years,

Is hanging breathless on thy fate!

The verse recognized the troubles both nations were enduring. 

I share this now reflecting on how good it would be in these contentious times if in the coming months the victor and the defeated of a presidential campaign could come together and help the ship of state to sail on. Lincoln also did it with his “team of rivals.” 

Don’t worry. I’m not holding my breath.