This is an I-Heart podcast.

This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, and we tell stories about everything here on this show, including your stories.

Send them to Our American Stories.com. There are some of our favorites. And one of our favorite subjects to cover

on this show are stories about American history. And history in general, and all of our history

stories are brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College, where you can go to learn all

the things that are beautiful in life and all the things that are good in life. And if you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will

come to you with their free and terrific online courses. Go to Hillsdale.edu. Speaking of which,

up next, a history story from Hillsdale College President Larry Arne on a perilous time in world history.

After World War II, the Soviet Union, our former ally, had become anything but,

and the threat of another World War hung over the heads of everyone after they would renege on treaties

and stand diametrically opposed to the West.

A massive division was appearing between us and them.

The person who would give a name to this division was Winston Churchill at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.

After being invited to speak there at a low point in his career,

here's Dr. Larry Arne with a story of the Iron Curtain speech.

It was a world-changing fact when he got this invitation, and it came at a low moment for him.

The July 5th, 1945 election, when they got the votes counted, Churchill had lost in a landslide.

And then in October, three months after, he gets this letter from the president of Westminster College, a man named McLeigh, and come and give a talk, and there's a PS handwritten by

Harry Truman. It's a wonderful college in my home state. If you can come,

I will introduce you. And that's a big deal. And that's, you know, wow, he's an important

man still. And of course, you never can't know when you've been the most important man in the

world, whether you will be after you lose your job.

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