There’s no doubt that Roosevelt lobbied hard for the freedom of colonised peoples of the world, including India, against Churchill’s fierce opposition. His determination is best seen in this exchange with Churchill, recounted As He Saw It:
Roosevelt: ‘You see,’ said Father slowly, ‘it is along in here somewhere that there is likely to be some disagreement between you, Winston, and me.’
‘I am firmly of the belief that if we are to arrive at a stable peace it must involve the development of backward countries. Backward peoples. How can this be done? It can’t be done, obviously, by eighteenth-century methods. Now–”
Churchill: ‘Who’s talking eighteenth-century methods?’
‘Whichever of your ministers recommends a policy which takes wealth in raw materials out of a colonial country, but which returns nothing to the people of that country in consideration. Twentieth-century methods involve bringing industry to these colonies. Twentieth-century methods include increasing the wealth of…
