bout de papier, Vol. 18, No. 1 (2001) — Spring 2001 // Printemps 2001, p. 3
Although all Foreign Service officers are familiar with the term “Summit” to describe meetings of Heads of State-Government, the origin of this usage may not be known.
When reading recently Martin Gilbert’s biography of Sir Winston Churchill (Pimlico edition 2000), I came across the following passage on page 889 regarding a speech that the then leader of the opposition gave in Edinburgh on February 14, 1950 during a general election campaign. If of general interest, you may wish to share the passage with your readers:
… he (Churchill) spoke of his hope that it might be possible to find some ’more exalted and august foundation for peace’ than the atom bomb. He could not help ’coming back’, he said to the idea of ’another talk with Soviet Russia upon the highest level.’ Then, using the word ’summit’ for the first time in reference to talks between world leaders, he said: ’The idea appeals to me of a supreme effort to bridge the gulf between the two worlds, so that each can live their life, if not in friendship, at least without the hatreds of the cold war. You must be careful to mark my words in these matters because I have not always been proved wrong. It is not easy to see how things could be worsened by a parley at the summit, if such a thing were possible.”
Churchill’s eloquence was not enough on this occasion to secure a victory of his party, but his metaphor has endured in the diplomatic lexicon.
I.C. Ferguson
High Commissioner
Abuja, Nigeria
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 18, No. 1 (2001) — Spring 2001 // Printemps 2001, p. 3. Read the rest of this issue →
