Susan Page on the Queen and Her Presidents

No American or foreign leader has met with as many sitting U.S. presidents as Queen Elizabeth II. Her 70-year reign witnessed the highs and lows of the close and crucial alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom, from the Suez crisis to Brexit. Following the advice of her mentor, Winston Churchill, to “stay close to the Americans,” Queen Elizabeth played an unexpected role behind the scenes that has never been thoroughly explored. Susan Page changes that with her new book The Queen and Her Presidents: The Hidden Hand That Shaped History. Described as “The Crown” meets “The West Wing,” it chronicles the largely unknown story of Queen Elizabeth II’s relationship with 13 American presidents, from Harry S. Truman to Donald J. Trump. With that, she changed the world. Veteran political reporter Susan Page goes beyond the image of a staid monarch in colorful hats to reveal a skilled strategist, who, like many powerful women, was routinely underestimated and discounted. She also shows the impact American presidents had on the monarch as she developed from a shy, anxious princess to a powerful and persuasive global leader, and analyzes both the reach and the limits of the “soft power” she wielded. These accounts of the Queen’s deft diplomacy provide candid and telling assessments of her partners in the Oval Office as well. What was the reality of the relationship between Donald Trump and Queen Elizabeth? What did the Queen and Barack Obama think about each other? How did she navigate between Ronald Reagan and her own prime minister, Margaret Thatcher? And what about Richard Nixon seeking the Queen’s help during Watergate—and even wanting to make her a relative? Join us for a fascinating discussion about an often underestimated figure who played a big role in the history of the United States and Britain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices