At the final Casablanca press conference on January 24, Roosevelt announced that the Allies would seek the unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan. Churchill later claimed he was surprised by the president’s statement, as they had only briefly discussed the subject. Roosevelt himself said that the idea simply popped into my mind as he reflected on General Ulysses S. Grant’s strategy toward the South during the American Civil War. Previously, Britain aimed only to destroy the German government, leaving open the possibility of dealing with any successor regime. At Casablanca, Roosevelt successfully argued that the experience of two world wars showed that German society had been Prussianized and had to be completely rebuilt.

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After the January 24 press conference, Churchill suggested to Roosevelt that they take an overnight trip to Marrakech to see the sunset on the snows of the Atlas Mountains. The two leaders relaxed and enjoyed a picnic during the five-hour journey to Marrakech and arrived at about 6:00 p.m. A six-story sloping tower provided a perfect view of the mountains, but as the narrow, winding stairs couldn’t accommodate Roosevelt’s wheelchair, two Secret Service agents made a cradle of their hands and carried the president to the top of the tower. There the two world leaders sat for half an hour enjoying the view. After dinner, they made toasts to each other, and Churchill sang, with Roosevelt joining in the choruses. Roosevelt and his entourage were preparing to leave Marrakech at 7:30 a.m. on January 25 when Churchill rushed out at the last minute to say goodbye. With his usual disregard for convention, the prime minister appeared wearing a red-dragon dressing gown and black velvet slippers with his initials embroidered on the toes. Photographers begged for a shot but obligingly lowered their cameras when Churchill implored, You simply cannot do this to me.

By the time President Roosevelt arrived in Gambia, he was running a slight fever, and he rested onboard the Memphis. On January 27, before boarding the Dixie Clipper for the Atlantic crossing, Roosevelt took a day trip to Liberia, officially for discussions with President Edwin Barclay over wartime matters — although he seemed more focused on learning just how workers produced latex at Firestone’s vast Liberian plantations. Roosevelt turned 61 during the return trip across the Atlantic, and he and his advisors enjoyed a birthday lunch as they flew over Haiti.

Roosevelt had told the assembled sailors on the Memphis that during 10 days in Casablanca, the United States and Britain had agreed on plans to keep the war going at full speed during the rest of 1943. We hope it will be over by then, but you can never tell. If it is not over, we will be even more ready in 1944 for the final victory. But the president’s timetable was too optimistic, and he did not live to see the unconditional surrender of Germany in May 1945 and of Japan in September. Nevertheless, the Casablanca agreements were a historic achievement, and Roosevelt and Churchill considered the meeting a great success. As Churchill said at the closing press conference, Even when there is some delay there is design and purpose and, as the president has said, the unconquerable will to pursue this quality until we have procured the unconditional surrender of the criminal forces who plunged the world into storm and ruin.

This article was written by Raymond W. Copson and originally published in the April 2002 issue of American History Magazine. For more great articles, subscribe to American History magazine today!

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