Within the span of fourteen fateful months in the early 1930s, two bloody American encounters nearly killed both the remarkable individuals most essential for Allied victory in World War II. As a pedestrian, Winston Churchill barely survived a life-threatening encounter with a speeding car on New York's Fifth Avenue while Franklin Roosevelt, as president-elect, came within inches of an assassin's bullet, nearly ending the FDR administration before it even began. Both survivors always acknowledged the providential nature of their escapes from doom, and leading historians and even acclaimed novelists have speculated about how shifts of literal inches might have altered the fate of all of humanity. This podcast provides the astonishing story of two close calls that saved the world.

The American Miracle is part of the Airwave podcast network. Contact [email protected] to inquire about sponsoring this podcast.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices