The Big Three on the portico of the Soviet embassy during the Tehran Conference

Uncle Joe

The photo shows Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill (the so-called “Big Three”) on the portico of the Soviet embassy in Tehran during the Tehran Conference on December 1, 1943.

James Roosevelt, son of US President Franklin Roosevelt, wrote in his memoirs:

“Father and Churchill always referred to Stalin as “Uncle Joe”, as if to suggest that he was a geek in their family. At first they didnt think it would be so difficult to work with him. However, as time went on, and as the US got involved in the war, they found him harder to communicate with than they thought. I remember my dad saying, “Uncle Joe is harsher and harder than I thought”... It was difficult to negotiate with him.”

“My father was ill, and they (Churchill and Stalin - S.F.) were Iron Men. My father could drink very little from time to time, but Churchill and Stalin drank heavily, but Winnie (Churchill - “S.F.”) was a regular smoker. My father was used to going to bed early and getting up early, but Churchill and Stalin could stay the night until morning. I remember my father once saying, almost prophetically, that those nightly vigils would eventually take him to his grave.”

Previously in Old Photos: Under the bed in Nationals suite, Heavy and Slow.