The phrase gained a central place in rhetoric due to the publication by journalist Stewart Alsop in his 1973 memoirs of a conversation with Winston Churchill. Alsop related that the British Prime Minister had pondered at the close of World War II, "America, it is a great and strong country, like a workhorse pulling the rest of the world out of despond and despair. But will it stay the course?" The anecdote became a favorite of Democratic hawk Sen. Henry Jackson, and was retold by Secretary of Defense William Cohen more than once during his tenure.