Lord Northcliffe at a Washington luncheon was talking about the British
Premier.
"Mr. Lloyd George is the idol of the nation," he said. "It is hard to
believe how unpopular he was, at least among the Unionists, once. Among
the many stories circulated about Mr. Lloyd George's unpopularity at
that time there was one which concerned a rescue from drowning. The
heroic rescuer, when a gold medal was presented to him for his brave
deed, modestly declared:
"'I don't deserve this medal. I did nothing but my duty. I saw our
friend here struggling in the water. I knew he must drown unless someone
saved him. So I plunged in, swam out to him, turned him over to make
sure it wasn't Lloyd George, and then lugged him to safety on my back.'"