The historical figure associated with the "iron curtain" speech is Winston Churchill. He delivered this famous speech on March 5, 1946, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. In his address, Churchill highlighted the division between the Western democracies and the Eastern Soviet bloc, referring to the metaphorical "iron curtain" that had descended across Europe. His speech marked the beginning of the Cold War discourse, emphasizing the need for unity among Western nations to counter the spread of communism and to promote democratic values in a divided world.