Winston Churchill

Personally, I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm

Profile / Biography

Winston Churchill was a gruff, straightforward man who guided Britain through the darkest period in its history, World War II.  The war devastated Britain and when it ended, Britain was no longer the preeminent power in the world.  Like many leaders who have to fill a huge void, Churchill was held accountable for this by British voters although he had been rejected by them before the war in favor of Neville Chamberlain, had had none of his fears about Hitler and Germany listened to prior to the declaration of war, and who continued to sound alarms about the intentions of Joseph Stalin and the USSR.  Despite his relative unpopularity while alive, Churchill was voted the most important Briton in 2002.

Churchill was born in Woodstock in 1874 into a family of politicians and nobility.  He was not at all coddled by his family, and by all accounts was quite lonely for their attention.  He did not do as well as expected in school, but did tend to excel at English when he put his mind into it.

Churchill joined the army at age 20, and served in India and Cuba.  He also began writing numerous books on wars and pieces for newspapers and journals at this time. In 1899 he began his political career, coming in third in his first election attempt and not gaining the seat.  He was also taken prisoner during the Boer Wars.

Churchill was the First Lord of the Admiralty at the outset of World War II, and the navy was the only body to see action during the early stages.  He was appointed Prime Minister when it became clear that no one had confidence in Chamberlain, and is most famous for his refusal to capitulate to the Nazi, as defined by his famous “fight them in the streets” speech.

After the war ended, Churchill’s many political enemies would make hay over his straightforward remarks, and he was defeated easily by Clement Attlee in 1945.  He would again become Prime Minister in 1951, a position he held until his resignation in 1955.  He died ten years later, and is the tenth most admired people in history according to Gallup.