Prime Minister of Britain:

Winston Churchill

Main Life Accomplishments:

As prime minister, the Right Honorable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill successfully led Britain through World War II. He described the achievement as his "walk with destiny" — a destiny for which he believed he had spent all his life in preparation. He was one of the great statesmen of world history. Often satirized as a bulldog, Churchill’s far-sightedness, toughness, tenacity, courage and will to win despite the odds, enlisted support at home and abroad.

Winston Churchill was an accomplished speaker, author, painter, soldier and war reporter. The mere sight of him, with the characteristic Cuban cigar in his mouth and two fingers raised in the “V for victory” sign, encouraged the population. He was John Bull, a British mythical character and the symbol of the common people, come to life. With a powerful command of the English language, he wrote histories and biographies. At 78, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Churchill served his country from 1895 to 1964.

 

Basics:

Born: November 30, 1874, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England

Died: 24 Jan 1965

Nationality: England

Religion: Anglican/Episcopalian

Fields:  Military, Politics

Main Accomplishments:  Elected to Parliament as a Conservative in 1900

 

Chronology of Life Events:

1895

Commissioned in the 4th Queen’s Own Hussars.

 

1897

Served in the Malakand campaign.

 

1898

Served in the Nile campaign, and as a correspondent for a London Newspaper during the Boer War. He was captured but escaped and a £25 reward was offered for his re-arrest.

 

1900

Entered Parliament as a Conservative MP.

 

1906

Crossed the floor of the House of Commons to join the ruling Liberal Party. He was appointed Colonial Under-Secretary

 

1908

As President of the Board of Trade he introduced Labour Exchanges.

 

1912

As Home Secretary he witnessed the Siege of Sidney Street and as First Lord of the admiralty he began strengthening Britain’s army and navy for the war with Germany that he could see coming.

Early Life:

Winston was high-spirited and had a stubborn streak, which annoyed everyone. His childhood was unhappy, he was chubby and did poorly in school; he talked with a lisp and stuttered. At age 12, Winston entered Harrow school, a private secondary boarding school. He was the lowest boy in the lowest class. However, Winston began to blossom at Harrow. He discovered a love of literature and writing, which he would enjoy all the days of his life. Winston, after failing the entrance exam twice, entered the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. He soon led his class in tactics and fortifications. Winston graduated eighth in his class, and consequently was appointed a second lieutenant in the Fourth Queen's Own Hussars cavalry regiment just a month after his father's death.

 

In 1888 a school administrator said Winston was "regular in his irregularity." Name two other faults he accused him of having. forgetful, unpunctual and careless

 

By age 21, Churchill wanted to see some action. When posted to a quiet spot, however, he developed skill at polo and found time to study many of the books he had neglected at school. On several occasions, Churchill, through his family’s influence, managed to take leave of his army post for military operations field reporting. On one occasion, in northwestern India, fighting had broken out between the British and Indian tribesmen. He was able to take leave from his regiment and transfer to the area as a paid reporter for two newspapers. He was caught in the bloody hand-to-hand fighting, but returned unscathed.

He was hired by a London newspaper to report on the Boer War in South Africa. While in transit in South Africa, his train was attacked and he was taken prisoner. He escaped from prison, eluded capture and became a national hero. Upon his return to England that same year, at the age of 21, he was received as a hero by Oldham, the community that had rejected his first political foray. He ran and was elected to Parliament on the Conservative Party ticket. In 1904, Churchill crossed the floor to the Liberals, changing parties over the issue of Tariff Reform
 

His parliamentary career was far from being plain sailing and he made a number of spectacular blunders, so much so that he was often accused of having genius without judgment. He was an ebullient if increasingly anachronistic figure, returning Britain to the Gold Standard and taking an aggressive part in opposing the General Strike of 1926.

Churchill became more and more isolated in politics and he found the experience of perpetual opposition deeply frustrating. He also made further blunders, notably by supporting King Edward VIII during the abdication crisis of 1936. Largely as a consequence of such errors, people did not heed Churchill's dire warnings about the rise of Hitler and the hopelessness of the appeasement policy. After the Munich crisis, however, Churchill's prophecies were seen to be coming true and when war broke out in September 1939 Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appointed him First Lord of the Admiralty. So, nearly twenty-five years after he had left the post in pain and sorrow, the Navy sent out a signal to the Fleet: "Winston is back".
 

For the first nine months of the conflict, Churchill proved that he was, as Admiral Fisher had once said, "a war man". Churchill became leader of a coalition government. The date was May 10, 1940: it was Churchill's, as well as Britain's, finest hour.

Despite his intense hatred of the Communists, Churchill had no hesitation in sending aid to Russia and defending Stalin in public. "If Hitler invaded Hell," he once remarked, "I would at least make a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons." The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki finally brought the global conflict to a conclusion. But at the pinnacle of military victory, Churchill tasted the bitterness of political defeat.
 

For the first nine months of the conflict, Churchill proved that he was, as Admiral Fisher had once said, "a war man". Churchill became leader of a coalition government. The date was May 10, 1940: it was Churchill's, as well as Britain's, finest hour.

Despite his intense hatred of the Communists, Churchill had no hesitation in sending aid to Russia and defending Stalin in public. "If Hitler invaded Hell," he once remarked, "I would at least make a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons." The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki finally brought the global conflict to a conclusion. But at the pinnacle of military victory, Churchill tasted the bitterness of political defeat.
 

Wife Background:

 

Clementine Ogilvy Spenser Churchill was born in London April 1, 1885 to The Lady Blanche Henrietta Hozier (1852–1925), second wife of Sir Henry Montague Hozier. Clementine's paternity, however, is a subject of some debate. Lady Blanche was well known for sharing her favours and was eventually divorced as a result. She maintained that Clementine's biological father was Capt. William George "Bay" Middleton, a noted horseman. Clementine's biographer, Joan Hardwick, has surmised (due in part to Sir Henry Hozier's reputed sterility) that all Lady Blanche's "Hozier" children were actually fathered by her sister's husband, Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford (1837–1916, better known as a grandfather of the infamous Mitford sisters of the 1920s). Whatever her true paternity, Clementine is recorded as being the daughter of Lady Blanche and Sir Henry.

Clementine was educated first at home, and later at Berkhamsted School for Girls (now Berkhamsted Collegiate School) and at the Sorbonne in Paris.

On 2 September 1908, at St. Margaret's, Westminster, Clementine married Sir Winston Churchill. Together they had five children: Diana (11 July 1909–1963); Randolph (28 May 1911–6 June 1968); Sarah (7 October 1914–24 September 1982, who became an actress, co-starring with Fred Astaire in the film Royal Wedding); Marigold (15 November 1918–23 August 1921); and Mary (b. 15 September 1922), who has written or edited several books on her parents.

After her marriage, during World War I, Lady Churchill organised canteens for munitions workers on behalf of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in the North East Metropolitan Area of London. During World War II she was Chairman of the Red Cross Aid to Russia Fund, the President of the Young Women's Christian Association War Time Appeal and the Chairman of Fulmer Chase Maternity Hospital for Wives of Junior Officers. The Clementine Churchill Hospital in Harrow, Middlesex is named after her.

After the war she was awarded honorary degrees by Glasgow University and Oxford University and later, in 1976, by Bristol University.
In 1965 Lady Churchill was created a life peer as Baroness Spencer-Churchill.

Lady Spencer-Churchill died in London. Only afterwards was it discovered that she had destroyed the famous Graham Sutherland portrait of her husband because she did not like it.
 

Father Background:

 

Lord Randolph Henry Spencer Churchill born on 13 February 1849

British statesman, born in Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, SC England, UK, the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough, and the father of Winston Churchill. He studied at Oxford, entered parliament in 1874, and became conspicuous in 1880 as the leader of a guerrilla band of Conservatives known as the ‘Fourth Party’. He was secretary for India (1885–6), and for a short while Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons. He resigned after his first budget proved unacceptable, and thereafter devoted little time to politics.

He regarded his father with fear and awe. His father, a brilliant scholar, found him to be a disappointment, and also had little time for him.
Winston’s father, observing him at play with his toy soldier army, impatiently judged his son to be of limited intelligence. Thus, he decided his boy was suited only for a military career.
 

Mother Background:

Lady Jeanette Jerome (known as Jennie) born on Jan 9, 1854 in Brooklyn, New York, USA, died at Westbournstreet, Paddington, London, England June 21, 1921.

 

Winston's childhood was not a particularly happy one. Like many Victorian parents, Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill were distant. The family Nanny, Mrs. Everest, became a surrogate mother to Winston and his younger brother, John S Churchill.

 

Using his mother's influence, Churchill got himself assigned to Kitchener's army in Egypt. While fighting against the Dervishes he took part in the last great cavalry charge in English history - at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898.

 

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