Critical Essay by
Dr. Norma Bouchard
Executive Vice President, Provost and Chief Academic Officer
Chapman University
View Bio
Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, or Sir Winston Churchill (30 November, 1874 – 24 January, 1965), was a British statesman, soldier and writer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during World War II and then again from 1951 to 1955.
Churchill was born in Woodstock, England, the son of Lord Randolph Churchill and his American wife Jennie Jerome. He had a privileged, aristocratic upbringing at the family Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. His father wished for him to have a military career and in 1893 Churchill entered the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, from which he graduated in 1895. He would pursue a brief but eventful career in the army and eventually lead war efforts as First Lord of the Admiralty.
Between 1895 and 1899, Churchill spent time in Cuba, India, and Sudan. In Cuba, he observed the war of independence. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 4th Queen's Own Hussars regiment of the British Army, he went to Bombay in 1896. At this time, he also engaged in extensive readings of Plato, Edward Gibbon, Charles Darwin and Thomas Babington Macaulay. In October 1897, he wrote his first book, The Story of the Malakand Field Force, and his only work of fiction, Savrola: A Tale of the Revolution in Laurania. It is said that writing was Churchill’s main safeguard against depression. Churchill joined General Kitchener's campaign in the Sudan as member of the 21st Lancers as well as a journalist for The Morning Post. In October of 1898, he returned to England and began writing The River War, an account of the campaign which was published in November 1899.
With the outbreak of the Second Boer War (1899 – 1902), or the South African War between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics, Churchill rejoined the army as a lieutenant but resigned his lieutenancy in July and returned to Britain where he stood as one of the Conservative candidates in the October 1900 general election. At age 25, he became a Member of Parliament (MP). He would serve as a Conservative MP from 1901 to 1904 even though he was at times critical of Conservative government positions. For example, in 1903 he opposed the Conservatives’ support of economic protectionism and voted with the liberals on several key economic and political issues. He would ultimately defect to the Liberal Party in 1904, when he opposed the Alien Bill to limit Jewish migration to Britain.
As a Liberal MP from 1904 to 1908, Churchill became Under-Secretary of State for the Colonial Office. Among his first tasks, was helping to draft a constitution for the Transvaal and oversee the formation of a government in the Orange River Colony. He also sought to ensure equality between the British and the Boers.
In 1908, Churchill was appointed President of the Board of Trade and introduced important bills to limit miners’ work hours, prosecute exploitative employers, and establish a minimum wage. In 1909, he proposed an assistance program for the unemployed and an unemployment insurance system.
In February 1910, Churchill was promoted to Home Secretary. In that role, he gained control of the police and prison services and launched a program of reform which included a redefinition of criminal and political prisoners, the creation of libraries for prisoners, and a relaxation of solitary confinement. Churchill also supported women’s suffrage but was not willing to back a bill without the majority support of the male electorate.
In October 1911, Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. He would retain this post until 1915. He began focusing on naval preparation while closely monitoring the increase of German warship production. When the First World War began in August 1914, Churchill oversaw the naval operations effort and, by September, also Britain's aerial defense.
On 25 November 1915, Churchill resigned from the government and joined the army. He was given command of the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers and then appointed as Minister of Munitions. In that role, he planned a plan of attack that would bring final victory to the Allies.
Between 1919 and 1921, Churchill was Secretary of State for War and Air. He opposed harsh measures against the defeated Germany, fearing that a greatly weakened German Army might not provide an effective bulwark against Soviet Russia. Between 1921 and 1922, Churchill served as Secretary of State for the Colonies. He negotiated with Sinn Féin leaders, participated in the drafting of Anglo-Irish Treaty and was involved in the installations of the royals in Iraq and Jordan. As a supporter of Zionism, he rejected an Arab Palestinian petition to prohibit Jewish migration to Palestine.
On 19 March 1924, Churchill stood as an independent anti-socialist candidate and was defeated. He expressed concerns over the Liberal Party in British politics and argued that Liberals had to back the Conservatives to ensure the defeat of socialism. Churchill was selected as a Conservative candidate and appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer on 6 November 1924. Having rejoined the Conservative Party, he began to pursue moderate free trade principles.
On 3 September 1939, Britain declared war on Germany and Churchill was appointed as First Lord of the Admiralty for the second time and joined Neville Chamberlain’s war cabinet. When the Allies failed to prevent the German expansion, the government's conduct of the war came under scrutiny, leading to the appointment by King George VI of Churchill as Prime Minister and Minister of Defense. Churchill succeeded Chamberlain on 10 May 1940 and held the post until 26 July 1945.
Churchill created a large cabinet of service chiefs and ministers as the war progressed. He effectively oversaw British involvement in the Allied war effort against the Axis power and was a victorious wartime leader who played an important role in defending Europe's democracies against the spread of fascism. He rallied the British people during the dark days of the war, inspiring them with his powerful speeches and unwavering resolve. In his determination to fight against Nazi Germany, he established close relationship with other Allied leaders, including U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin.
Following the Allies’ victory in 1945, Churchill’s party lost his seat in the general election and he stepped down as Prime Minister. However, he would return to the position in 1951 following the Conservative victory. Churchill resigned in 1955 but remained a Member of Parliament until the general election of 1964, when he did not pursue re-election.
Queen Elizabeth II conferred on Churchill the title of Knighthood and invested him with the insignia of the Order of the Garter in 1953. Among Churchill’s other honors is the honorary citizenship of the United States which President Kennedy conferred on him in 1963.
While there are some controversies and criticisms of Churchill’s career and policies, he is widely recognized as one of the most important figures of the 20th century. He was a brilliant strategist, an effective diplomat, a powerful orator, and a prolific writer who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his historical and biographical writings, including his six-volume work, The Second World War. In sum, Churchill’s leadership and steadfastness have made him an iconic figure in the struggle against tyranny. He has left an indelible mark on world history.
