Winston Churchill
- Category : Politics-Heads-of-state
- Type : PE
- Profile : 3/5 - Martyr / Heretic
- Definition : Split - Large
- Incarnation Cross : RAX Planning 4
Biography
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was an English politician, soldier in the British Army, orator, and strategist, and was among the most powerful and relevant figures in modern British and world history. A prolific author, he won the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature for his writings on English and world history in 1953.
As a member in the British Army, he fought during the Second Boer War and at the Battle of Omdurman. At the forefront of the political scene for almost sixty years Churchill held numerous political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War he served as President of the Board of Trade and Home Secretary during the Liberal governments. In the First World War Churchill served in numerous positions, as First Lord of the Admiralty, Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air. He also served in the British Army on the Western Front and commanded the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. During the interwar years, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain in May 1940, he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and led the British war effort against the Axis powers. His speeches were a great inspiration to the embattled Allied forces. After losing the 1945 election, Churchill became the leader of the opposition. In 1951 Churchill again became Prime Minister before finally retiring in 1955. Upon his death, he was granted the honour of a state funeral which saw one of the largest assemblies of politicians in the world.
Early life
A descendant of a famous aristocratic family, Churchill's full surname was Spencer-Churchill. His family was the senior branch of the Spencer family, which added the surname Churchill to its own in the late eighteenth century. They did this to highlight their descent from John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (see George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough and below).
Churchill descended from the second member of the Churchill family to achieve public prominence, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Winston's father, Lord Randolph Churchill, the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough was also a politician; Winston's mother, Lady Randolph Churchill (née Jennie Jerome), the daughter of American millionaire Leonard Jerome, was of mostly Colonial American, ultimately English, descent. Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire on 30 November 1874, arriving only eight months after his parents' hasty marriage. He had one brother, John Strange Spencer-Churchill.
Churchill had an independent and rebellious nature and generally did poorly in school, for which he was punished. He entered Harrow School on April 17, 1888 where his military career began—within weeks of his arrival, he had joined the Harrow Rifle Corps. Churchill earned high marks in English and history; he was also the school's fencing champion. He was rarely visited by his mother (then known as Lady Randolph), whom he loved very dearly, and wrote letters begging her to either come to the school or to allow him to come home.
Although Churchill had a distant relationship with his father, he followed his career closely. Churchill's desolate, lonely childhood haunted him throughout his life. Yet, as a child he was very close to his nanny, Elizabeth Anne Everest, whom he used to call "Woomany". He married Clementine Hozier, and they had one son and four daughters.
Family and personal life
On 12 September 1908 at the socially desirable St. Margaret's, Westminster, Churchill married Clementine Hozier, a woman whom he had met at a dinner party that March (he had proposed to actress Ethel Barrymore but was turned down). They had five children: Diana; Randolph; Sarah, who co-starred with Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding; Marigold (1918–21), who died in early childhood; and Mary, who has written a book about her parents. Churchill's son Randolph and his grandsons Nicholas Soames and Winston all followed him into Parliament. The daughters tended to marry politicians and support their careers.
Clementine's mother was Lady Blanche Hozier, second wife of Sir Henry Montague Hozier and a daughter of the 7th Earl of Airlie. Clementine's paternity, however, is open to debate. Lady Blanche was well known for sharing her favours and was eventually divorced as a result. She maintained that Clementine's father was Capt. William George "Bay" Middleton, a noted horseman. But Clementine's biographer Joan Hardwick has surmised, due 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, better known as a grandfather of the famous Mitford sisters.
When not in London on government business, Churchill usually lived at his beloved Chartwell House in Kent, two miles south of Westerham. He and his wife bought the house in 1922 and lived there until his death in 1965. During his Chartwell stays, he enjoyed writing as well as painting, bricklaying, and admiring the estate's famous black swans.
As a painter he was prolific, with over 570 paintings and two sculptures; he received a Diploma from the Royal Academy of London. His paintings were catalogued after his death by historian David Coombs with the support of the Churchill family. Coombs has published two books on the subject. The modern archive of Churchill's art work is managed by designer Tony Malone, who oversees the administration and management of digital catalogue. Anthea Morton Saner and the Churchill Heritage Trust are responsible for all copyrights.
Like many politicians of his age, Churchill was also a member of several English gentlemen's clubs — the Reform Club and the National Liberal Club whilst he was a Liberal MP, and later the Athenaeum, Boodle's, Bucks, and the Carlton Club when he was a Conservative. Despite his multiple memberships, Churchill was not a habitual clubman; he spent relatively little time in each of these, and preferred to conduct any lunchtime or dinner meetings at the Savoy Grill or the Ritz, or else in the Members' Dining Room of the House of Commons when meeting other MPs.
Churchill's fondness for alcoholic beverages was well-documented. While in India and South Africa, he got in the habit of adding small amounts of whisky to the water he drank in order to prevent disease. He was quoted on the subject as saying that "by dint of careful application I learned to like it." He consumed alcoholic drinks on a near-daily basis for long periods in his life, and frequently imbibed before, after, and during mealtimes. He is not generally considered by historians to have been an alcoholic, although his drinking did very probably cause a number of noticeable negative effects on his ability to govern and possibly on his personal life. The Churchill Centre states that Churchill made a bet with a man with the last name of Rothermere (possibly one of the Viscounts Rothermere) in 1936 that Churchill would be able to successfully abstain from drinking hard liquor for a year; Churchill apparently won the bet.
According to William Manchester in The Last Lion, Churchill's favourite whisky was Johnnie Walker Red.
For much of his life, Churchill battled with depression (or perhaps a sub-type of manic-depression), which he called his black dog.
Churchill was recognised for his trademark cigar, suit with bow tie and his red hair, (which became sandy as he grew older).
Churchill was an hereditary member of the Society of the Cincinnati by right of descent from his great-great grandfather Reuben Murray