Winston Churchill
Overview
 
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a predominantly Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 British politician and statesman
Statesman
A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...

 known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

 twice (1940–45 and 1951–55). A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

 in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist.
Timeline

1874    Winston Churchill is born at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, Great Britain.

1901    Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the House of Commons.

1906    Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's cabinet (which included amongst its members H. H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill) embarks on sweeping social reforms after a Liberal landslide in the British general election.

1911    Churchill is elected First Lord of the Admiralty for the first time.

1940    World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1940    World War II: Germany's conquest of France begins as the German army crosses the Meuse. Winston Churchill makes his "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech to the House of Commons.

1940    "Finest Hour" speech by Winston Churchill.

1943    World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill begin the Casablanca Conference to discuss strategy and study the next phase of the war.

1943    World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to travel via airplane while in office when he travels from Miami, Florida to Morocco to meet with Winston Churchill.

1943    World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.

Quotations

She shone for me like the Evening Star. I loved her dearly — but at a distance.

On his mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, My Early Life|My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), Chapter 1 (Childhood)

Where my reason, imagination or interest were not engaged, I would not or I could not learn.

My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), Chapter 1 (Childhood)

Thus I got into my bones the essential structure of the ordinary British sentence, which is a noble thing.

On studying English rather than Latin at school, My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), Chapter 2 (Harrow)

Headmasters have powers at their disposal with which Prime Ministers have never yet been invested.

My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), Chapter 2 (Harrow)

I then had one of the three or four long intimate conversations with him which are all I can boast.

On his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), Chapter 3 (Examinations)

Although always prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it should be postponed.

My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), Chapter 4 (Sandhurst), p. 72

You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true, and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her.

My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), Chapter 4 (Sandhurst)

I wonder whether any other generation has seen such astounding revolutions of data and values as those through which we have lived. Scarcely anything material or established which I was brought up to believe was permanent and vital, has lasted. Everything I was sure or taught to be sure was impossible, has happened.

My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), Chapter 5 (The Fourth Hussars)

 
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