Winston Churchill
Best known as: British prime minister during World War II
Occupation: Politician, soldier, author
Full name: Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill
Nationality: English
Religion: Anglican/Episcopalian
Political party: Conservative
Born: November 30, 1874 in Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England
Died: January 24, 1965 in London, England (stroke)
Remains: St. Martin's Church, England
Education: Harrow School, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Military service: British Army
Offices held:
- Member of Parliament for Oldham (1900-1906)
- Member of Parliament for Manchester North-West (1906-1908)
- Member of Parliament for Dundee (1908-1922)
- Home Secretary (1910-1911)
- Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1915)
- UK Minister of Munition (1917-1919)
- UK Secretary of State for the Colonies (1921-1922)
- Member of Parliament for Epping (1924-1945)
- Chancellor of the Exchequer (1924-1929)
- UK Prime Minister (1940-1945 and 1951-1955)
- UK Minister of Defence (1940-1945 and 1951-1952)
- Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (1941-1965)
- Member of Parliament for Woodford (1945-1964)
- Lord Randolph Churchill (1906)
- While England Slept: A Survey of World Affairs, 1932-1938 (1938)
- The Second World War (1948-1954)
- A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (1956-1958)
Short biography:
Winston Churchill was born to a high-class family, with a politician and a millionaire's daughter for parents. He started his career as a soldier and war correspondent in the British Army during the Cuban War for Independence and Boer War. He first won a seat in Parliament in 1900 as a member of the Conservative Party, but switched to the Labor Party in 1904. In 1911 he was appointed to the position of First Lord of the Admiralty, which he kept until 1915 when he left to command a batallion in World War I. After holding several political offices and running unsuccessfully for several others, he rejoined the Conservative Party in 1925. He was appointed Chancelor of the Exchequer in 1924 and oversaw unpopular policies, including returning to the gold standard, and became alienated from Conservative leadership. In the 1930s he rose to prominence for speaking out against Germany's rearmament and urging England to take action against Germany's aggression. When World War II broke out, he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty again. In 1940 Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who had followed a policy of appeasing Hitler, resigned, and Chamberlain, King George VI, and other politicians chose Churchill as a replacement. As Prime Minister, he refused to sign an armistice with Germany, and he led his people through the 1940 Battle of Britain, during which German planes kept up a sustained attack on Britain for several months. His speeches were inspirational to many people. As the leaders of the three major Allied Powers, Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin became known as the "Big Three." By 1945 the Allies had won the war, but Churchill was defeated in the election that year. He later served a second term as Prime Minister from 1951 to 1955.
Wife: Clementine Churchill
Allies: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles DeGaulle, Josef Stalin
Parents: Lord Randolph Churchill and Lady Randolph Churchill (nee Jennie Jerome)
Enemies: Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Hideki Tojo
Fun facts:
- Had a stutter, which he worked hard to overcome
- Was Time's man of the year in 1940 and 1949
- Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953
- Became an honorary US citizen in 1963
