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'''Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill''', KG, OM, CH (1874-1965), was a [[British]] politician who served as the Conservative [[Prime Minister]] of the [[United Kingdom]] for most of the [[Second World War]] and again from 1951-55.  

'''Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill''', KG, OM, CH (1874-1965), was a [[British]] politician who served as the Conservative [[Prime Minister]] of the [[United Kingdom]] for most of the [[Second World War]] and again from 1951-55.  

Churchill was a leader of the Liberal Party before it collapsed in the 1920s; then he rejoined the Conservative Party. Although he supported the beginning of the welfare state around 1910, he was temperamentally and culturally a [[conservative]], and though in his youth a [[liberal]] socially, soon became a conservative as the liberals ramped up criticism of the empire. He became a leading opponent of [[socialism]] after 1945, as well as an opponent of Gandhi's movement for the independence of India after 1930. Winston Churchill was [[racist]] against Indians and Hindus. When Leopold Amery the British secretary of state, told him that rotting corpses lined the streets of Calcutta, Winston Churchill by saying, "I hate Indians." "They are a beastly people with a beastly religion."<ref>https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3005838/churchills-real-darkest-hour-new-evidence-confirms-british</ref>  He was one of the few leaders to achieve high office in both World Wars and to write profusely about his experiences.

Churchill was a leader of the Liberal Party before it collapsed in the 1920s; then he rejoined the [[Conservative Party (UK)]]. Although he supported the beginning of the welfare state around 1910, he was temperamentally and culturally a [[conservative]], and though in his youth a [[liberal]] socially, soon became a conservative as the liberals ramped up criticism of the empire. He became a leading opponent of [[socialism]] after 1945, as well as an opponent of Gandhi's movement for the independence of India after 1930. Winston Churchill was [[racist]] against Indians and Hindus. When Leopold Amery, the British secretary of state, told him that rotting corpses lined the streets of Calcutta, Winston Churchill by saying, "I hate Indians." "They are a beastly people with a beastly religion."<ref>https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3005838/churchills-real-darkest-hour-new-evidence-confirms-british</ref>  He was one of the few leaders to achieve high office in both World Wars and to write profusely about his experiences.

Throughout Churchill's career he was pro-business and opposed to labor unions.  

Throughout Churchill's career, he was pro-business and opposed to labor unions.  

{{cquote|'''Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.'''}}

{{cquote|'''Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.'''}}

Churchill was also an amateur landscape painter and pilot, soldier, farmer, and even bricklayer. When he retired from the House of Commons in 1964, he had spent over six decades in public life, a career that ran from the 1890's Boer War to the nuclear age.

Churchill was also an amateur landscape painter and pilot, soldier, farmer, and even bricklayer. When he retired from the House of Commons in 1964, he had spent over six decades in public life, a career that ran from the 1890s Boer War to the nuclear age.

==Career==

==Career==

Winston's father, Lord Randolph Churchill (1849–1895) was a third son of a poor English duke with a very famous family name; Randolph became a prominent Conservative politician.  He married Jennie Jerome (1854–1921), the daughter of American millionaire Leonard Jerome. She was of colonial American stock of English ancestry and brought a dowry of £50,000. Churchill was born in [[Blenheim Palace]], the palace of the dukes of Marlborough. He had one brother, John Strange Churchill (1880–1947). Their parents' marriage faltered, in part because of Lord Randolph's debilitating disease (which resembled syphilis); Lady Randolph became notorious for her romantic attachments, becoming known as "Lady Jane Snatcher." She liked Winston, but largely ignored him.<ref>. H. L. Le May, "Churchill, Jeanette (Lady Randolph Churchill) (1854–1921)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,''  2004;  [http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.cc.uic.edu/view/article/37282, online]</ref>  His mother later became his ardent ally, helping him achieve key assignments as a war reporter and smoothing his career in politics.  The son idealized his always-absent mother. "She shone for me like the Evening Star," Churchill later wrote. "I loved her dearly—but at a distance."<ref>Jenkins, ''Churchill,'' p. 8</ref>   

Winston's father, Lord Randolph Churchill (1849–1895) was a third son of a poor English duke with a very famous family name; Randolph became a prominent Conservative politician.  He married Jennie Jerome (1854–1921), the daughter of American millionaire Leonard Jerome. She was of colonial American stock of English ancestry and brought a dowry of £50,000. Churchill was born in [[Blenheim Palace]], the palace of the dukes of Marlborough. He had one brother, John Strange Churchill (1880–1947). Their parents' marriage faltered, in part because of Lord Randolph's debilitating disease (which resembled syphilis); Lady Randolph became notorious for her romantic attachments, becoming known as "Lady Jane Snatcher." She liked Winston, but largely ignored him.<ref>. H. L. Le May, "Churchill, Jeanette (Lady Randolph Churchill) (1854–1921)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,''  2004;  [http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.cc.uic.edu/view/article/37282, online]</ref>  His mother later became his ardent ally, helping him achieve key assignments as a war reporter and smoothing his career in politics.  The son idealized his always-absent mother. "She shone for me like the Evening Star," Churchill later wrote. "I loved her dearly—but at a distance."<ref>Jenkins, ''Churchill,'' p. 8</ref>   

Winston spent a typical upper-class childhood in the hands of nurses and headmasters at a succession of private schools from the age of eight. While he was no more neglected than most boys of his age and class, his sensitive nature suffered as a result of his parents' aloofness and he always regretted his failure to achieve a close relationship with his father, who died in 1895 at the age of only 45 and Winston was 21.  Churchill rarely spoke with his father, who served as Secretary of state for India, Leader of the House and chancellor of the exchequer. However the son systematically adopted his father's ideas and political positions, and thereby became well known in political circles.  

Winston spent a typical upper-class childhood in the hands of nurses and headmasters at a succession of private schools from the age of eight. While he was no more neglected than most boys of his age and class, his sensitive nature suffered as a result of his parents' aloofness and he always regretted his failure to achieve a close relationship with his father, who died in 1895 at the age of only 45 when Winston was 21.  Churchill rarely spoke with his father, who served as Secretary of State for India, Leader of the House and Chancellor of the Exchequer. However, the son systematically adopted his father's ideas and political positions, and thereby became well known in political circles.  

He entered Harrow School in 1888 with a track for the Army. Churchill had an independent and rebellious nature; he lacked self-discipline and displayed slovenly or unruly behavior. His grades were poor apart from English and history; he avoided team sports but was a fencing champion. His father did not think he was smart enough for Oxford, so he went to the military academy at Sandhurst in 1893.  He excelled at tactics, fortifications and horsemanship,  graduating twentieth out of a class of 130 in 1894; he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant cavalry officer in the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, where he excelled at polo.

He entered Harrow School in 1888 with a track for the Army. Churchill had an independent and rebellious nature; he lacked self-discipline and displayed slovenly or unruly behavior. His grades were poor apart from English and history; he avoided team sports but was a fencing champion. His father did not think he was smart enough for Oxford, so he went to the military academy at Sandhurst in 1893.  He excelled at tactics, fortifications and horsemanship,  graduating twentieth out of a class of 130 in 1894; he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant cavalry officer in the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, where he excelled at polo.

===Military experience===

===Military experience===

Posted to Bangalore, India, in 1896, he ignored local conditions. His duties were done well before noon; apart from polo he did not socialize with his peers, who considered the slender, short, highly ambitious young man to be pushy, bumptious and not a proper gentleman.  In 1902 the intellectual Beatrice Webb found him "egotistical, bumptious, shallow-minded and reactionary, but with a certain personal magnetism, great pluck and some originality, not of intellect but of character. More of the American speculator than the English aristocrat." <ref>Jenkins, ''Churchill,'' p. 148</ref> Churchill became an intellectual, as he immersed himself in the classics, devouring the works of Adam Smith, Gibbon, Macaulay, Hallam, Lecky, and Darwin. He carefully studied the parliamentary debates of the 1870s to 1890s, adding to them his own imaginary speeches. He never learned Latin or Greek so he fashioned a prose style modeled on the two finest writers among English historians, Gibbon and Macaulay.  A book on the evolution of civilization that ridiculed Christianity<ref>Winwood Reade ''Martyrdom of Man'' (1872)</ref> led to his loss of religious faith; he believed in evolution and the inevitability of progress.  

Posted to Bangalore, India, in 1896, he ignored local conditions. His duties were done well before noon; apart from polo he did not socialize with his peers, who considered the slender, short, highly ambitious young man to be pushy, bumptious and not a proper gentleman.  In 1902 the intellectual Beatrice Webb found him "egotistical, bumptious, shallow-minded and reactionary, but with a certain personal magnetism, great pluck and some originality, not of intellect but of character. More of the American speculator than the English aristocrat." <ref>Jenkins, ''Churchill,'' p. 148</ref> Churchill became an intellectual, as he immersed himself in the classics, devouring the works of Adam Smith, Gibbon, Macaulay, Hallam, Lecky, and Darwin. He carefully studied the parliamentary debates of the 1870s to 1890s, adding to them his own imaginary speeches. He never learned Latin or Greek so he fashioned a prose style modeled on the two finest writers among English historians, Gibbon and Macaulay.  A book on the evolution of civilization that ridiculed Christianity<ref>Winwood Reade ''Martyrdom of Man'' (1872)</ref> led to his loss of religious faith; he believed in evolution and the inevitability of progress.  

Between 1897 and 1900, with the aid of his mother's lobbying in London, Churchill fought in three imperial wars while doubling as a war correspondent and writing three books.  In 1897 he joined three brigades in fighting a Pathan tribe. His lively account of the skirmishes proved he could write for the popular press; he received £5 per column from the ''Daily Telegraph'' and soon became the highest paid war correspondent in the world.

Between 1897 and 1900, with the aid of his mother's lobbying in London, Churchill fought in three imperial wars while doubling as a war correspondent and writing three books.  In 1897 he joined three brigades in fighting a Pathan tribe. His lively account of the skirmishes proved he could write for the popular press; he received £5 per column from the ''Daily Telegraph'' and soon became the highest paid war correspondent in the world.

[[File:Churchill The River War.jpg|thumb|''The River War,'' one of Churchill's first books]]

[[File:Churchill The River War.jpg|thumb|''The River War,'' one of Churchill's first books]]

In late 1899 Churchill went to South Africa as a war correspondent to cover the [[Second Boer War]]; his salary was a remarkable £250 per month plus expenses. Caught in an ambush  Churchill was captured and held in a POW camp in Pretoria; he escaped—an adventure that made him a minor national hero. He rejoined General Redvers Buller's army on its march to relieve [[Ladysmith]] and take Pretoria. Churchill was one of the first British troops into Ladysmith and Pretoria.  In 1900, he published two books on the Boer war, ''London to Ladysmith via Pretoria''<ref>[https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14426 online at]</ref> and ''Ian Hamilton's March''<ref>online at [https://books.google.com/books?id=27yKxqljk4gC&dq=inauthor:winston+inauthor:churchill&num=30].</ref>

In late 1899, Churchill went to South Africa as a war correspondent to cover the [[Second Boer War]]; his salary was a remarkable £250 per month plus expenses. Caught in an ambush  Churchill was captured and held in a POW camp in Pretoria; he escaped—an adventure that made him a minor national hero. He rejoined General Redvers Buller's army on its march to relieve [[Ladysmith]] and take Pretoria. Churchill was one of the first British troops into Ladysmith and Pretoria.  In 1900, he published two books on the Boer War, ''London to Ladysmith via Pretoria''<ref>[https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14426 online at]</ref> and ''Ian Hamilton's March''<ref>online at [https://books.google.com/books?id=27yKxqljk4gC&dq=inauthor:winston+inauthor:churchill&num=30].</ref>

Churchill's mother used her connections with the prince of Wales to get the her son assigned to the force commanded by Lord Kitchener for the reconquest of the [[Sudan]].  Churchill arrived just in time to join the cavalry charge at the battle of Omdurman (2 September 1898), in which his regiment galloped by accident into a ravine crammed with armed men. Churchill, who shot and killed at least three of the enemy, was cool, courageous and lucky.<ref>Over 30,000 Sudanese were killed, compared with 28 British soldiers.</ref> The ''Morning Post'' ran his stories, and the public snatched up his two-volume ''The River War: An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan'' (1899).<ref>[https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4943 online at]</ref> It displayed a remarkably sympathetic history of the Sudanese revolt against Egyptian rule.  A speaking tour of Britain, the U.S. and Canada in 1900 netted £10,000, proving the funding he needed for a political-literary career.<ref>Churchill met [[Theodore Roosevelt]]; they resembled each other in many ways but never became friends.</ref>

Churchill's mother used her connections with the Prince of Wales to get her son assigned to the force commanded by Lord Kitchener for the reconquest of the [[Sudan]].  Churchill arrived just in time to join the cavalry charge at the battle of Omdurman (2 September 1898), in which his regiment galloped by accident into a ravine crammed with armed men. Churchill, who shot and killed at least three of the enemy, was cool, courageous and lucky.<ref>Over 30,000 Sudanese were killed, compared with 28 British soldiers.</ref> The ''Morning Post'' ran his stories, and the public snatched up his two-volume ''The River War: An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan'' (1899).<ref>[https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4943 online at]</ref> It displayed a remarkably sympathetic history of the Sudanese revolt against Egyptian rule.  A speaking tour of Britain, the U.S. and Canada in 1900 netted £10,000, proving the funding he needed for a political-literary career.<ref>Churchill met [[Theodore Roosevelt]]; they resembled each other in many ways but never became friends.</ref>

===Early politics===

===Early politics===