Sir Winston Churchill

"A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril"(Winston Churchill). Sir Winston Churchill is usually regarded as one of the most outstanding statesman of Great Britain. He was part of the big three during World War II. His childhood was very normal but did not get much attention from his parents. By this made him very fussy and he developed a strong character. Even though Winston was very rebellious and unloved by his parents as a young boy he became a great world leader and an extravagant politician.

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born on November 30, 1874 in Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire. His parents, Lord Randolph Spencer-Churchill and his American wife Jenny Jerome, were considered of the richest families in Britain (Current Biography). Spencer-Churchill was the name the family used at the time (Epstein 13). After Winston was born, the excitement over his birth died quickly. Like most children of wealthy English, he was kept out of sight in his nursery. His mother might stop and see him on the way to dress for dinner, but would not stay very long (Epstein 17). The only one who played with him, who talked to him, and held him on her lap was Mrs. Everest, his nurse (Epstein 18). Winston was educated at Harrow and then at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. After his graduation, Churchill entered the army as a lieutenant with the Fourth Hussars, and then with the

Twenty-First Lancers in Egypt, Winston also fought Dervish Tribesman in the Battle for Omdurman (Current Biography).

After he served in the military Winston went into politics and made an excellent career out of it. In the run for the House of Commons, which was his first election, Churchill lost (The Oxford Companion to British History). However he went to Africa to report on the Boer War for the London Morning Post later that year. In November of 1899, he was captured by the Boers and imprisoned in Pretoria. Before long he manages to escape (Biography Reference Bank). In October of 1900 Winston was elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative Party representative. In 1908 Winston married his wife, Olgivily Hozier, and then two years later he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. He prepared for World War II by increasing Britain's naval strength and he then creates the navy's first air service (Current Biography). Following the defeat of British naval services at Gallipoli, Churchill lost his cabinet post position as First Lord of the Admiralty (Hutchinson Encyclopedia of Biography). He then assumed command of the Sixth Royal Scots Fusiliers in France. After that he resumed his seat in the House of Commons, where he became Minister of Munition (A Dictionary of Contemporary World History). On September 3, 1939, war was declared on Germany, and he again was called upon to serve as the First Lord of admiralty.