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| Winston Churchill 1874-1965 |
Written, Produced, and Directed
By: Dr. JJ
As a lover of history, literature, leadership, and oratory, it is no secret or surprise that I am an ardent admirer of Winston Churchill, Great Britain's most famous wartime leader.
Churchill is a controversial figure in the eyes of many. Serving in politics as long as he did (62 years), he certainly made his share of errors, miscalculations, and misjudgements. In short, he was human, and as all of us homo sapiens know, even the very best among our human family is prone to err from time-to-time.
Nevertheless, at Freedom Focused, we strive to focus more on a person's virtues and achievements than their vices and failures. In so doing, we seek to cast judgment not on an individual's greatest mistakes, but on their noblest actions and the composite impacts of their many choices on the whole of their life and career, including one's overall influence for good on their fellow beings.
Viewed from this holistic and utilitarian perspective, it is impossible to not credit Churchill for not only his extraordinary personal character, energy, passion, vision, and work ethic, but for essentially saving the Western World from the iron grip of fascism and tyranny. Thus, anyone who lives and/or works in the West owes a debt of gratitude to this august lion of liberty.
Suffice it to say, I'm a BIG FAN of the man and his legacy, and seek to promote the noble character traits he so capably cultivated and personified; character traits such as conscience, compassion, vision, discipline, diligence, determination, focus, and persistence.
I've spent a good deal of time studying the life and career of Sir Winston Spencer Churchill. I've also spent time listening to his famous wartime speeches, whereby he, in the words of President John F. Kennedy: "mobilized the English language and sent it into battle."
In context, Kennedy's words were thus:
"Whenever and wherever tyranny threatened, [Churchill] has always championed liberty. Facing firmly toward the future, he has never forgotten the past. ... serv[ing] all men's freedom and dignity. In the dark days and darker nights when England stood alone—and most men save Englishmen despaired of England's life—he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle. The incandescent quality of his words illuminated the courage of his countrymen."
One of my favorite Winston Churchill quotes is: If the present tries to sit in judgment of the past, it will lose the future.
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| Churchill on Horseback in military uniform with a fellow soldier & officer. |
—Sir Winston Churchill
We live in an era where many have become so judgmental of the past that they miss out on the cornucopia of wisdom it holds. As Churchill so incisively suggested, such extremities do not bode well for our future. At Freedom Focused, we are proponents of Churchillian philosophy as it relates to history. In other words, we prefer learning from the past rather than judging it. In so doing, we do not ignore PAST sins, inequities, and injustices. Rather, we seek to rectify former errors while concurrently allowing the wisdom of history to inform our PRESENT actions. We are confident that this balanced approach will create the best and most just and virtuous FUTURE for all mankind.
As the illustrious historian, Will Durant, so wisely put it:
"Intellect is ... a vital force in history, but it can also be a dissolvent and destructive power. Out of every hundred new ideas ninety-nine or more will probably be inferior to the traditional responses which they propose to replace. No one [person], however brilliant or well-informed, can come in one lifetime to such fullness of understanding as to safely judge and dismiss the customs or institutions of his society, for these are the wisdom of generations after centuries of experiment in the laboratory of history.
"So the conservative who resists change is as valuable as the radical who proposes it—perhaps as much more valuable as roots are more vital than grafts. It is good that new ideas should be heard, for the sake of the few that can be used; but it is also good that new ideas should be compelled to go through the mill of objection, opposition, and contumely; this is the trial heat which innovations must survive before being allowed to enter the human race. It is good that the old should resist the young, and that the young should prod the old; out of this tension, as out of the strife of the sexes and the classes, comes a creative tensile strength, a stimulated development, a secret and basic unity and movement of the whole" (1).
For this and other reasons, I have aimed—and will continue to strive—throughout my life and career to study, analyze, teach, model, promote, and proliferate history. Whether it is dressing up like a soldier in the Texas Army for my 9th Grade English classes in 2010, publishing historical blog-essays, or putting on a one-man show of Winston Churchill in 2023, I will continue to love and teach history until the day I pass into its annals myself.
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| A Young Winston Churchill Circa mid-1880s |
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born on November 30, 1874, at the tail end of the Victorian Era and the apex of Imperial Britain's military dominance and geopolitical power and influence. The close relationship he would someday share with President Franklin Roosevelt and the United States was presaged at his birth since his mother—Jennie Jerome—was a U.S. citizen whose ancestors had fought for American Independence with George Washington in the Colonial Army. Winston's father was Lord Randolph Churchill—a member of the British aristocracy who undulated between both major and minor roles in the British Government throughout his high-profile career.
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Churchill in military dress uniform while attending the prestigious Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst |
Click HERE to buy Marlborough: His Life and Times by Winston S. Churchill
Despite entering the world in such a favorable life-station, Churchill consciously and intentionally chose to tread an independent, courageous, and entrepreneurial-esque journey through life whereby he did not dodge danger, difficulties, opposition, or rejection—all of which he could have largely avoided if he had so desired. This challenging and adventurous pathway included military schooling and service, combat experience in Africa (South Africa and the Sudan), Cuba, and India, and even capture by enemy forces in South Africa, followed by a heroic and legendary escape. |
| Winston (Dr. JJ) and Clementine (Marie Pinschmidt) |
In 1908, he married Clementine Hozier. He would cultivate a happy and successful marriage with his beloved "Clemmie" for the next 56 years—until Winston's death in 1965. Churchill's swift and meteoric rise to power within the British Government continued after he and Clementine tied the knot. Such success would not, however, remain unabated throughout his career, as attested by his difficult experiences during the First World War and later on in his "Wilderness Years" in the 1930s. During such down periods of his life and career, Churchill was prone to depression. He himself referred to his depressive episodes as his "Black Dog."
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| Winston Churchill as a young MP |
After World War I and during the 1920s, Churchill served in many important government posts, including Minister of Munitions, Secretary of War, Secretary of the Colonies, and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasury Secretary in the U.S.). The 1930s were a different story, with Churchill's party often out of power and himself denied repeatedly from filling significant posts. He spent a great deal of time on his many hobbies during these "Wilderness Years."
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| Prime Minister Churchill inspecting damage caused by the Germany's Luftwaffe's "Blitz" in London in 1940 |
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| With Stalin and Roosevelt during World War II |
Somewhat ironically, Churchill's party lost power immediately following the war, but he returned to 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister for a second time from 1951-1955. In 1953, during his second tenure as Prime Minister, he was Knighted by Queen Elizabeth. That same year, Churchill received the Nobel Prize for Literature—a formal tip-of-the-hat to his many achievements and prolific career as a writer. After three-and-a-half more years in office, he finally resigned and left 10 Downing Street due to advancing age and declining health.
Despite his deteriorating health, Churchill lived for another 10 years, spending most of his time at his home in Chartwell in Kent or vacationing on the French Riviera. He finally passed away on January 24, 1965, at the age of 90. Standing in the shadows of Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington and hero of the Battle of Waterloo) and William Gladstone (a 4-time Prime Minister in the latter nineteenth century), Churchill received a rare State Funeral in London, which was preceded by a funeral procession of over 300,000 mourners who crowded the streets of London to get a final glimpse at the coffin of their beloved leader and hero.
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| Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill 1874-1965 |
In my personal estimation, Churchill is one of the most honest, authentic, courageous, committed, energetic, talented, and vibrant—in short, one of the greatest—human beings who has ever lived. He was not perfect; none of us are! But as politicians go, he had wonderful integrity and stood consistently on his principle—even when he had to change his mind (or party) to uphold them. He also cultivated many quality relationships in both his personal and professional life, first-and-foremost of which being his marriage to his beloved "Clemmie."
For this and many other reasons, I never cease from being inspired by his remarkable life and legacy, which stood firm and undaunted for LIBERTY and FREEDOM, something I (and we) obviously strive so earnestly to uphold, promote, teach, and model at Freedom Focused. Thus, it is, that I have created this simple and brief, but heartfelt impersonalized tribute to my mentor and hero, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill.
Click HERE to watch Winston Churchill: A One Man Show By: Dr. JJ.
Note: I am an amateur actor with novice sound and video equipment and experience. Some may even find this performance a little cringe-worthy... at least I hope that is the case. As with other things I have said, written, and done on this blog over the years, it is no secret that I was "embracing cringe" long before Taylor Swift famously encouraged an audience of college graduates to be willing to do just that in their quest for authenticity and success. Rest assured, I'll continue to embrace cringe right up to the pinnacle of my profession and then even further up... "to infinity — and beyond!" -Dr. JJ
Click HERE to watch Winston Churchill: A One Man Show By: Dr. JJ.
—Dr. JJ
Author's Note: This is the 329th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 153rd consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.
Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 328 FF Blog Articles
Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL QUOTES
Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL POEMS
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Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.
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