Winston Churchill
1874 – 1965 · United Kingdom
Known for: UK Prime Minister during WWII, Nobel Prize in Literature, Inspiring orator, Iron Curtain speech
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”
Biography
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was a British statesman, army officer, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice: from 1940 to 1945 during World War II, and again from 1951 to 1955. Born into an aristocratic family, Churchill had a distinguished but controversial career spanning over six decades. He served in the British Army, saw action in India, Sudan, and South Africa, and worked as a war correspondent. Churchill entered Parliament in 1900 and held numerous government positions, including First Lord of the Admiralty, Minister of Munitions, and Chancellor of the Exchequer. His political career had many ups and downs, including the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign in World War I, which temporarily ended his political career. However, Churchill's finest hour came during World War II. When he became Prime Minister in May 1940, Britain stood virtually alone against Nazi Germany. His stirring speeches, including "We shall fight on the beaches" and "Their finest hour," rallied the British people during the darkest days of the war. Churchill's leadership, strategic vision, and his relationship with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin were crucial to the Allied victory. After the war, his "Iron Curtain" speech in 1946 warned of Soviet expansion and helped define the Cold War era. Churchill was also a prolific writer and historian, authoring numerous books including "The Second World War" and "A History of the English-Speaking Peoples." He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values." Churchill was the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States. He died in 1965 and was given a state funeral, an honor rarely bestowed on non-royals.