It was on this day in 1940, that Sir Winston Churchill took power as the prime minister of Great Britain. At the time, the situation for Great Britain was dire. The British Army had narrowly avoided catastrophe in the retreat at Dunkirk. With almost all of Western Europe under Nazi control, Hitler was so confident of victory that he delayed invasion of England. He thought that it would be a waste of resources. However, Churchill set out to rally the British people by sheer force of will, his personality, and his command of the English language.
In my humble view, Sir Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King were the two best communicators of the 20th Century. When I listen to their great speeches today, I am overwhelmed at their power to move. I am doubly awestruck when I consider that they wrote all of their own stuff...as compared to the politicians of today, whose best words are really the words of speechwriters and 'hired guns.'
On June 18, 1940, Churchill gave one of his incomparable speeches on the upcoming Battle of Britain, explaining that the future of British sovereignty and the fate of Western civilization were dependent upon victory over Nazi Germany. I enclose a link to the audio of this speech (here). It is difficult to avoid goosebumps when you hear his closing call to arms, "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years men will still say, 'This is their finest hour.'
Sir Winston Churchill also had some of the great quotes of the day. Among them:
"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities...because it is the quality that guarantees all others."
"If you are going through hell, keep going."
"Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong."
His quick wit was often on display. In a famous exchange with Lady Nancy Astor:
Lady Astor: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea."
Sir Winston: "Nancy, if I were your husband, I'd drink it."
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