Winston Churchill

British politician, a descendant of the 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650 to 1722). His father, Lord Randolph, was the second son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and his mother, the notorious beauty, American-born Lady Jennie Jerome. Winston graduated from military college in 1895 and as a member of the peerage, entered the House of Commons in 1901. Though a member of Parliament he was excluded from the Cabinet until the war came to Britain. In 1940 and 1951 he was elected as Prime Minister of Great Britain until 5 April 1955, when he resigned. One of the greatest statesmen in world history, Churchill is known as the great WW II Prime Minister. Churchill was also a noted speaker, historian, soldier, war reporter and author-biographer. By the age of 57, he was a renowned writer. He wrote a six volume history of WW II which earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. The same year, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. His further interests included hunting, history, architecture, philosophy, landscaping and painting. He once told a friend, "Were it not for painting, I couldn't bear the strain of things." His intense commitment to painting began in 1915, when he was 41 years old. After playing a key role in the ill-conceived and disastrous invasion of the Dardanelle's, he was removed from his post as first lord of the Admiralty and believed his career was over. During frustrating days, he found that he "knew everything and could do nothing." As an escape, he rented Hoe Farm in Surrey as a place to hide and lick his wounds. He paced and worried until, one weekend, his sister-in-law came to visit, and with no ado, set up an easel and proceeded to sketch. Winston was intrigued and lady Gwendeline handed him a watercolor set. He had found his escape and with typical Churchillian intensity, he pursued it with zeal. On 12 September 1908 he married Clementine Hozier. They had five children; Diana, Randolph, Sarah, Mary, and Marigold who died in 1921 at three years of age. A well-to-do man, on 30 March 1959 thieves broke into his home and stole three diamond necklaces that belonged to his wife. Born prematurely, Churchill suffered delicate health. He was troubled by a speech impediment, lisping and stuttering. At times his secretary's would guess at a word rather than interrupt, as he found it intolerable to have an interruption of his creative flow. He survived several strokes, bouts of bronchitis, pneumonia and jaundice throughout his long life. He called his periodical spells of depression "the black dog on my back." During his final decade, he gave up reading, writing, seldom spoke and when he did, was difficult to understand. Just after Christmas 1964, he suffered another stoke and developed a bad cough. He died peacefully at 8:00 AM of 24 January 1965 at the age of 90, London, to the day 70 years later than his father. Churchill is often quoted, due to his exacting and stirring rhetoric. In 1940, days after Hitler began to march on Holland, Belgium and France, he called for "victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard that road may be." Forthright and morally unflinching, he stood as the masthead of England, a figure of nobility and leadership. Link to Wikipedia biography