Churchill Society of North Carolina

Reflections

July 10, 2008

The Churchill Society of North Carolina invites comments from our members and readers. Please send your comments to dcraighorn@churchillsocietyofnorthcarolina.org.

An introduction to the Churchill Society of North Carolina

by D. Craig Horn, Chairman, Churchill Society of North Carolina.

In a recent issue of NEWSWEEK magazine (June 23, 2008), Jon Meacham, Editor-In-Chief” wrote, “Winston Churchill was one of the most important human beings that ever lived.” I point out that he did NOT say “may have been,” or “probably was,” or “arguably.” He wrote it straight up, no waffle, no political correctness, no argument!

This statement alone clearly reflects why The Churchill Society of North Carolina exists. It is our mission to carry this message forward, not only into the twenty-first century but also into the limitless future.

The question posed on the cover, overlaying the photo of Winston Churchill is, “What Would Winston Do?” is answerable only by studying what Winston actually did (and said, and thought) – and the lessons from such study suggest that leadership is much more than just being tough. The Churchill example offers no prescriptions, but it does give us perspective – and, when you think about it, the past is the only thing that can.”

In 1953, a young and anxious American exchange student and his friend stood outside Number 10 waiting and hoping to get a glimpse of the man many referred to as “The Greatest Man of the Century.”

As the Great Man appeared at the doorway, he took note of the boys standing nearby. “Ah, Colonials,” he said and waved to them with his famous two-fingered salute. One, the more precocious, of course, quickly shouted, “Mr. Prime Minister, Tell us the secret of your success.” “Study History, Study History,” he said, “for in it lies all the secrets of statecraft.”

This admonition is relevant today. As we look across this great land and around the world, we are dismayed, nay, distressed that the study of history has been replaced with “social studies” or “how great people have failed us.”

It is in reference to the study of history that Churchill said, “This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense."

In another speech he brought forth yet another lesson for today:

We have surmounted all the perils and endured all the agonies of the past. We shall provide against and thus prevail over the dangers and problems of the future, withhold no sacrifice, grudge no toil, seek no sordid gain, fear no foe. All will be well. We have, I believe, within us the life-strength and guiding light by which the tormented world around us may find the harbour of safety, after a storm-beaten voyage." “The price of greatness is responsibility. If the people of the United States had continued in a mediocre station, struggling with the wilderness, absorbed in their own affairs, and a factor of no consequence in the movement of the world, they might have remained forgotten and undisturbed beyond their protecting oceans: but one cannot rise to be in many ways the leading community in the civilised world without being involved in its problems, without being convulsed by its agonies and inspired by its causes. If this has been proved in the past, as it has been, it will become indisputable in the future. The people of the United States cannot escape world responsibility. Although we live in a period so tumultuous that little can be predicted, we may be quite sure that this process will be intensified with every forward step the United States make in wealth and in power. Not only are the responsibilities of this great Republic growing, but the world over which they range is itself contracting in relation to our powers of locomotion at a positively alarming rate.”

He finished this speech by saying:

Here let me say how proud we ought to be, young and old alike, to live in this tremendous, thrilling, formative epoch in the human story, and how fortunate it was for the world that when these great trials came upon it there was a generation that terror could not conquer and brutal violence could not enslave. Let all who are here remember…. that we are on the stage of history, and that whatever our station may be, and whatever part we have to play, great or small, our conduct is liable to be scrutinized not only by history but by our own descendants. Let us rise to the full level of our duty and of our opportunity, and let us thank God for the spiritual rewards He has granted for all forms of valiant and faithful service.

Mary Soames, the youngest daughter of Winston and Clementine Churchill and the patron of The Churchill Centre, has given us the charge, “Keep the record accurate and the memory green.” That is our mission and that is what we shall do.