The Churchill Series - Jan. 29, 2006

(One of a series of daily posts on the life of Winston S. Churchill.)

Churchill's autobiography, My Early Life , published in 1930, ends with the words: "...until September, 1908, when I married and lived happily ever afterwards."

That Clementine and Winston loved one another, there's no doubt. But "happily ever after?" Not always.

For instance, in 1909 the recently married Clementine tried to get her husband to pay attention to bills that were mounting. There wasn't money to pay them. They were living beyond their means. They needed to talk.

Churchill paid no attention.

Finally, a desperate Clementine took a diamond necklace Churchill's aunt had given her as wedding present and pawned it to pay some bills.

That got Churchill's attention. He rushed to the shop to retrieve it, but he was too late. Someone had already purchased it.

There were other problems. Churchill gambled all his life. Clementine worried about that for years.

Clementine was "early to bed and early to rise." He kept Churchill hours.

She would often get a message telling her Churchill was bringing friends home in an hour or so for dinner. He didn't understand why the short notice should be a problem. All Clementine had to do was "put plenty of onions in an Irish stew."

In future posts, we'll talk more about their marriage.

Meanwhile, this understatement: Clementine was a remarkable woman without whom Churchill would never have been the Churchill we know.
_____________________________________________________
William Manchester, The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Visions of Glory (pgs. 395-403)