The Churchill Series - Feb. 14, 2006

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

In Their Finest Hour, the second volume of his WW II memoirs, Churchill tells us something of what he felt upon taking the Prime Minister’s office. Here’s part of it:

In my long political experience I had held most of the great offices of State, but I readily admit that the post which had now fallen to me was the one I liked the best.

Power, for the sake of lording it over fellow-creatures or adding to personal pomp, is rightly judged base. But power in a national crisis, when a man believes he knows what orders should be given, is a blessing.

In any sphere of action there can be no comparison between the positions of number one and number two, three, or four. The duties and the problems of all persons other than number one are quite different and in many ways more difficult.
…
At the top there are great simplifications. An accepted leader has only to be sure of what it is best to do, or at least to have made up his mind about it. The loyalties which centre upon number one are enormous. If he trips, he must be sustained. If he makes mistakes, they must be covered. If he sleeps, he must not be wantonly disturbed. If he is no good, he must be pole-axed. But this last extreme process cannot be carried out every day; and certainly not in the days just after he has been chosen. (p. 15)

Churchill’s first sentence didn’t surprise any of us and, I’ll bet, caused many smiles.