The Churchill Series – Oct. 5, 2006

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

Whenever Churchill’s wartime leadership is discussed, his determination and ability to inspire hope are invariably cited as two of his most important leadership qualities. There’s no doubt about the importance of either of those qualities.

But I want to introduce here and in a follow-up post tomorrow something I think was very important to the success of Churchill’s wartime leadership that doesn’t receive much attention from historians. It’s what for want of a better term I’ll call Churchill’s ability to remind people at certain key psychological moments “that on the other hand.” Churchill used “on the other hands” to help the British people moderate the emotional highs and lows that could interfere with the resolve and constancy they needed to see the war through to final victory.

So, for example, in the midst of the euphoria that followed “the miracle of Dunkirk” that delivered almost all their army safely back to the home island, Churchill reminded his countrymen “wars are not won by evacuations.”

(to be continued)