The Churchill Series - Jan. 21, 2008

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

Readers Note: I responded to a comment on the thread of the Jan. 17 post.

John
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Churchill was always interested in the mail he received from the public. Naturally he couldn't read it all, but his staff did.

Churchill had the staff keep a count of the letters by categories he determined. The categories were a mix of "perennials" and subjects of current interest.

Here's the list he made and the counts for the week of April 2, 1955, when his retirement as Prime Minister was widely rumored:

Requests for autographs, photographs - 45

Foreign letters - 23

On the atom bomb and H-bomb - 21

Requests not to retire - 42

Congratualtion and good wishes - 30

"Lunatics" - 76

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Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill: Never Despair. (p. 1117)