Winston Churchill Served His Country Long Before Serving All of Humanity

Winston Churchill began his military career by graduating from Sandhurst the Royal Military College. According to the National Churchill Museum, “Churchill displayed conspicuous physical courage on the battlefield,” and he documented the military experience for the British newspapers (National Churchill Museum). Further, Churchill’s newspaper writing gained him great fame in Britain and also established the foundation for his political career.

Churchill’s military service included action in the Northwest frontier command post in India, and the battle of Omdurman in the Sudan. Once Churchill’s service as a soldier ended, he continued to live and work at the British battlefronts as a correspondent. His accounts from the front lines turned into bestselling books and made Churchill a successful author.

In 1899, Churchill was taken as a prisoner of war in South Africa. “Two weeks later, Churchill scaled a wall and evaded recapture by traveling at night, receiving help from local British supporters, and stowing away on supply trains. With a ‘dead or alive’ price on his head, he traveled 300 miles in nine days to reach Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique)” (National Churchill Museum.).

(Churchill as prisoner of war)

Robert Kagan, author of the New York Times published article “An Officer and a Bulldog,” wrote about Churchill’s love of danger and growing reputation: “By 1900 his fame as a soldier, along with his best-selling books, catapulted him into Parliament. That year Mark Twain introduced him in New York as the ‘hero of five wars, author of six books and future prime minister of England.’ Churchill was 26 years old” (Kagan).

Military service exemplifies a leader’s ability to serve for a greater cause. Churchill grew into a man during his military service, which set the stage for his incredible political career. Ultimately, Churchill would not have been such a successful wartime Prime Minister during World War II if it had not been for his military experience. However, his war cabinet and the American General Eisenhower would have preferred Churchill lead as a politician more than a war advisor during the Second World War. For better or worse, that just was not Churchill’s way.

Works Cited

Kagan, Robert. "An Officer and a Bulldog." New York Times 09 Nov 2008: C48. ProQuest. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.

National Churchill Museum. Westminster College, 2013. Web. 21 April 2013.