Winston Churchill’s Greatest Attributes as a Leader: Articulating a Vision and Empowering Others

Winston Churchill is arguably the most successful captain and coach of the 20^th century. Churchill inspired a nation that strongly favored appeasement and peace to take up arms and go to war. He spoke of victory as if it were inevitable, even when it was doubtfully bleak. Ultimately, the European Continent and most likely the world would look tragically different today without the leadership of Winston Churchill.

In the 1930’s, Britain maintained a strong distaste for war because of the suffering endured by the previous generation and World War I. Hitler took advantage of this sentiment and took back German territory lost in World War I, while vastly expanding the German military and violating the World War I peace agreement, the Treaty of Versailles. As all of this occurred, Churchill wanted to intervene and stop Hitler. Churchill expressed his displeasure with appeasement in Parliament, with public addresses, and internationally with diplomatic addresses across Europe and the American Continent.

Once Hitler invaded Poland, France and Britain were forced to declare war on Germany. As a result, a weakened Neville Chamberlain left the office of Prime Minister and Winston Churchill assumed the position and established his wartime cabinet. Interestingly, Winston Churchill was the second choice for appointment to the position. However, Churchill’s often publicly expressed intuition of the Nazi agenda made him an extremely popular selection.

Churchill’s greatest challenge would be inspiring his British countrymen to fight and continue the fight for many years after France swiftly surrendered to Germany. Justin Lyons wrote the article “Winston Churchill and the Rhetorical Challenges of Democratic Statesmanship,” where he details Churchill’s greatness for inspiration: “To persuade a nation that desires peace above all to undertake the risks and effort of preparing for and waging war takes a leader who is both courageous and possessed of rhetorical skill” (Lyons).

In Churchill’s first speech as Prime Minister, he delivered a rousing speech to rally his call to war. One of the most inspirational lines in the speech was the following declaration: “We have differed and quarreled in the past; but now one bond unites us all – to wage war until victory in won, and never to surrender ourselves to servitude and shame, whatever the cost and agony may be” (Churchill xxi). As a leader, Churchill uses rhetorical tact to inspire both his political enemies and friends. He asks that all parties put their differences aside and unite under one ultimate a just cause.

According to Lyons, “Churchill's great gift was his ability to stamp his own unyielding courage and determination onto a fearful and vacillating populace” (Lyons). Churchill ultimately adhered to his own truth and never changed course. It was this attribute that earned him such great respect politically and it was this resolve that he provided to the British people during the war. 

Works Cited

Churchill, Wintson S. Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill’s Speeches. New York: Hyperion, 2003. Print.

Lyons, Justin D. "Winston Churchill and the rhetorical challenges of democratic statesmanship." Perspectives on Political Science 35.1 (2006): Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.