Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born on November 30, 1874 in Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire, England and died on January 24, 1965 at age 90.  He is best remembered as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II, leading the nation through one of its darkest and most challenging periods. Churchill’s resolute leadership and indomitable spirit rallied the British people and inspired them to resist Nazi aggression.  He shaped Allied strategy in the war, and in the war’s later stages he alerted the West to the expansionist threat of the Soviet Union. 

Through his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, a Tory politician, Winston was directly descended from John Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough, the hero of the wars against Louis XIV of France in the early 18th century. His mother, Jennie Jerome, was the daughter of a New York financier and horse racing enthusiast, Leonard W. Jerome.

At Harrow School, Winston Churchill’s conspicuously poor academic record provoked his father’s decision to enter him into an army career. On his third attempt he managed to pass the entrance examination to the Royal Military College (now Academy), Sandhurst, but, once there, he applied himself seriously and graduated 20th in a class of 130.

Churchill’s eloquence and powerful oratory skills became synonymous with his leadership. His speeches, including the famous “We shall fight on the beaches” address, served to uplift and motivate the nation in the face of adversity. Churchill’s steadfast determination and refusal to surrender to Hitler’s regime earned him respect and admiration both at home and abroad.