Had Winston Churchill not created himself, the world would have had to create him out of necessity.

In his excellent book, “Churchill: Walking with Destiny,” Andrew Roberts asserts Churchill began preparing himself as a child for the role he would play as British prime minister during World War II.

Though born into privilege, little Winston was emotionally cut off and physically isolated from his distant parents as they worked, socialized and traveled.

Alone, Winston spent many childhood hours playing with his thousands of toy soldiers, reading and allowing his imagination to create a world where he was not only needed but essential.

As Roberts notes in his book, Winston Churchill shared his life plans with a friend during the summer of 1891.

“I can see vast changes coming over a now peaceful world,” Churchill told his friend, “great upheavals, terrible struggles; wars such as one cannot imagine; and I tell you London will be in danger – London will be attacked and I shall be very prominent in the defense of London. … I see into the future. This country will be subjected somehow, to a tremendous invasion, by what means I do not know, but I tell you I shall be in command of the defenses of London and I shall save London and England from disaster … dreams of the future are blurred but the main objective is clear. I repeat – London will be in danger and in the high position I shall occupy, it will fall to me to save the capital and save the Empire.”

Winston Churchill said this when he was 14 years old, according to Roberts.

Churchill would become prime minister 50 years later when he was in his mid 60s. In his “Wilderness” years, considered past returning to any consequential political power, he had warned Britain and the world about the dangerous rise of Adolf Hitler, the Nazis and growing German military.

Hitler had already conquered portions of Europe and his forces seemed unstoppable when Churchill – against all odds only a few years earlier – became prime minister. France fell. Hitler brokered deals with nations led by other totalitarian leaders.

And Hitler attacked Great Britain. 

For long months, Churchill and Britain stood alone against Hitler and Nazi Germany. London persevered during the Blitz while Churchill through voice, presence and planning led the British people – all while doing everything within his power to attract the aid of the free world, especially President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the United States.

In the long run, Churchill saved London and Britain, though he failed to save the Empire. The sun finally set on the British Empire during World War II.

By 21st century sensibilities and many sensibilities of his era, the Empire is the problem with Churchill. The idea of one nation colonizing and lording it over another nation is repugnant to modern standards … and even past standards, given the American Revolution. Churchill’s stand against India’s independence and some of the things he said seem nearly unforgivable to current sensibilities.

Still, a choice between Churchill and Hitler, or Churchill and Stalin, or Churchill and Mussolini … well, if Churchill hadn’t invented himself, the world would have needed someone like him … or, as hard as it may be for some to imagine, it would likely be a far more sinister world today.

Roberts doesn’t claim that Churchill created himself but rather his life, career, experiences, successes and failures prepared him for his destiny. 

Still, the idea that he created himself seems all the more palpable, given Churchill also accurately predicted one other milestone in his life.

On Jan. 24, 1953, Churchill observed to a friend that the date marked the anniversary of his father’s death. Churchill added, almost casually, that he too would die on the same date as his father. 

Twelve years later, Jan. 24, 1965, Winston Churchill died in the land he saved.

 

Dean Poling is an editor with The Valdosta Daily Times and editor of The Tifton Gazette.