A Leader I Admire

A great leader in history I admire would be Winston Churchill, the prime minister of Britain from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. His full name is Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill. He was noted for his undeniable contribution in World War 2.

In particular, I admire his unwavering strength and perseverance. As the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at that point of time, Churchill was in a difficult position;Germany had succeeded in their primary attempt in attacking Britain. The continental ally whom Britain had relied on to face the German army had surrendered, Italy had been conquered by the German side and Hitler was master of Europe from the Arctic Circle to the Bay of Biscay. To make things worse, the French Navy was about to fall into German hands, allowing them to easily mass the Belgian coast and bomb the United Kingdom. Not only did Churchill not despair, he supported going all out to defend his motherland and eventually defeated the Germans in the Battle of Britain.

Furthermore, Churchill dares to speak up and fight for what he thinks it right. For example, when King Edward VIII wanted to marry Mrs Wallis Simpson, the Ministry wanted him to abdicate the throne. Churchill publicly gave his support to the King and urged delay in abdicating , even though the Ministry was against it. I admire his courage to do so.

Additionally, I praise him ability to make great speeches which inspired the tired and wounded,. During World War 2, Churchill's rousing speeches were a great source of inspiration to the embattled British and Allied forces. One of his famous speeches was the very first one he made, known as the "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." speech. Another extract from a well-known one is "... we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender." These speeches filled the Allied forces and British who had suffered terribly at the hands of the Germans with passion, encouraging them to forge ahead and continuing fighting the Germans to the very end, eventually managing to crush the Nazis.

However, like all others who are limited to the human race, Churchill had his faults. At the start of World War 2, he did not mange to defend Britain sufficiently, allowing parts of it to come under German control. This enabled the Germans to assemble near the coastline and bomb Britain, resulting it many deaths.

Winston Churchill is a very interesting and intriguing person. He had a very different mindset from many people, including his predecessor, Neville Chamberlain. Instead of suing for peace with the Germans, he chose to fight it out with them to preserve the glorious history of Britain and save his country from the humiliation of submitting to Germany. Hence, I admire him.