“I WOULD quit politics forever if it were not for the possibility that I might some day become Prime Minister.” These were the words of Winston Churchill, when he had confided to a friend during one of his venerable periods.
Mr Churchill, the greatest statesman and Prime Minister of the British Empire, figured prominently during the recent hearing of the petitions by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The petitions concerned the recent regulation, imposed by the Musharraf government that has made mandatory a graduate level education for all those aspiring for a place in the Pakistani Parliament. The petitioners, many of who aren’t graduates, argued that the condition of graduation for the Parliamentarians was unnecessary, citing the example of the famous British PM who himself was not a graduate. It would therefore, be of interest to many to know more about the man, a non-graduate, who almost single-handedly saved England’s skin in both the World Wars.
Leonard Spencer Churchill was born on 30th November, 1874. In his early years, he had few school friends. He took an early disliking to learning, a fact that changed little even after his admission to the elite school at Ascot. From the start he was a frequent visitor to the ‘canning-room’ where the Headmaster regularly administered floggings to him. In 1888 when he entered Harraw, he was placed in the lowest form. Later, one of his tutors described him, “He was not an easy boy to deal with. He would work only when he chose to and for the master he approved of.” He twice failed to pass the entrance examination before he finally made it into the military academy at Sandhurst.
However, once in Sandhurst, Churchill changed into a completely different man. He was competent and quiet in classroom and spent most of his evenings in study. In a class of 150, he ranked eighth. After Sandhurst, Churchill joined the Fourth Hussers — a cavalry regiment. But the monotony of army life soon got on his nerves. So, in early 1897, when Sir Binden Blood was sent to India’s north western frontier, to put down a rebellion by the local Pathans, Churchill persuaded him to let him join the expedition as a correspondent. The story of the Malakand Field Force netted Churchill the equivalent of two years army pay. Thus when he returned to England, he had resolved to leave the army as journalism offered him more opportuniies.
When in 1897, Boer War broke out, Churchill was offered an appointment to report on the war for the Morning Post. He immediately took off for Africa. The war had been going badly for the British. Churchill was captured and taken to the Boer capital of Pretoria. However, after a few weeks, he managed to escape, making his way to Portuguese controlled East Africa. On his return to England, he re-joined the army and continued his well-paying job with the Morning Post until the end of the war. Following his heroics in Africa, Churchill became a celebrity. This inspired him to stand for Parliament in the next election. And thus, in the year 1900 and at the age of 26, began Winston Churchill’s illustrious political career. He won the election, though by a narrow margin.
His political life took a break in 1929, or as Churchill would describe it, his “out of step”. For the next ten years, he chiefly devoted himself to writing. His fees for magazine articles had grown to be among the highest ever paid, and his output was colossal.
It was from his literary earnings alone, that Churchill bought his Chartwell Estate in 1924. One day, at the estate, he had nothing better to do and started watching brick-layers do their work. Inspired, Churchill got hold of a towel and some bricks and set to work himself. Subsequently, he practised brick-laying till he could lay two bricks a minute. After having achieved this, he then applied for and became a qualified bricklayer. During this lull in his career, Churchill even turned to painting. His skill as an artist was described as ‘professional’.
At the advent of the Second World War, when Norway fell to the German onslaught on 10th May, 1940, British Prime Minister Chamberlain finally resigned. It was then that King George VI sent for Churchill. The following day Churchill delivered the stirring “blood and toil, sweat and tears” address, words that were to remain the theme for Britain’s success for the next five years. Things looked the bleakest for Britain, when all of Europe was lost, Russia was on the side of Germany by virtue of the non-aggression pact between it and Germany, and America had her unshakable neutrality. It was at this moment in time when Churchill called a meeting of his cabinet and said, “Well gentlemen, we are alone but for myself, I find it extremely exhilarating.”
Thereon, it were the British who slowly turned the tide on Germany. Finally, in May 1945, Hitler’s Germany was defeated Churchill made a triumphant drive to the House of Commons, flashing the Victory sign. However, two months later when he was voted out of office, he was apparently unmoved by his abrupt rejection. He soon settled into a pattern of life that he led until the October 1951 election which so dramatically returned him to 10 Downing Street. In 1953, for his invaluable contributions to Great Britain, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He remained in office until 1955, that is when he turned over the office of the Prime Minister to Anthony Eden. Thereafter, he withdrew to a quite life of retirement.
Coming back to the graduate debate in Pakistan, those of you who argue that even Churchill, the British Prime Minister was a non-graduate and so why cannot a non-graduate Pakistani be a Parliamentarian, they should first read the history and about the lives and achievements of non-graduate statesmen who have proved their ability and left a permanent mark in history.
“I WOULD quit politics forever if it were not for the possibility that I might some day become Prime Minister.” These were the words of Winston Churchill, when he had confided to a friend during one of his venerable periods.
