On my recent vacation to London, I had the opportunity to visit the Churchill War Rooms and the companion Churchill Museum. It is a must-see visit for any person interested in history and provided me an excellent opportunity to learn more about a person many believe to be one of the most influential leaders of the 20th Century. Winston Churchill lead a supremely eventful, fascinating and impactful long life that spanned from 1874 to 1965. Standing out among a very wide range of life contributions was his role starting in 1940 as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom leading the war time effort in partnership with President Franklin Roosevelt that resulted in the defeat of Hitler and Nazi Germany.
From May of 1940 to December of 1941, Churchill and Britain stood alone as the primary fighting military force defending their nation and a way of life that is based on values that are fundamental to Western Civilization. England is a nation acknowledged as one of the cradles of democracy. If Nazi Germany had won, a “New Order” of darkness instituted through a thousand year Reich was envisioned by Hitler to be established across the whole of Europe. A totalitarian fascist regime capable of incomprehensible violence and ruling as a tyranny with absolute control of its subjects would have prevailed.
Churchill stood as virtually the only public voice alerting Britain to the threats of Hitler and Nazi Germany
An interesting variety of events lead to Churchill’s appointment as the war-time leader of Britain in May of 1940. Churchill was out of official office for much of the 1930s, however, he remained a highly visible public figure. Churchill’s main contribution during this time was as a very vocal public advocate of policies that he sought to be followed by Britain to counter what he perceived as the growing threat of an emerging and increasingly powerful Nazi Germany.
Conspicuously guilty of pursing the wrong course of action and forever marked in history was PM Neville Chamberlain’s failed official policy of appeasement towards Hitler’s Germany. During these years, Winston Churchill envisioned what much of official Britain could not which was identifying the real threat of the German Nazi Movement. The ability to understand major world trends that others are not able to perceive is often a trait of the great leader. Churchill possessed that ability.
Churchill assumes the office as Britain’s PM just in time
It reached a point as Hitler aggressively and swiftly moved ahead on several fronts and by pursing several actions to conquer all of Europe that Churchill was first appointed back into the government in 1939 as first Lord of the Admiralty and a member of the war cabinet. Eventually as conditions worsened, he was appointed the new PM of Britain to lead the war effort starting in May 1940.
The very fabric of the British democracy and society was at risk due to the external threat presented by the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany. In this case, a major world power’s actual existence was threatened by external forces. At other times the threat posed to the fabric of a society may be an internal one and be even more challenging to detect and defeat.
The possession of acute political vision binds Churchill and Trump
Volumes will be written about the Trump victory in November. There is already a cottage industry of works produced attempting to explain the reasons behind Trump’s election as President of the United States. What made me think of a connection between Winston Churchill and Donald Trump as I toured the Churchill museum complex in London? Focused in on Churchill’s ability to be one of the few to recognize and act in behalf of addressing the ever-growing threat of Hitler’s Nazi Germany during the 1930s; a connection between the two men begins to emerge.
Which political path will America follow?
Trump’s vision and instincts allowed him to recognize that America was at a major inflection point in our history with two clear political paths available for us to follow. On a national level, positive government action has been paralyzed too long and the majority of was implemented by the Obama Administration was accomplished by unilateral Executive Action. Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party was ready to continue the Progressive politics and failed policies of the Obama Administration and move our political future even more leftward potentially threatening the very character of the American experiment in freedom, our traditional values and our very way of life.
Progressive policies are based on increased government intervention in all aspects of our lives and runs counter to our heritage of past America societal success which has been traditionally based on political and economic freedom and the power of individuals to take primary responsibility for the conduct of their lives.
A political system on the edge of failure
Trump correctly identified the serious internal threat to our way of life and future success as a nation that a potential continuation of the failed Progressive and socialist political path started by Obama and to be continued with an election of Hillary Clinton and the on-going overall paralysis of our national government to act to address a multitude of serious political and economic issues would have meant for the future of our country. A Clinton win, an increasingly radical Left and the specter of a move to the implementation of more failed progressive and socialist policies was the overwhelming threat and the internal enemy that candidate Trump uniquely ran against successfully in his campaign.
Trump had a distinct political message and social vision to offer America and he delivered it in his own unique and direct style. It was a populist message and it was very different when compared to all the other candidates in the Presidential race. It focused in on several important issues that were and continue to be on the minds of the American people including the economy, immigration policy, the failure of Obamacare, the negative effects of globalism on our country, rebuilding the military and national security. It proved to be a winning formula and Trump was elected to change the political course of the country.
A challenging road ahead for Trump
With his election, Trump has been offered a unique opportunity to address the many challenges that face our country. Trump as President is offering to the nation an ambitious traditional “right of center” conservative and pragmatic agenda which can be characterized as derived from traditional and mainstream Republican Party policies as the proper course of action for the country.
Churchill identified the external threat that the despotism of Nazi Germany posed to Britain and was courageous and persistent in his campaign to implement changes in British Government policy of the 1930s. His distinctive course of action eventually allowed him to assume power at the right time in history and become a major contributor to winning the war. As compared to Churchill when he assumed the office of Prime Minister, Trump is a relative neophyte to the political arena.
Making America Great Again one step at a time
We look back in history at Churchill and credit him as a great leader for several reasons, however, most importantly he preserved our traditions of democracy and freedom and our way of life at a potential turning point of history. With the world dependent for many reasons on the success of America, I believe at a time soon we will be directing similar credit to President Trump when we look back to examine his legacy.
Trump is attempting to make “America Great Again” as a fighter for our freedom and he is on the vanguard in the fight against the conventional Republican establishment plus the ever more radical Democratic Party and forces on the Left including their allies in the mainstream mass media and various aligned cultural institutions. All these elements of The Left today are unrelenting in their fight to impose upon our nation their Progressive Agenda and European style socialist vision. Churchill faced a long and tortuous path to defeating the enemy when he assumed office. This reality the two men also share.
The RightQuestions 