Winston Churchill's Rhetorical Skills Essay

Winston Churchill: Most Influential British Politician

Winston Churchill was a man who lived an exceptionally action-packed life. Churchill was a political leader capable of inspiring millions of people. He learned how to do this at a young age by honing his rhetorical skills through the development of formidable military reports and later through the delivery of awe-inspiring speeches. It is important to understand what exactly Churchill wrote about in order to know what caused him to be such a revered prime minister. Winston Churchill’s rhetorical skills are without a doubt what made him the most influential British politician of the modern era.

Churchill was born prematurely on November 30, 1874 to Lord Randolph Churchill and Miss Jennie

Jerome. As a child, Churchill did not enjoy school, and he frequently did not complete his schoolwork. Although he did not favor the school system, he had a remarkable ability to memorize lines. This ability was demonstrated when he recited 1200 lines of British historian Thomas Macaulay’s poem, Lays of Ancient Rome at the age 13 years old. This skill would later prove useful in helping him deliver major political speeches (Winston Churchill). Later on in his life, Churchill began pondering the idea of becoming a politician as a young adult. This was because he admired his father who was a statesman. However, Churchill would have a brief career in the military before ever stepping into politics. After three attempts to pass an entrance exam, he was admitted to the British Royal Military College where he graduated twentieth out of 130 in his class. His military career began in 1895 when he served for the Fourth Hussars in northwestern India and Sudan. As a young soldier, Churchill wrote military reports for British newspapers, his first book, The Story of the Malakand Field Force, and his second book, The River War. After his military service, Churchill became a war correspondent for a conservative newspaper called The Morning Post (“Winston Churchill Biography,” sec. “Early Life”).
It was in 1900 that Churchill began his career in politics as a member of Parliament for the Conservative Party. Churchill shared many of the same ideals on social justice as his father. This caused him to later switch to the Liberal Party in 1904. In 1908 he gained more power when he was appointed to the prime minister’s cabinet. Churchill’s influence in politics over the next few decades led to new developments such as prison reform, a minimum wage, and labor exchanges for the unemployed. Churchill left the Liberal Party for the Conservative Party in 1922 due to personal issues. During the 1930s Churchill’s advocacy for British rearmament and criticisms of the current prime minister caused him to become a member of the war cabinet. After confidence in the prime minister was lost, King George VI appointed Churchill as prime minister on May 10, 1940. Churchill would go on to deliver many powerful speeches and assist the Allied forces in their victory against Nazi Germany in World War II (“Winston Churchill Biography,” sec. Early Careers).
One reason that shows that Winston Churchill’s rhetorical skills made him the most influential British politician is how his writings became tremendously well known after he became a member of Parliament.

As a matter of fact, more people bought his books in the years after he became prime minister than ever before (Ramsden 81). Churchill’s position as prime minister had sparked a major interest in his war reports and speeches from earlier decades. People would not have been as interested in these writings if Churchill did not possess such outstanding rhetorical skills. Additionally, Churchill won a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 (Rose 339). He won this prize because of his brilliant style of writing when it came to fighting for social justice and his six-volume account of the second World War. Furthermore, winning the Nobel Prize made Churchill’s lesser known works stand out more (Ramsden 129). People had became to read his less popular social justice writings in addition to his war reports and speeches. Winston Churchill’s rhetorical abilities would never have become so well known if it was not for the horrors of World War

II.
Another reason that shows that Winston Churchill’s rhetorical skills made him the most influential British politician is how his speeches as prime minister inspired British citizens to keep a positive attitude during one of the most horrendous wars in history.

An example of this is his speech Blood, Toil, Sweat, and Tears This was the first speech Churchill gave on the topic of the Nazis (“Winston S. Churchill,” sec.“British Bulldog”). The impact of this speech was that citizens became more optimistic about winning the war, and people who previously opposed Churchill’s ideas slowly came to his side. Another example is the speech he gave a month after he became prime minister. This speech was titled We Shall Fight on the Beaches, and it was considered to be historical because of the use of moving rhetoric (Rose 268). This speeches influence of positivity motivated more British citizens to join the war effort. A final example is his Their Finest Hour speech where he uplifted the spirits of the British people by showing how he was confident that victory would soon be achieved (Nicholas, sec. “As prime minister”). After hearing this, many British citizens had a strong sense that the war would soon be over, even though it was not clear how they would achieve victory. Churchill’s ability to inspire others played a major role in his career as a politician during not only wartime but also

peacetime.
Some might say Winston Churchill was not the most influential British politician because his influence was strongest during wartime. However, this is not true because he went on to serve a second term as prime minister a few years after the end of World War II (Nicholas, sec. “Postwar Political Career”). Although he lost the election in 1945, he won the election in 1951. The reason he won that election was that the House of Commons believed he would work to achieve social justice for more people. This belief was correct because during his second term, Churchill passed several domestic reforms, one being the Mines and Quarries Act, in order to improve working conditions. Both of Churchill’s terms as prime minister in wartime and peacetime allowed him to exercise his skills and become one of Britain’s most distinguished politicians.
Winston Churchill was a man that many people consider to have lived the life of an action star. Churchill’s extraordinary use of the English language made him the most dominant British prime minister of the modern era. This is proven by the tremendous popularity of his writings and speeches after he took office. This is also proven by the fact that his speeches had an immediate and long lasting positive influence on British citizens during World War II. While some may believe that Churchill’s influence only stretched for the brief period of the war, his reelection in 1951 and success in passing domestic reforms show that he was influential during peacetime.