Bulletin #58 – Apr 2013

Churchill Centre Honorary MemberThe Right Honorable The Baroness Thatcher LG OM PC FRS
13 October 1925 — 8 April 2013

Former Prime Minister and Churchill Centre Honorary Member Margaret Thatcher passed away peacefully in London on Monday, April 8th.  Lady Thatcher was first elected to Parliament in 1959, the last year Winston Churchill was re-elected. She became Leader of the Conservative Party in 1975 and Britain’s first female prime minister in 1979. She served longer than any other prime minister of the 20th century leaving office in 1990 and thereafter becoming a member of the House of Lords. At a London dinner in October 2009, current Prime Minister David Cameron, also one of our Honorary Members, presented Lady Thatcher with the Churchill Centre’s Leadership Award. Twice Lady Thatcher herself spoke at events involving the Churchill Centre. The first time was in Washington, D.C. in 1993. The second time was at the National Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri on the 50th anniversary of Churchill’s delivery of the “Iron Curtain” speech in 1996.   Read More >

Click on Image to View Video.Rare Footage Shown to Leaders of British Film Industry

On April 4th The Royal Channel released rare colour film of Winston and Clementine Churchill visiting with the Royal Family at Balmoral Castle in 1952.  The brief clip was shown the night before to 300 members of the British film industry who were hosted by HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in the state apartments of Windsor Castle.  Guests included Sir Kenneth Branagh, Sir Christopher Lee, Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and Star Wars creator George Lucas. Read More >

Click on Image to Watch Reid Interview.Churchill Centre Hosts Author of Much-Anticipated Biography at Pritzker Military Library

Dateline: Chicago, 28 February 2013
Churchill Centre Executive Director Lee Pollock introduced Paul Reid to a warm audience at the Pritzker Military Library for an interview about and book signing of The Last Lion Volume 3. Reid recently published the much-anticipated final volume in the biography started thirty years ago by William Manchester. After publishing two volumes, Manchester became too ill to complete the project and personally asked Reid to finish the job. Reid was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune‘s Greg Burns and discussed how he worked from Manchester’s original notes to produce the work that many consider the finest multi-volume biography of Churchill. Read More >

Professor Peter ClarkeProfessor Peter Clarke Delivers Annual Kemper Lecture

Dateline: Fulton, MO; 6 March 2013
The National Churchill Museum of the United States located on the campus of Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri invited Churchill-scholar Peter Clarke to deliver this year’s Enid & R. Crosby Kemper Lecture.  The former Master of Trinity Hall and Professor of Modern British History at the University of Cambridge, Clarke is the author of Mr. Churchill’s Profession: The Statesman as Author (2012).  “Churchill as Author” was the subject of Prof. Clarke’s address, which was recorded on video. Read More >

President Kennedy Presented Churchill With His Rarest Honor
Churchill’s Rare Distinction
Acting upon authorization from the United States Congress, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed Winston Churchill an Honorary Citizen of the United States on 9 April 1963.  In a Rose Garden ceremony, Randolph Churchill accepted the award on behalf of his father while his own son, Winston, looked on.  CLICK HERE to watch the original video.  The award was the most exceptional of the many commendations Churchill received in his lifetime.  Only seven people have received the distinction, and Churchill was one of only two living recipients (the other being Mother Teresa.) Read More >

The Most Noble Order of the GarterCommemorating Churchill’s Highest Honour

If US Citizenship was Churchill’s highest honor, then the Order of the Garter was Churchill’s highest honour. Churchill was admitted to the world’s oldest order of chivalry on St. George’s Day, 23 April 1953 thus making him Sir Winston. In commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of this event, Sir Winston’s grandson Nicholas Soames will be speaking to a luncheon gathering at the Carlton Club in London on 23 April 2013. Soames is the son of Sir Winston’s daughter Mary who is now herself a Lady of the Garter and Patron of the Churchill Centre. Read More >

U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.

The 30th International Churchill Conference is being organised this year in partnership with The George Washington University, Washington, D.C..  This year’s conference theme will be “Winston Churchill: Perspectives on Leadership.”  An impressive array of speakers has been assembled to examine topics including “Churchill and the Presidency”, “Churchill & Military Leadership” and the present state of Churchill studies.  Speakers will include Andrew Roberts, Sir David Cannadine, Williamson Murray, Raymond Callahan and Christopher Bell, author Churchill and Sea Power featured in last month’s Chartwell Bulletin. Read More >