A concise look at the achievements of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill held many government offices during his political career which spanned sixty years. He had a number of failings during this time and a remarkable number of achievements.
| EXECUTIVE OFFICE | MAJOR INITIATIVES* | RESULT* | BOOKS PUBLISHED |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Note: Ministers must be Members of Parliament – MPs) | Elected 1900 as a Conservative; in 1904 switched to Liberal Party | Success | The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1898) |
| None (1900-1905) | Success | The River War (1899); Savrola (1899) | |
| (Member of Parliament) | London to Ladysmith via Pretoria (1900) | ||
| Ian Hamilton’s March (1900) | |||
| Mr. Brodick’s Army (1903) | |||
| Colonial Under-Secretary 1905-1908 | Transvaal constitution | Success | Lord Randolph Churchill (1906) |
| For Free Trade (1906) | |||
| President, Board of Trade | Labor dispute mediation | Success | My African Journey (1908) |
| 1908-1910 | Arbitration courts | Mixed | Liberalism and the Social Problem (1909) |
| (out of Parliament 24 Apr 1908 – May 09) | Labor Exchanges | Success | |
| Minimum wage | Success | ||
| Home Secretary | Strike intervention | Mixed | The People’s Rights (1910) |
| 1910-1911 | Home rule for Ireland | Inconclusive | |
| Prison reform | Mixed | ||
| Insurance Act | Success | ||
| Labor and Shop Acts | Success | ||
| First Lord of the Admiralty | Naval staff reorganization | Success | |
| 1911-1915 | Fleet power conversion (coal to oil) | Success | |
| Naval Air Corps | Success | ||
| Ship development project | Success | ||
| Tank development project | Success | ||
| Dardanelles | Failure | ||
| Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | Only serious duty is to appoint County magistrates; a sinecure. | ||
| 28 May 1915 – 11 Nov 1915 | |||
| None (1915-1916) | Battalion commander, France | Success | |
| (Member of Parliament) | |||
| Minister of Munitions | Streamlining of ministry | Success | |
| 1917-1919 | Output increases | Success | |
| Secretary of State for Air & War 1919-1921 | Russian intervention | Failure | |
| Demobilization | Success | ||
| Colonial Secretary | Home Rule for Ireland | Mixed | |
| 1921-1922 | Middle East reorganization | Success | |
| Out of Parliament | 1924 Returns to Conservative Party | The World Crisis (vol. 1 & 2/5) (1923) | |
| 16 Nov 1922 – 29 Oct 1924 | |||
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | Gold standard restoration | Failure | The World Crisis ( vol. 3 & 4/5) (1927-29) |
| 1924-1929 | Income tax reduction | Success | |
| Sweeping tax reform | Failure | ||
| Coal strike mediation | Failure | ||
| General Strike 1926 | Mixed | ||
| None (1929-1939) | Opposed India Bill | Failure | The World Crisis ( vol. 5/5) (1931) |
| (Member of Parliament) | Campaign for rearmament | Failure | My Early Life: A Roving commission(1930) |
| “Wilderness Years” | Defended Edward VIII | Mixed | India (1931) |
| Thoughts and Adventures/Amid These Storms (1932) | |||
| Marlborough: His Life and Times(1933-38) | |||
| Great Contemporaries (1937) | |||
| Arms and the Covenant/While England Slept (1938) | |||
| First Lord of the Admiralty 1939-1940 | Norwegian offensive | Failure | Step by Step 1936-1939 (1939) |
| Attacking German Fleet | Success | ||
| National Broadcasts | Success | ||
| Prime Minister and | Mobilized English Language | Success | Into Battle/Blood Sweat and Tears(1941) |
| Minister of Defence | WW2 – vs. Germany/Italy | Success | The Unrelenting Struggle (1942) |
| 1940-1945 | WW2 – vs. Japan | Success | The End of the Beginning (1943) |
| Opposed Soviet hegemony | Failure | Onward to Victory (1944) | |
| Prime Minister 1945 | Caretaker Government | The Dawn of Liberation (1945) | |
| None | Tory domestic policy | Success | Secret Session Speeches (1946) |
| Leader of the Opposition | Warned of Soviet threat | Success | The Second World War 6 vol. (1948-53) |
| (1945-1951 | Supported Labour’s Foreign Policy | Mixed | Sinews of Peace (1948) |
| Europe Unite (1950) | |||
| Prime Minister 1951-1955 | Cold War mediation | Failure | In the Balance (1951); Stemming the Tide (1953) |
| None 1955-1964 | Intercedes with Eisenhower over Suez | Failure | History of the English-Speaking Peoples 4 vol. (1956-58); The Unwritten Alliance (1961) |
| (Member of Parliament) | Winston S. Churchill: The Complete Speeches 8 vol. (1974) | ||
| The Collected Essays of Sir Winston Churchill 4 vol. (1975) |
*Major initiatives and evaluations compiled by Steven F Hayward, from his book Churchill on Leadership (Rocklin, CA: Prima, 1998). p.24, and Richard M. Langworth, former editor, the International Churchill Society. May be reprinted for educational purposes, but only with attribution to Steven F. Hayward and The International Churchill Society.
